Earthquake Amp intermittently cuts out

[nabed4t]

Hey Guys,

It's been ages since I've posted on the JC forums but, I am again, in need of some help.
So, just to be clear my car audio/electronics ability is quite low, I had the sound system installed professionally about 7 years ago.

The issue at the moment is with my Earthquake 600w.4 amp. She powers 2x 6x9 parcel shelf Pioneer TS-A6961E 260w speakers and 2x 6" Earthquake door speakers (That's all I can tell you with out ripping the door trim off, I'm pretty sure they are about a max of 200w each) and my head unit is a Pioneer DEH-P5850MPH. I also have a Rockford Fosgate amp powering a RF sub, but they work perfectly.
For the last few months my Earthquake 600w.4 amp has been intermittently cutting out, I will turn the car on or to accessories and the sound system powers up, the components powered by the Earthquake amp work for about 1-2 seconds and then cut out. There doesn't seem to be any consistency with what might be causing it, it happens in the hot/cold, driving/not driving and occasionally it works fine.

On the amp itself are two windows, one is a gauge for voltage the other current. With the car on accessories the voltage gauge sits on a bit over 12v, the current gauge jumps to about 25A and then it cuts out but the voltage gauge stays static (I'm not sure how accurate these gauges are). I've used volt metre on both the power and remote cables, they are sitting on 11.8v The ground cable is good and in contact with bare metal and all the fuses are fine (the amp has 2x 20A fuses).
I'm unsure where to go from here and some hints would be great. I'm leaning towards the amp dying but wanted to try everything before buying a new one.

Please yell out if you need more info.
Thanks heaps,
Cheers,
Dan

Edit: just to add, I also still have the stock VT speakers in the two back doors, they continue to work fine when the other four (2x parcel shelf and 2x front door speakers) stop working, I assume that this means that the head unit is still working and it's the amp that is the problem.

 

[Timmah]

Hey mate, it could be a couple of things. The first thing that's a little bit concerning is the voltage you're getting on power and remote. 11.8 is quite low (it should be reading 12 volts at least). Does this go up if the car is running? And is the RF amp running off the same power cable/remote, or a different run?

 

[Dirbatua]

Swap the main power cable out from the battery to the splitter ( i assume you are running a splitter with 2 amps) with a new one and see how it goes, might as well swap from the splitter to the amps as well, I've found over time the power cable tends to degrade over time and voltage drops at the end of it, so there would be enough power to power 1 amp but not both.

Also make sure both amps are earthed separately to different points and don't join to a splitter like the power cable does.

I had the same thing not long ago.

End of the main power cable was getting 13v on start up, 2-10 seconds later it would drop to 11.4v and stay there, keeping my 4 channel lower powered amp on but my monoblock Sub amp wouldn't work, occasionally it would turn on and run fine while i was driving, took me awhile to work out wtf was going on.

 

[Timmah]

End of the main power cable was getting 13v on start up, 2-10 seconds later it would drop to 11.4v and stay there, keeping my 4 channel lower powered amp on but my monoblock Sub amp wouldn't work, occasionally it would turn on and run fine while i was driving, took me awhile to work out wtf was going on.

This is a symptom of incorrect gauge or installation of cable. There is no reason why sufficient gauge and correctly installed cable would degrade over time. (Well, over the time most of us own a car anyway).

 

[Dirbatua]

This is a symptom of incorrect gauge or installation of cable. There is no reason why sufficient gauge and correctly installed cable would degrade over time. (Well, over the time most of us own a car anyway).

was 0 gauge, fused and wrapped in flex to prevent any damage, was in the car for at least 3 years with no changes.

All cables degrade over time, they get moisture etc in them, they heat up and cool down from current draw, engine bay heat heating up cable etc etc, copper is well known for it.

 

[Timmah]

was 0 gauge, fused and wrapped in flex to prevent any damage, was in the car for at least 3 years with no changes.

All cables degrade over time, they get moisture etc in them, they heat up and cool down from current draw, engine bay heat heating up cable etc etc, copper is well known for it.

LMAO I've seen the wiring in your engine bay... I stand by my statement that correctly installed cable would not have that kind of degradation - ESPECIALLY only after three years.

 

[nabed4t]

Sorry for the delay in replying.
So as of this morning the earthquake amp is working again. No idea why, I didn't do anything. I didn't test the voltage at the amp while it wasn't working and the car running but it is now at 13.7v with the car on and 11.8v with it off.
Any ideas what would cause this intermittent functioning? Is it a cable degredation issue as was suggested.
In regards to the cable lay out, I can't get a good look as there is a gas cylinder in the boot (fat load of good it does at the moment, LPG is $1 a litre) but there is only one connection going to the battery and two seperate cables going to the RF and earthquake amps.

Thanks guys,
Dan

 

[EYY]

Try adjusting the gain on the amp. Sometimes the potentiometers for the gain can become scratchy and lose contact inside the pot itself. It can happen when the amp's been kept in a moist environment.

I agree with checking the earths and wiring first though

 

[nabed4t]

Okay, so the earthquake amp stopped working today when I go back in the car after uni. It never cuts out/starts working while the car is running, it has to be off for it to either stop or start working. I've tested the voltage over the RF and Earthquake amp with the amp working and not working and with the car running and off.
This is the results.

Car Running
RF:
over main power: 13.8v
over remote: 12.8v
Earthquake:
over main power: 13.8v
over remote: 12.8v

Car off
RF:
over main power: 11.8v
over remote: 10.9v
Earthquake:
over main power: 11.9v
over remote:10.8v

The amps are grounded on separate spots, while re-checking the grounds and power cables this evening, the amp has started working again, same as before, it happened when I turned the car off, left it and came back and turned it on again.
Any thoughts?

Thanks for the input so far.

 

[nabed4t]

I just checked the power to the earthquake amp with the car completely off, not on accessories and the main power to the amp is 12.3v with zero to the remote. should there be power to the amp with the car off? I'm amusing there is as it is coming directly from the battery but I just wanted to check.
Next time the amp stops working i'll swap over the power and ground from the RF amp to the earthquake one and see what happens.