Confirmation on bad ground...
Confirmation on bad ground... I have a pg Octane-R 5.0:4 four channel amp i just got hooked up, literally minutes ago. When i turn the volume up a little the amp cuts off and the protection light comes on. This usually happens at "musical peaks", not random. Also, i tried messing with the gains on the amp and have still come up woth the same overall loudness before the amp starts crapping out, the amp is powering four speakers, no subs yet. I dont remeber scraping any paint when i did the ground so i'm pretty sure the problem is a bad ground, but i've never had a bad ground before so i don't really know. Are these symptoms of a bad ground? Is there any particular spot in the hatch area that people commonly use for grounds?
Power is 4 gauge (100 amp fuse) run to a distribution block (fused, two 50 amp fuses) with two 8 gauge outs, one out going to the amp. Then 8 gauge ground to the amp. The second 8 gauge is for another amp that just shipped.
Power is 4 gauge (100 amp fuse) run to a distribution block (fused, two 50 amp fuses) with two 8 gauge outs, one out going to the amp. Then 8 gauge ground to the amp. The second 8 gauge is for another amp that just shipped.
it could very well be a problem with the ground if you didn't scrape any paint away at your grounding point. when i grounded my amp, i removed the spare tire and loosened the nut that holds that silver tube that holds up the base of the antenna on the passenger's side, then tightened the nut down on the bare wire on the end of the grounding cable....works real well for me.
i can get a picture if you want, but it will have to wait until i get home from work at a little after 7am.
i can get a picture if you want, but it will have to wait until i get home from work at a little after 7am.
Should i just put a screw somewhere to make my own ground? I figure i might have to do this because there really are no bolts i can find to use on the drivers side and grounds are supposed to be short.
if you want it grounded on the driver's side, and you have the stock 12-disc changer, just use the nut that holds the changer down. if you don't have the changer, there's gotta be some bolt/nut somewhere that you can use, you may just need to look a little closer.
Launching!
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 257
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From: H-Town
True enough, grounds should be short. However, look at it this way: if you've got 8 gauge going in to the amp, you need to provide the equivalent of an 8 guage going out of the amp, and this includes the metal you're using to ground it to. Yes, the symptoms you describe could be from a bad ground, but can also be caused by a short on the speaker leads. If you've got a speaker going bad (you'd be able to hear it), the impedance would drop to the point of sending the amp into protection mode. The true test is to first make sure you've got a good, clean ground connection, and remove speakers one at a time. If removing a speaker from the system makes the symptoms go away, you've found your problem. Also, make sure you don't have any stray wire strands shorting at the amp's screw-terminals.
