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anyone know Kicker Amps well....

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Old 12-10-2007, 08:56 AM
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Default anyone know Kicker Amps well....

Speaking of a IX404 Amplifier.

The amp works fine, and has done so for years, until last week.

the sound to the speakers goes dead...and then it comes back on after a few seconds.

When it is doing this, the power light goes form green(working fine) to Red(no sound)

anyone know what gives?
Old 12-10-2007, 09:39 AM
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Default its shorting somewhere

check ur wiring and ground connection
Old 12-10-2007, 10:49 AM
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Default Re: its shorting somewhere

kool, I will go over the set up wiring.

What do you mean by shorting out? I just do not understand the term?

What does the red light on a kicker mean?

Thanks man.
Old 12-10-2007, 12:06 PM
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Default My guess it that red light indicates a protection circuit...but...google will know for sure.

"Shorting" is a term to describe what happens when an electrical connection goes south. Like when you touch to positive lead to the negative lead on your batt and get sparks...yeah, thats a short.

Running a capacitor in your setup?

The answer is prolly in your desc. Worked well for YEARS. those caps might be tired...might be time for a new amp.
Old 12-10-2007, 01:48 PM
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Default 2nd. It's probably going into protection mode.

What's causing that could be a few things. Maybe your main power lead is shorting out somewhere. Maybe the insulation got cut by a metal body panel or trim panel clip. I've seen amps go into protection because one strand on the ground wire somehow strayed and is touching the +12 lead on the amp. It also could be an internal problem with the amp. You could even look on the speaker side with possible shorts on those lines or burnt voicecoils on one of your speakers.
Old 12-10-2007, 03:06 PM
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Default OOooo good call. I was def assuming the wiring was solid here.

Check all the bends in your main power and ground wires. Places where they come through the firewall...trim panels....etc...

Beyond that...can you recreate it?
Old 12-10-2007, 06:38 PM
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Default OK, I will go over all wiring and connections to check for faults....1 more ques.

Toggolhead, you asked if I has Capacitors (Caps) in my set up, yes I have 2. They are both at LEAST 4 years old so they could be tired.

I am wondering if I even need the Caps? I have made this drawing of my set up, I am wondering if you guys can tell me if these caps are even needed in this set up?

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Thanks all
Old 12-11-2007, 08:40 AM
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Default I don't think you need them. Your current draw is relatively low.

I'm a little confused about that diagram too. It seems like you have the 2 caps connected independently. Typically, multiple caps are connected with bus bars and then the whole bank is connected to a single power cable between the battery and your amps. Then you can eliminate the 2 grounds for the caps and use just one. Less chance for ground loops. If you really want to leave the caps in, I would move the distribution block after the caps.
Old 12-11-2007, 12:38 PM
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Default Re: I don't think you need them. Your current draw is relatively low.

Yes I have 2 Caps wired independently.

I am not familiar with the term "bus Bar", Can you hook me up with a simple drawing of the concept? or explain it to me and I will draw it to be sure I understand correctly.

2nd question, with this bus bar set up, the distribution block would be after the Caps right? (in between caps and amps)


As for my further diagnosis of problem, today I checked a few things....

First off I went over all the wiring real quick, nothing jumped out at me as frayed/crimped/broken..ect...

I noticed that the problem happens regardless of volume level.

I am going to go out tonight and clean up/tighten all connections, see where we go from there...

thanks for the help all, I will keep ya posted
Old 12-11-2007, 01:43 PM
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Default It's basically a copper (sometimes gold or nickel plated) bar that connects the cap terminals.

In a 2 cap configuration, its usually 2 straight bars. 1 connects the positive posts of each cap and the other connects the negative. They even have triangular shaped bars for 3 cap configuration. All it's doing is connecting your caps in parallel. Then you just make one connection to from the battery to the cap bank. If you do this, then your fused distribution block would need to be connected between the caps and the amps.

I don't think your setup is necessarily wrong but I think if you're going to leave the caps in, connecting it with the caps tied together will make more efficient use of the caps energy storage capability.


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