I have 2 12" Sony Xplodes (1300w peak) adn a 1200w Sony amp running to them. The ground and power wires are Tsunami 8gauge. The problem is that the amp is getting HOT AS <URINE FLOW>. It randomly cuts out in the middle of songs and then comes back out of nowhere so my question is...is there anyway to mount an external fan to the amp or no to prevent overheating so much?

Edit: I have turned the Low Boost level down just a bit so it isnt as loud, but it'll still rattle the teeth out of you mouth

Here is a few pics of the current set-up





sry bout the size of the pics, at least you can see wut everything on the amp says

 

I dont think 8 ga is anywhere close to big enough for it... that could present a overheat problem.... If it were mine, I would use 2 at the smallest. Its a long ways from your battery to that amp.

You might be able to find some cooling fins to attach, but as far as fans i have never heard of one.

 

Yeup...

http://the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp

I'd bet that you'd feel heat coming off of the power wires when the amp kicks out.

 

The best thing to do is only run it so long then shut it off. Or turn down the volume, having it up at high volumes for extended periods of time is what generates the heat. Turning down the bass boost doesn’t really change the amount of power that is being amplified. The bass boost is more of a equalizer in a sense that changes the frequency of what is being amplified. You can mount a 12v fan somewhere to blow over the fins to help dissipate some heat. Any computer fan would work fine. Just a matter of how to mount it. Also bigger guage wire would help, especially since the amp is way in the back.

 

In addition, did you run a chasis ground or run it to the battey? A chassis ground is okay, as long as the one at the battery is beefed up. Its not quite as efficant as running a dedicated ground, but is acceptible.

 

the ground wire runs directly to the left fender u can see it in the last pic going under the carpet (it is brown)

 

Also would getting larger gauge wire drain even more power from my battery?

 

No it wont drain more, it just provides a path with less resistance. It will only drain more if your wiring is too small as it is.
Oh, and the big problem is right on the amp... SONY.. i love their mobile/walkman products and home stuff, but most of their car audio is atrocious (i've heard of more than a few amps catching on fire) but my buddies had no problems with his yet (same one as yours).

 

I would put larger wiring in, like Greg said, it wont drain your battery more, just be moree efficant and allow the amp to work like it should. Upgrade the ground too, also put a piece of the 2 ga from the batter to the frame, and make sure there is a large ground from the frame to the body. DC isn't like AC, it returns to the battery, meaning when looking at distance of wire run its from the battery to the amp to the battery.

Try the correct wire and see what happens. The place the amp is should get plenty of cooling. If you want a little more cooling lift your amp. Put some washers or something about 1/2" tall under the screws, then you get air to all 4 sides of the amp.

 

Sounds good, would this be good wire to use? http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1134701342353
also would there be anything else i would need?

 

Thats way to much for cable. I found a 100' Foot spool of 4 guage on Ebay. It was just like anyother audio cable you would by in a package like the one you have a link to but it was allot less. cost me 25 after shipping and everything. All you need to do is get the ends. It ends up being alot cheeper and you can use the same wire for ground and anyother project in the future..

 

aight cool, didnt even think of ebay...im a moron. BTW THANKS!!

 

No problem. As long as you watch who your buying from you can usually get most electronic things cheeper on Ebay, ive bought alot on there.

 

So true.

 

You all are forgetting about something BIG. Correct wiring. If the amp has too low of an impeadance, more current will flow than is designed, and when you have too much current in a small conductor, heat is generated. With too low of an impeadance the amp may operate fine until it overheats, then it jumps into thermal protect.

I used to run my 2 mtx 2300x's at 2ohm mono daily (on pourpose.) If I didnt put the seats down to let the amps cool they'd jump into thermal protect after about 2 hours or so. The diff btwn MTX and sony is that the MTX will easily survive such abuse for much longer than the sony will. Incidentally both MTX's still work to this day flawlessly.

Anyhoo, 881stGenRunner, what is the exact model of amp you are using and what impeadace coils do those subs have? And how do you have them wired?

 

Home dept has some decent prices on wire as compared to electronics, car audio and others. I get my speaker wire there from time to time and it is pretty reasonable.

 

maybe putting a little space between the amp and the box would help a bit. How about an amp rack with a couple of fans or even a more efficent cooler running class d amp?

 

Oh and BTW, i have my amp sitting like that on my box and have NEVER felt it overheat nevermind get hot.

 

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(word count pwnes me.)

 

Ive been doing some research. That amp appears to be XPLOD XM-2200GTX which is a 2 channel amp. If so, that amp will only do 500w rms x 1 @ 4ohm. Those subs which should be P5's, can be single or dual voice coil. So basically if you are running that amp bridged you cant go below 4ohm. If you are running that amp stereo you cant go below 2ohm. I seriously doubt the issue you are having is with the power wire....though changing that can only help.