Why does my car audio gear keep blowing up?

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

Well since owning my vs calais it has given me nothing but trouble when it comes to my audio gear 1st thing to go was my $1600 Fusion jonah lomu D class amp wich was sent back to fusion to be repaired only for it to blow up again after it was reinstalled the 2nd time now before anyone asks i have used a "0" gauge power cable with a stinger 100 amp fuse so there is plenty of juice getting to the amp but it still died shortly after reinstallation! I will also add that the unit was well earthed and installed correctly with good quality gold plated power couplings ect but it now sits under my house gathering dust and waiting to be repaired for a 2nd time
So after a few months with no decent subs to listen to i thought stuff it i will get a good head deck and run some 6x9s as the factory setup did very little in the way of audio pleasure. So i went out and bought a $700 clarion deck (i only paid 300 for it though as it was on sale) and after a year of owning it it has died: I should also mention that the "cat 9" interface i bought for it also died straight after installation and i had to argue with rice barn that it was not my fault and that i had installed the item correctly as per the provided instructions. Anyway after i had it out with them they gave me my money back and i went to another autobarn to get another interface as that autobarn shop wouldn't sell me one of there's as they where insisting it was my fault Anyway the 2nd interface was installed and was working fine right up until my head deck decided to shit itself the other day! I now have to pay a minimum of around $100-150 just to get clarion to look @ my deck and tell my whats wrong with it and then whatever the repair costs are if i want to go ahead and get it repaired! (wouldn't you also know that it was only out of warranty by 1month) anyway i just cant understand whats going on here, i had the blokes at autobarn check all my installation on my gear and they have told me its all top notch and fine. I also should mention that i have a fusion 4channel amp hooked up and it has not given me a problem yet! Could this just be a case of a bad run with audio gear? or an intermitant fault somewhere? and if its a fault then why is the 4 channel amp running fine?????? sorry for the long rant fellas it just heart wrenching when you put alot of time/money into something only to have it spit in your face
End rant...........................

[Boonz]

those fusion amps had a bad habit of blowing their AC resistor, dunno about your head unit tho clarion stuff is usually pretty good gear

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

those fusion amps had a bad habit of blowing their AC resistor, dunno about your head unit tho clarion stuff is usually pretty good gear

Thanks for the reply Peanuts!
Did you have some fusion gear with the mentioned problem? i have not had any dramas with my 4 channel?

[Mike S]

sorry for the long rant fellas it just heart wrenching when you put alot of time/money into something only to have it spit in your face
End rant...........................

I'm with you mate, it's really the pits when you've spent a lot of hard earned money only to have it go wrong.
One thing about your story worries me a bit. Who is going to charge you $150 to do a quote on you head unit repair?, cos that's plainly a ripoff. There are many repair agents that do Clarion warrenty repairs and quotes much much cheaper than that.

And on the warrenty thing, you say it's only one month out of warrenty? If the unit has a manufactures fault it still should be repaired under warrenty for a reasonable amount of time after purchase, regardless of the warrenty period. All products, especially expensive things must be fit for the purpose they were designed for. And for a Clarion deck to fail in just one year and a month is not what it's designed to do.

I'd try talking to your Clarion dealer again and if they won't do it you should contact the Consumer Affairs dept in your state and talk to them, they are always helpful with this kind of stuff.

[danja]

Are you sure you need a 100amp fuse? Unless that amp is pulling huge power, that fuse might be overkill.

The whole point of the fuse is to protect the amp from faults elsewhere in the electrical system, but if the fuse is too big then it's not going to help you.

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

I'm with you mate, it's really the pits when you've spent a lot of hard earned money only to have it go wrong.
One thing about your story worries me a bit. Who is going to charge you $150 to do a quote on you head unit repair?, cos that's plainly a ripoff. There are many repair agents that do Clarion warrenty repairs and quotes much much cheaper than that.

And on the warrenty thing, you say it's only one month out of warrenty? If the unit has a manufactures fault it still should be repaired under warrenty for a reasonable amount of time after purchase, regardless of the warrenty period. All products, especially expensive things must be fit for the purpose they were designed for. And for a Clarion deck to fail in just one year and a month is not what it's designed to do.

I'd try talking to your Clarion dealer again and if they won't do it you should contact the Consumer Affairs dept in your state and talk to them, they are always helpful with this kind of stuff.

Cheers for the info mate!
In regards to the head deck i have taken it back to the autobarn where i bought it and they where the ones who told me of the quote price that clarion will charge me to look @ it! I personally would have thought that the deck would have lasted longer than that and autobarn where of no help they just gave the stone walling attitude!

[Mike S]

Then don't take it to Autobarn, go to another Clarion dealer, or look in the phone book for a Clarion repair agent and deal with them direct. All you need is your receipt as proof of purchase. You don't have to go back to where you bought it.

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

Are you sure you need a 100amp fuse? Unless that amp is pulling huge power, that fuse might be overkill.

The whole point of the fuse is to protect the amp from faults elsewhere in the electrical system, but if the fuse is too big then it's not going to help you.

The amp does pull a fair amount of power, most of the audio blokes i have spoken to have told me that its ok? I will look into getting another smaller fuse! here is a link to my amp and its specs, what size fuse does anyone recommend??
Fusion FJL-1611D

[danja]

The amp does pull a fair amount of power, most of the audio blokes i have spoken to have told me that its ok? I will look into getting another smaller fuse! here is a link to my amp and its specs, what size fuse does anyone recommend??
Fusion FJL-1611D

What are you running on it? (RMS power and ohm rating, bridged/non-bridged)

If it were me, I'd buy a 60A and an 80A fuse, start with the 60A and if it blows when you crank it, try the 80A. If that blows there you were right to use the 100A. Only costs a couple of bucks to try

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

Then don't take it to Autobarn, go to another Clarion dealer, or look in the phone book for a Clarion repair agent and deal with them direct. All you need is your receipt as proof of purchase. You don't have to go back to where you bought it.

I have already dropped the unit off to them this morning as i was under the impression from the phone call i had with a sales rep who i spoke to yesterday that they where going to check it out for me for free, however when i got down there today it was a different story....! I should mention the reason i did not speak with the same sales rep was because he was not in today and i could not go in yesterday as they where on closing when i called!

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

What are you running on it? (RMS power and ohm rating, bridged/non-bridged)

If it were me, I'd buy a 60A and an 80A fuse, start with the 60A and if it blows when you crank it, try the 80A. If that blows there you were right to use the 100A. Only costs a couple of bucks to try

Cheers for the help danja!
I will give that a go when i get the amp repaired!
I was running two 12" 400wrms powerplant subs of the amp bridged and they where both running well! I think they where 2ohm!

[SweetWagon]

Are you sure you need a 100amp fuse? Unless that amp is pulling huge power, that fuse might be overkill.

The whole point of the fuse is to protect the amp from faults elsewhere in the electrical system, but if the fuse is too big then it's not going to help you.

The fuse is there to protect the wire ie. shorting. And best to get a fuse rated slightly higher than what the amps draw, 100amp is fine.

Cant see how the fuse protects the amps from faults elsewhere in the electrical system? If the amp is faulty it would blow its inbuilt fuse/s

I'd leave the fuse, it wouldn't be the cause of your problems..

[HSVMK]

Hey There Matey,
I thought i'd let you know as this reminds me of a good mate of mine who had a similar problem to you, i know what you going through, & i hope this helps !,
Please can you ensure that you have had your alternator checked under load & that you are not sending AC spikes through your electricals whilst your driving with your system running, A/C & lights etc or less maybe, The alternator can appear fine when driving, your car starts fine & all that until at a certain level of load & bingo the spikes so quick it will fly past your fuse without it blowing & the first thng you will know is your sound sytem Goes. This can be caused by dry joints in the soldering of the regulator within the alternator or it's failing under load. If you haven't had it tested, Please! have your alternator & lines back to your system setup tested thoroughly by an auto electrician for a clean uninterupted DC volts supply under all conditions. We had the problem eliminated & his system now just panel beats his car with music like nothing else.
Kind Regards
Mike K.

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

Hey There Matey,
I thought i'd let you know as this reminds me of a good mate of mine who had a similar problem to you, i know what you going through, & i hope this helps !,
Please can you ensure that you have had your alternator checked under load & that you are not sending AC spikes through your electricals whilst your driving with your system running, A/C & lights etc or less maybe, The alternator can appear fine when driving, your car starts fine & all that until at a certain level of load & bingo the spikes so quick it will fly past your fuse without it blowing & the first thng you will know is your sound sytem Goes. This can be caused by dry joints in the soldering of the regulator within the alternator or it's failing under load. If you haven't had it tested, Please! have your alternator & lines back to your system setup tested thoroughly by an auto electrician for a clean uninterupted DC volts supply under all conditions. We had the problem eliminated & his system now just panel beats his car with music like nothing else.
Kind Regards
Mike K.

Cheers for that Mike and welcome to the site mate
I will look into what you have sugested! I wonder thought if a capacitor would be a way around the problem you mentioned? i have got a multi meter on my alternator and it seems to be running fine although to test what you have mentioned sounds like a little more is needed than a multi! anyway thanks everyone for all the comments! Very much appreciated

[bezz]

Are you sure you need a 100amp fuse? Unless that amp is pulling huge power, that fuse might be overkill.

The whole point of the fuse is to protect the amp from faults elsewhere in the electrical system, but if the fuse is too big then it's not going to help you.

err no it isnt. The point of the main fuse is to protect the car in case the power cable accidently short circuits before it gets to the amp. The fuses on the amp itself protect the amp. If he's using 0 gauge, a 100A fuse is relatively small generally.

[danja]

err no it isnt. The point of the main fuse is to protect the car in case the power cable accidently short circuits before it gets to the amp. The fuses on the amp itself protect the amp. If he's using 0 gauge, a 100A fuse is relatively small generally.

Well, I'd say a cable short is a fault in the electrical system! But I see what you are saying, and yes you are correct.

That said, 0ga might also be overkill, and the wire gauge doesn't determine the fuse needed.

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

Cheers for all the reply's fellas!!
I will rip my cable out and go over it very closely to look for areas that it could be shorting out! Although the 4 channel is conected via the 0 cable so i would have thought it would also have dropped out by now? anyway it cant hurt to check it all out anyway! Cheers fellas!!

[StoneX]

That said, 0ga might also be overkill, and the wire gauge doesn't determine the fuse needed.

It does in a way... You wouldn't want to put a 200A fuse if you're using 8ga wiring as then the wiring will be your fuse and your car will be on fire

Unfortunately, a large percentage of the population doesn't have the common sense to realise simple things like that (not referring to you)

[Luke0011]

Ok so you have a few problems here. They are unrelated in that your fusion amp has faulted twice. Did the amp just stop outputting twice?? Any thing you can remember it did b4 it stopped working. And your Clarion unit just "shit itself" as in did it just stop working. Not power up or just didnt output sound. A clearer explanation is required to understand better whats happening. YOur sterring wheel interface problem is unfortunate becasue i have had a few that have not worked from brand new and its dissapointing that autobarn gave your money back but still insisted it was your fault. Your 0 gauge wiring can handle up to 300 amps on a 5 metre length and you should be using a 150 amp fuse. If your power wire shorts to earth then it cannot damage any amp or unit as it will short to earth and not into the amp. So you can rule that out.

Now from what your saying it sounds as though you were originally running the fusion amps of the factory unit. Can you clarify that at all. i could be wrong but thats what it sounds like.

[danja]

It does in a way... You wouldn't want to put a 200A fuse if you're using 8ga wiring as then the wiring will be your fuse and your car will be on fire

Lol, yes but it'd be more accurate to say that the current draw determines the fuse AND wire, they don't directly determine each other.

[commsirac]

It does in a way... You wouldn't want to put a 200A fuse if you're using 8ga wiring as then the wiring will be your fuse and your car will be on fire

Unfortunately, a large percentage of the population doesn't have the common sense to realise simple things like that (not referring to you)

Id like to think that anyone that had the sense to put a high current fuse in the circuit would realise the wire needs to be able to cope with high current as well.....but I dont see a lot of what the common man does.

Lol, yes but it'd be more accurate to say that the current draw determines the fuse AND wire, they don't directly determine each other.

yes, more accurate to say that. However, many may choose to have a wire where the current carrying capacity far exceeds the rating of the load and the fuse, nothing wrong with that. One might say it is overkill, yet the thicker cable may be necessary to ensure there is not too much voltage drop along the wire.

[Luke0011]

Lets try and fix the problem for this guy rather than fuss over his power wire and fuse. Obviously its not the problem.

[StoneX]

What were the actual faults? What went wrong with the amp? What went wrong with the head unit?

It sounds like you should have your gear installed by a pro (not Autobarn or yourself). That way if something goes wrong they have to take responsibility unless the equipment has been abused.

[cxcxcxvcvcvc]

Ok so you have a few problems here. They are unrelated in that your fusion amp has faulted twice. Did the amp just stop outputting twice??Any thing you can remember it did b4 it stopped working.

Yeah it was working away fine and then i noticed my subs had just stopped! I got out when i was home and all the 30 amp fuses in the amp had been blown! The first time it happened i replaced all the fuses and hooked the amp back up, but the fuses blew straight away! Other than that there was no signs that anything was wrong!

. And your Clarion unit just "shit itself" as in did it just stop working. Not power up or just didnt output sound. A clearer explanation is required to understand better whats happening

@ first the deck was running fine, but then it just started to switch completely on and off randomly ect (like it had a loose power connection) and then the other day it just turned off and wouldnt start again! The display wouldnt light up ect so i took the face plate off cleaned the connection and still no go! I then pulled out the deck and checked all connections & they where fine! I also had the bloke @ outbarn sus it out and he confirmed that all connections where fine aswell!

YOur sterring wheel interface problem is unfortunate becasue i have had a few that have not worked from brand new and its dissapointing that autobarn gave your money back but still insisted it was your fault.

Beleive it or not but they actually had a guy come out from one of there fitting bays and he claimed that the cat9 controls where not compatable with a VS Calais BCM module! I was like" well i dont see why not?" and after hearing him dribble on for about 10 minutes about how it was not possible i said no worries fellas i will just get a refund ect! But i had a good mind to go back in there and get the bloke and manager and show them how the cat 9 was working fine after i had reinstalled a working item:

Your 0 gauge wiring can handle up to 300 amps on a 5 metre length and you should be using a 150 amp fuse. If your power wire shorts to earth then it cannot damage any amp or unit as it will short to earth and not into the amp. So you can rule that out.

Now from what your saying it sounds as though you were originally running the fusion amps of the factory unit. Can you clarify that at all. i could be wrong but thats what it sounds like.

Yes thats correct! I was useing a RF converter to change my cars speaker lines from the back of my deck wich i then ran into a fusion equlizer and then into my car amps! The setup worked fine for a while ubtill the sub amp blew

[StoneX]

What model amp and sub?