ok i got a MTX 152 thunder amp, had it since january and its been working fine. its powering a MTX 6000 12" sub. i have no cap, (only puts out 150 RMS, and i have a monster 10 guage wire kit.(sig) so yesterday and today i notice it cuttin out at lower volumes. then it just stopped working so i check out the amp in the trunk and i smell a burning smell!! i take out the fuse and it was melted and burned!!! and didnt even break like its supossed to (although it finally cut the current to the amp because it was burned!) i think the contacts on for the fuse is ****ed in the amp so i cant sticka new fuse in there, but why would the fuse want to blow in the first place????? could it have just been i had the music up to high, it couldnt handle the current or what? what the hell should i do now?

(yes yes i know MTX isnt the greatest brand, but it was a hookup, so im kinda stuck with it... damn)

i attached a pic of the fuse, pretty bad... dammit im pissed!

 

Actually MTX is a very good brand. And in this situation I would think something inside the amp went nutso in regards to your load. I don't think it's a problem with how loud you were playing it. Looks to me like the amp shorted out internally to the point where it started to melt this leg.

Only other thing I can think of is that I've heard of some MTX subs having a tendency to touch tinsel leads when in operation. This could have occurred and caused a short that possibly could make the amp do this.

Realisticly though that is a very remote possibility. But you can verify that by looking athe sub tinsel leads and see if they are close enough or if there's enough slack that they could have touched. If not then I'd usggest that your amp has an internal power supply problem. Time to send it in for repair.

Shouldn't be too bad of a fix. If you are close to Detroit I have a friend there that does amplifier repairs and he could fix it for you for a reasonable cost.

 

thanks for the help, now i dont feel like it was something i may have done..heh. unfortunatly im a little ways away from detriot, im in cali. When you refer to the tinsel leads, you mean where the wires connect to the sub it self? i havent seen the sub out of the box, because i bought it like that. hmm.. ill check.

i emailed MTX, and so hopefully ill get a reply soon, i think it should still be under warrenty so maybe i can get it replaced by them. I was thinking that too, that something inside must have gotten fried. Oh well, we'll see how it goes, appreciate your help.

 

The tinsel leads are the wire leads that go from the terminals through the subwoofer cone and into the voicecoil.

 

Actually, MTX makes damn good amps. They always have (Though the first gen MTX amps were PPI).
The same thing happened on a few of my amps until I finally figured out what wuz up.
It's not the amp that causes the ATO fuse to melt....it's the cheap *** Taiwanese (No offense to my Asian brothers) fuses. Take that piece of **** out, and install a good brand (like Littelfuse or Buss). You'll never have that problem again.

Peace!

 

hey brandon...i have to agree with others when they say MTX is a good brand. They have been making some bad-*** products the last couple of years. The only thing that I could think of that hasn't been mentioned is that your 10-gauge amp kit may not be what u need. Now I know you are not running a big amp or anything, but I run a 4 gauge to my amps. The bigger the wire, the less stress it puts on your amp. With a smaller power wire (such as ur 10 gauge), your amp is gonna stress trying to get the power it needs to provide to your subs. If you have been pushing your amp pretty hard (turning up your volume to high levels), then this could cause your amp to burn. As for your smell, it probably is that you burnt something in that amp...it's happened to me and i got this funky smell. I hope this helps and good luck. Also, I don't know what kind of fuse you have in your engine (not the one on your MTX amp, and if u don't have any other fuse for the power cable, u need to get one), get a big fuse to help out with any power constraints. Like I said, I can't say this IS the problem, just a possibility and some helpful hints for the future. Hope this helps.

Sachin

 

Good point, man...but....
Remember...no matter how big a power cable you run to the amps, you still have to get the current through the ATO fuse. Get good fuses.

 

thanks for all the help guys, hmm the only thing im worried about is that the connector inside the amp for the fuse got sizzled too, so i dont think i can just plug another fuse in there, cause the contacts melted in the amp too. i guess i could give that a try. yes on my wiring kit i do have an inline fuse on the power wire about 6 inches off the battery. i thought about my wiring kit too, and i was dumb when i bought it i really should have gotten the bigger size for extra measures, but when i bought the kit the people i bought it from said it should be plenty big to let the current through and also in the manual for the amp they recomended 10 guage. i probably shoud have done 8 just to be safe, but oh well.

oh and the smell, it was the burnt plastic from the fuse burning and melting. i dunno whether any of the components on the inside got fried too, but when i smell the amp it kinda smells like burnt plastic, soi have a feeling some things may be fried on the inside too...heh

heres the pic of the amp, the camera isnt taking the closups very well, but youll get the idea. it got pretty toasty in there i bet heh. its the attached file.

 

ive had three mtx personnally and i believe they trully suck. all three of them have done the same thing u mentioned. im guessing maybe you had the amp bridged and it worked fine for a while, then it started cutting off when it was turned up loud, then started to cut off when playing soft, then it just dont work no more. ur best bet is to go with another amp maybe audiobahn, memphis, or ppi. i have seen all three do some damage. they ****ing hit

 

looks like there was a loose connection between the fuse and the amp.. when you have it running, the fuse would lose contact with the amp and create a spark right there.. now you're just welding stuff on a very small scale.

That looks to be a factory defect to me- nothing of your doing. take it back to where you got it and request a replacement under warranty- assuming it's still under warranty.

 

wikidwoy thats is exactly what i had going on. couldnt have said it better myself, and yes its bridged.

Matt- i emailed MTX, but havent heard back, im going to cal them now, i think returning it to circuit city is out of the deal though, too long (since january) my friend who got it for me said they probably wouldnt take it back, guess i should try anyways.

 

In repairing an amp, having a burned fuse socket is really no big deal.. just put in a new socket. just another cheap little piece =)