My subs have been flawless since install. Just yesterday on the way home they both stopped. When I turned it on today they worked for about 30 sec, then stopped. I checked the power fuse, plus the two fuses on the amp, all are fine. I retightened everything with no luck. My question is how can an electrically ignorant guy like myself test everything external, before I take the HU out to check the rear connections?

 

see if your amp is turning on. listen for a click or look for a light. Make sure its hasn't switched into protect as well.

check all of your connections.

the turn on lead of your headunit might have died. I have had that happen to me before. You can get a new headunit or use a switched 12v source (something off of your ignition) to turn the amp on.

 

my first guess would be your amp, make sure your protect lights didnt come on or anything like that, so does the rest of your audio work, besides your subs or did it all die?

 

how long ago did you have the subs and amp installed? was it done by a prof. shop? if so , call and find out about a warrenty(?) and see if they can look at it free of charge. if not, check to make sure the wires coming from the amp are still hooked up the subs properly in the box . if that checks out and the amp IS NOT in protect mode than there is a good chance that the preout on the head unit is bad or going bad. I have seen that before .

 

i would suggest pulling the sub out of the box and checking the wires in there. i personally am in need of a solder job on the connection between the cone and the sub outer terminals. that can cause a cut in and out, and eventually absolute silence. lol

 

Sorry everyone for not explaining a little better. Thankyou for all the responses!

It is two subs in one box, and the both cut at the same time, so that is not it.
I did the install myself, everything came directly out of my friend's truck because he was selling the truck.
I forgot that my amp had a light, I will have to check it at night, where I can be sure if the light is on or not.
I don't know what "protect mode" is, but I will look for that function on the amp tonight.

 

protect mode is just what it says it is, whenever there are any outside issues that would affect the amp(short circut, overheating, improper load, ect.) its usually indicated by a light on the amp. make sure the amp powers on while your checking it.

 

Make sure you are getting plenty of air to it overheating the amp from lack of air flow over the cooling fins is real common and thats what it sounds like is going on there.

Get a couple mini fans and set them up to move air over the amp whenever it is on that will help your amp stay cool and last longer.

 

Are the two subs wired in parallel or series?

If they are wired in series and one stops working (blows or a wire falls off) both subs will stop working. If one is blown the amp will likely be in protect mode for the short circuit. If the amp checks out ok I would think it is a speaker wire loose or fallen off somewhere. maybe inside the enclosure?

This is what happened to my roommates subs, they both "cut out" one day and it turned out they were wired in series and one had blown with out him knowing.

 

sounds like you're amp is clipping... turn down the gain on the amp, unbridge if bridged, try lower volumes for a bit, see if that helps...

 

if it was clipping wouldn't he have noticed it before it completely died?

 

To diagnose, I would start at the subs. You can test them by unhooking them from the amp and lightly tapping a 9V battery to the terminals on the enclosure (+ to +, - to -) If both speakers make a pop, they work. FYI, if you leave the battery on the speaker long you can damage it so just tap it on there for a split second.

If both speakers work, inspect your speaker wires. If they are good the next thing in the chain is your amp...If it is not in "protect mode" then there is something wrong with the signal going to the amp. I would check this by hooking up an Ipod or something like it to the inputs on the amp. If your speakers work with an Ipod hooked up to your amp, its something between the amp and HU, of the HU its self.

It helps to have a multimeter to check the RCA's or any other wires.

Thats just my .02

 

what if you dont have an ipod? lol. thats a good plan to follow though. i wouldnt have thought of touching the wires to a battery. if anything i would visually inspect all the wires and fuses and connections, then if everythnig seems in order try an alterant amp. if u dont have one try to find a buddies to borrow just for a check.

 

i would think your amp is over heating or the load i.e the subs are too much for it to handle... have you bridged the subs???? is your amp 4,2,1 ohm stable?? is it a sub amp?? WE NEED DETAILS MAN

 

HA! I dont know any details! I am not car audio inclined. The first time I heard the guitar solo for "the Joker and the theif" I knew that I had to have a louder stereo! I got the system from my friend, so no I can turn the bass all the way out of the door speakers, and the sub does it all. It sounds amazing, well...it did. Today is my day off, and I am heading out to figure it out. Update around noon.

I have no idea what bridging is. I know that there are two speakers in the box, and each speaker gets its own set of wires. I don't see why they would be wired together on the inside as well.

 

here is what parallel and series speaker wiring looks like

 

Well, I put the subs back in the truck yesterday after taking them out for a road trip, and they worked. They are still kind of weak though. I used to have them down to -9 or -10 on the HU, and it was still too much bass, today I had to turn it to +3 or +4 to get some good bass. BTW, they are parallel wiring.

 

did you adjust gain level? if not check all the wiring
if all the wires(power, RCA, speaker, etc) are ok then or amp is "on it's last leg". I had an old amp that just moved the sub a little bit(to the beat), but there was no sound

 

your subs could even have just simply unconnected internally from the box, my kicker L7 15" did that once. alotta vibration in there. remove one and look =D