Alright guys, so i finally Up'ed and bought a new amp for my car..something descent (i.e. temporary)..I went with the Kenwood KAC-9102D..problem is..after two months it stopped working *I want to kill myself*

Okay well the story begins: From all my aggressive driving the box had a LITTLE too much play in the trunk and the positive wire from the amp SOMEHOW (don't know how, I made sure to bolt it down REALLY well) came off the terminal and my bass stopped playing, obviously. I figured I would fix it in the morning (I had isolated the wire when i had stopped the car and pulled it over, so it DID NOT touch any bare metal). The following morning i tried to connect the positive wire back onto the corresponding terminal, a couple of spark flew. My immediate reaction is, "sheit, I forgot to disconnect it from the battery..GRRRRRREEEEEEEAAT!!" So i tape off the terminal, disconnect the battery and go to work. I reconnect everything and my amp doesn't stay turned on. I get one blinking light when I turn on the car and nothing else...NO BASS!

Now, I have checked the wiring, and the tester says everything is fine up to the amp (this includes the fuses and all other wires). I have checked the fuses ON the AMP and ive replaced them with new ones and still, the amp *blinks* when I start the car and that about it. I also couldn't find some kind of reset button for it...so no luck there. After reading my user manual AGAIN I thought it was possibly going into protection mode. It says the possible causes are:

1. A speaker wire is shorted (I have the amp connected through RCA...)
2. When a speaker output contacts a ground (This never happened 100% sure)
3. The unit malfunctions and a DC signal is sent to the speaker output???
4. Internal temp too high and unit doesn't work? (Nope, doesn't even stay on)


Please someone help me with this..Im not pi$$ed off about it, but I just want it to work again. If worst comes to worst, I've already called a repair shop to see if they will fix it if I really think there is a problem and they have agreed. I rather just find the fix myself, and with the help of the org, but sometimes you gotta pay to play.

I've scanned and posted the manual that I've been looking at..Hopefully this helps...Thanks for ANY help that can be offered on this subject

 

Did you opem the amp up? Sounds like you burned some fets out or burned out something along the power side when you reconnected the power.

 

Ive never attempted to do that...do you recommend I open it up and see if everything is connected on the power side? I am fully capable of doing it, just I wouldn't know what exactly to look for...i need someone to shed a little more light on this..

 

Just pop it open and see if there's anything that you can without a doubt tell is blown.

 

lol, you owned yourself!

 

ill try it on friday..any other suggestions? Would the terminal be separated or something?

 

pull the amp out of the car and bench test it.. too many variables in the car unless you have a test light..

 

I used a test light..i tested all the way from the battery to the amp..i even replaced the fuses on the amp..JUST INCASE. How would i bench test the amp? What else would i possibly need to do?

 

ok so you definately have power, ground, and remote at the amp?

If you do, then theres obviously something wrong with the amp, or your signal wires.

did you hold the test light on the amp while the car and HU was on?

 

tried with it on..and with it off...i was receiving signal from the HU and battery when the car was on...when i turned it off, only the battery; which seems reasonable.

ill double check the signal JUST incase...but my other amp (which powers my speakers) is also connected to the signal wire from the HU, and everything else seems to work fine??

 

If you had the powerwire connected to the amp and your box wsa moving all around during your "spirited" driving, it is possible that the power terminal got messed up within the amp itself. I had this happen to a kicker amp I had in my Bronco a few years back. Off-roading and a box that is not bolted down with an amp screwed to the back of it, and when the box goes to the back of the car/truck, the power connection to the amp iss all that is trying to stop all that weight, and it can mess up the connection inside the amp where it goes into the board.

 

so..open it up and check out the connection??

 

^ I would - It's only a few screws, and you should be able to tell right away if it is out or not.

Also, and someone w/ more working knowledge about the internals of an amplifier can extrapolate here: You should be able to hook up the amp like you were going to turn it on, and with it opened up, take your test light and put the clamp end on the ground connection, and test inside the amp, after the connection where it goes into the board, like maybe the big coil of wire inside or something, and check for power. This would tell you if the power was making it past the initial power connection and into the amp.

Might wanna make sure w/ someone else as to where you should be poking that test light though...

 

Hmm...sounds reasonable. So what ill do is open it on up and check the other side of the connection on the terminal. Thats as far as i would go...at that point its time to submit it to a tech..

 

Wheres don when you need him?

 

You should be able to tell if the actual connection is bad though, the terminal should not move around in there at all...

 

Thats the golden question....

Ill let you know once i check it out..thanks for the help





Anyone else have any recommendation or things i can check for while it still on
the car?

 

Not like Don does amp repairs. You've got a bunch of good ideas here, try them out first, snap pics, and we can go from there.

 

AIGHT! Once i open it up, ill make sure to take pics...If anyone else wants to chime in with some ideas..feel free to add!

 

i really doubt you'll be able to find anything when you open the amp up. and def do not going poking around in there with a test light if you dont know what you're doing, and the test light isn't ESD safe.. and even if it was, dont.

Id borrow a freinds sub amp and hook it up to your setup- then you'll know its the amp or the install.

 

Ok...well i gave it into some place that is authorized to fix kenwood amps. I couldnt find the problem...but i think the powersupply MIGHT be shorting. Hopefully I hear back from them tomorrow. I'll post an update on this as soon as I know something.

 

WOW..alright guys..so the circuit board was fried....dont know WTF? IM an idiot for it...so now i have to shell out $85 to get it fixed..and I already made a mandatory $35 deposit so I might as well pay the other $50. Well I'll keep you updated! Thanks for all your help