Overheating Jaycar response amp

[Snotty]

g'day

i recently moved my amp, (from behind the sub box to infront) and after about 30 minutes for driving around with the music on average volume it has heated up alot. Almost to the point of too hot to touch.

the thing is i dont know if it was doing it all along or if it has just started.

the amp is Jaycar response 4x50w. and it is mounted flat on mdf.

any help would be great..

[hakhawk]

speaker wires shorting somewhere? power wire loose? was it mounted flat on mdf before you moved it?

[Snotty]

speaker wires are fine, same with power. it plays music fine, just gets really hot.
It used to be mounted on its side

[Snotty]

anyone got any ideas?

is there a way to test the speaker wires??

[yobbo88]

is the amp designed so that its heat fins dissapate heat better while its on its side? and is it under your seat? its gonna want some air flow to get rid of all the hot air they are workin pretty hard alot of the time... mines under the seat but almost subconciously i chuck on the cold fan on feet and aim it between my legs to get some airflow. it hasnt overheated yet but i just dont wanna wreck an expensive piece of kit

[Snotty]

yeh thanks
I've noticed when the volume is really low i can hear a distorted noise, likeall the guitars are dissorted. so im thenking that it might be the leads like hakhawk said, might chuck another set in and see how it goes.

[Snotty]

anyone????

[phree]

My 4x100, driving front splits and a sub, gets too hot to keep your hand on it for very long after cranking for a while. Always has, still going strong after more than a year. I don't worry about it anymore.

Class ab amps are not very efficient. A lot of the power that the amp draws does not go to the speakers and must be dissipated as heat.

The jaycar amps have pretty effective protection. It should shut down if it gets too hot. It also has short circuit (over current) protection etc. The only time mine has ever shut down is when the battery voltage is low. i.e. power=voltsxamps, therefore for a given power out, lower voltage=higher current and therefore more heat.

As far as distortion at low volume goes, well the jaycar amps are not great dynamically especially at low power settings. As long as it sounds good when up a bit, i wouldn't worry.

[goldencommodore]

hey mate i have a response 2x150 amp and i just had it mounted upside down under my parcel shelf, but the board it was screwed to was vibrating and i noticed it was getting way to hot up there cause the heat was coming out and going straight back in, so i moved it on the back of the box and its so much better doesnt get as hot and pumps hrder to now and thats on its side.

[PaRaDoX]

did you run your power lines down the opposite side of the car???

check ground points

you could be getting cross talk especially if the power lines are the same side as the RCA (electromagnetic interfearance caused by current traveling through the wires)

i have a black series 2x150W rms i had it mounted upside down and it heated up a fair bit despite the heat pipes i had in place to disapate heat into to the parcel shelf, i suppose its all about positing of the amp ....check that too much current isnt being put through small wires (is the gauge of your power wires enough, atleast 8 gauge)

not using the right gauge wire can cause it to heat up and blow like a fuse excpet i think it would blow at like 400A not like 20A