stereo shuts off

Hello,

I'm new here and was hoping somebody can help me out. I have on my boat a Sony head unit pushing 2 6x9 Pioneer and 2 5 1/4. The head unit has a Fosgate amp pushing 1 12" fosgate sub. Everything works fine but when i turn up the volume to about 18 everything shuts off. I noticed that if i turn the lows completly off the headunit i can turn up the volume higher but than i get very little base out of my sub.

I also noticed that when i fade the sound to the front speakers it doesn't matter if the balance is to the right or left, both speakers are working. When i fade to the rear the balance works when i move it from right to left. Is that a wiring issue at the head unit? How do you recommend i fix that?
Any suggestion or help will be appreciated.

thank you

Re: stereo shuts off

did you wire the system?
which fosgate amp?...how many channels, watts/channel, etc.

the fader issue is probably wiring out of the amp. you need to take a look to see how everything is set up.

has it ever worked at high volumes?

Re: stereo shuts off

A friend of mine installed it for me. I believe the amp is a 2 channel but i don't know the model. The fading issue occurs when i move it between the front 5 1/4 and the rear 6 x 9 and these 4 speakers are running off the headunit, the amp has nothing to do with these.

Re: stereo shuts off

I hate to tell you but it sounds like the wiring is messed up. Tha fading problem is one wiring issue, and the cutting out is another. Are both units powered from the same power wire? They may be drawing too much current and shutting down. There is an amp kick on wire from the head unit but that cannot power the amp, it just makes it come on when the head unit is on. Did he try to power the amp form this wire? Without knowing how it is wired and how it should be wired, it's hard to help.

Re: stereo shuts off

Moving to electrical....

Re: stereo shuts off

Nevermind- Our eagle eyed Mods covered it

Re: stereo shuts off

First, post a wiring schematic of your system...no one can help you by the way your describing the problem.

Two, how is your two channel amp connected to a single sub? Both channels wired together into one sub? One channel left open?

Three, how are your 5 1/4" and 6X9" speakers connected to the head unit? Using LF RF RR LR outputs on the head unit amplifier?

Four, how is your two channel amp connected to the head unit? Through a low pass filter output on the head unit?

It sounds to me like a jury rigged system and a candidate for an active crossover to manage all these disparate speaker loads plus some proper amps for each channel driven.

Re: stereo shuts off

On the cutting out problem it sounds like you either need to re-run new ground wires or power wires, or both.

As far as the fading issue, you need to find out how the front speakers are wired and report back to us. If they are hooked up incorrectly they could be causing your cutting out symptom.

Re: stereo shuts off

I worked on my stereo yesterday and fixed the issues I was having. Two of the front speaker wires were reversed so when I switched those the balance left and right worked correctly. I than tried switching the plug that goes from the head unit to the input in the amplifier to Pass Thru, it works correctly now without the stereo shutting off and at high volumes. I?m not sure why it would work plugged into Pass Thru on the amp instead of Input. Can somebody explain this? The amp I have pushing the sub is a Fosgate RF 2002. I have a Monster 10G ground wire going to the negative on the batter and the red cable from B+ going to Perko switch. The head unit is pushing the Pioneer 5 1/4 and two Kenwood 6x9 are KFC-6980ie which have 450 watt max and 90 watt rated.

Thanks for everybodys help.

Re: stereo shuts off

Pass through means just that -- the signal is being passed through the amp and not "driving" it therefore less power is needed. You need to check battery voltage when the system is turned up using the INPUT. Bet's it is dropping below the low voltage threshold for the system. Big cables are no help if the system lacks the power to drive it.

Re: stereo shuts off

I was going to switch the plugs going into the amp from pass thru to input and noticed that my hole stereo is shutting off again at higher volume than before. I went ahead and changed the amp from pass thru to input since this is correct and it doesn't appear to make a difference now since the whole stereo is shutting off again. Please help, i'm very frustrated with my stereo system.

Re: stereo shuts off

OC Rider said:

I have a Monster 10G ground wire going to the negative on the batter and the red cable from B+ going to Perko switch.

Click to expand...

What size is the + power cable going to the Perko Switch? Are all of your power connections clean and tight, this includes the stereo power connections and battery.

I've seen spring loaded fuse holders cause problems if they are pulled tight when mounted, something to check...

# 2-channel car amplifier
# 50 watts RMS x 2 at 4 ohms (100 watts RMS x 2 at 2 ohms)
# 200 watts RMS x 1 bridged output at 4 ohms (4-ohm stable in bridged mode)

What is the impedance of the sub? Make sure it's a 4 ohm sub if the amp is bridged, it should be bridged driving 1 sub. (I don't think this is your problem since I'm pretty sure you indicated the entire stereo was cutting off, if it's just the sub cutting out check the subs impedance)

What is your battery voltage, and what is the voltage at the amp and stereo when the stereo cuts off. A weak battery can cause the the stereo to cut off. Completely charge your battery and try the stereo again, you might have the battery tested also.

The amp is grounded at the battery, but where is the stereo grounded? If the amp has a "better" ground than the stereo, you could be back feeding power through RCA cables and causing all sorts of problems. I've found it best to have everything in a stereo system grounded at the same spot, whether it be the frame in a car (you don't have one of those in your boat ) or at the battery. Having different ground locations can cause a "ground loop". Once again, I don't think this is causing your problem, but it's a best practice to ground everything in the same location for a stereo system.

Re: stereo shuts off

Oh yeah, have you tried disconnecting the amp from power to see if this changes your problem.