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Clio II car audio nightmares - please help!



  Clio 182FF
Greetings!

I have a 2005 Clio II 1.2 Dynamique and am having terrible problems with my install.

To let you know what I have:
Sony CD headunit linked to uprated door and rear speakers. Sony headunit also has two preouts linked to a 4 channel Fusion 1200w amp which powers a set over Infinity 6x9's on the rear parcel shelf and a VIBE CBR12 12" sub woofer.

The initial installation was fine. The amp worked without a problem and the sounds was clean and crisp. I don't consider myself an expert but I copied the install of the previous amp i had there which was set up in the exact same way - this was replaced due to being underpowered.

The problems started about a day later with the amp going into protected mode for short periods and the sound cutting out. I thought this would be a thermal problem but the amp is mounted to the rear seats into wood so is well vented. A day after this the amp put itself into to protected mode peminantly and there is a poping coming from one channel (the right 6x9 speaker).

Taking my car to where I purchased the new amp I had it checked over and they were as stumped as me, even with the remote switch on linked directley to the ignition the amp refuses to start up.

No questions asked they have aggreed to order me a new amp to replace it. Is there a chance that the amp was just faulty or is something causing this problem? On a side note the lights of my car dimmed a fair bit when running the system but the amp totally died when the volume was extremely low.

What should I look for? The earths have been redone on the amp. Is the earth from the battery to blame, a weak battery not able to handle the system or am I missing something here?

I don't want to blow another amp since I doubt they'll replace it again! Does anyone have ANY clues, all help is appreciated!!

Thanks!
Ren
 
  Clio 182FF
Ok, well I'll try my best to explain. I have the power cable from the battery (fused) going directley into the amp. The amp is earth to the rear seat bolt which has been cleaned to bare metal. The remote wire is linked directley to the head unit. These three leads are down the left hand side of the car. On the right side two sets of RCA's run to the amp in the boot from the two preouts on the headunit - one for the 6x9's audio and the other providing bass to the amp. The power cable/earth are big thick wires and the remote is smaller. Should the remote wire be one piece of cable or can it be joined?
 
  172
it can be joined,im more concerned as to how the speaker wire has been connected on the amp for a channel to have blown sending it to protect mode
 
  Clio 182FF
Ahh ok. Well the sub woofer is in the boot enclosure and is wired directley into the amp (bridged) to the outside two terminals as per the instructions. The subwoofer has fast realease gold plated push down connectors. The 6x9's are again wired directly to the amp on the remaining two channels using the wires that came with the 6x9's. They plug onto the 6x9's using some little spade terminals.
 
  Clio 182FF
These are my thoughts and these are only from what I've read, as I said these are pure guesses based on logic.

1. They had to join the remote wire because it was too short at one point, this could be causing the problem, but the remote wire shows as always having voltage.

2. The remote switch on voltage from the back of the headunit is not reading a 12v it's slightly under.

3. My battery/alternator is not powerful enough and somehow breaking the amp or messing up my system.

4. The earth on the car battery is not very good (this is just the default earth that the car came with from new).

5. Dud amp.

I just really don't want to blow a second amp. I take it these amps are pretty robust? It wasn't even as if I was hammering it power wise.
 
  172
if its done it from the word go then it can only be a faulty amp.none of the above would cause the channel to go pop
 
  Clio 182FF
Thanks for the help, you've put my mind at ease.

One final question, running a single 1200w amp and aftermarket headunit, do you think a battery upgrade is required? The lights dimming is raher annoying haha.
 
  172
upgrade or add another earth to the battery first,then if still same upgrade the battery but they do it from standard anyway.i used to sit at night at a junction,turn the wheel and the lights would dim!
 
  vaux cavalier
A few thoughts;

1, Amplifier is dropping into protect, check amplifier manual for 'trouble shooting' section, there may be a way to find whats wrong, (on some amps protect light operates as diagnosis aid)....

2, Have you tried relocating the amplifier earth???

3, How were the amplifier gains set up???

From your initial description you could assume its a power supply issue, but reading further would suggest that you have upgraded recently, but there is no mention of any wiring or fusing upgrades, did you upgrade any of these to match???

A few scenarios for you to double check....

You fitted new amp but set gains incorrectly, this introduced clip which has burnt out a voice coil, this voice coil is currently shorting & tripping amplifier....

Check by gently depressing each speakers cone, you must keep pressure centered & even, if any scraping or notchiness is felt in the cones movement then try the amp with this speaker disconnected....

You fitted new amp & set it up correctly, you also disturbed or replaced your primary fuse, (located near battery), unfortunately your using a glass type fuse which is now faulty....Fairly common for these to fail inside but still carry 12v....

Change fuse....

You fitted new amplifier using existing wiring, you set gains approximately, (guessed), then ran the system as normal....Existing wiring wasn't adequate for new amp so voltage drop became an issue, (dimming lights), this voltage drop induced clipping which in turn burnt out a speakers voice coil, (see first scenario)....

Your just plain unlucky;)
 
  Clio 182FF
Morning! All of these sound possible wallop.

The original amp i had before the Fusion one was also 1200w (A Vibe blackbox III) and this was fitted by a car audio dealer and ran for about 8 months with no problems.

The wireing that is there seems to be pretty thick with the power cable being about 1cm thick and the amp earth the same. I asked them to fit a wiring system which could cope with upgrades in the future so I am guessing wiring may not be the problem. I will take a photo later on and show you the cables.

As for the gains and clipping - I set the gains fairly low to begin with and raised them so that the 6x9's were nice and loud at approx volume 24 on the head unit. The subwoofer gain i turned up pretty high with the bass boost on 3 quaters higher. Again this was raised from lower settings tweaking it over the days.

I don't think i heard any clipping but then i'm not sure what I would be listening for.

Cheers guys.
 
  Clio 182FF
Here are some pictures, sorry if the quality is rubbish - i used my iphone.







I take it that the wire coming from the negative terminal that's hooked to the car metal/engine bay is the earth?

Ren
 


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