Electrical gurus(amp)

[slick]

My amp overheats pretty damn easily, and ive seen people had little fans hooked up in there trunk by there amp. Anyways, i went out and bought one, but before i hook it up, i need to know whether or not i will have to wire in a resistor or something so it doesn't fry the fan. On the package the fan came in, it says 12 VDC, which im assuming is the power that it takes. Now, what i want to do is just put the pos. and neg. wires directly into my amp(unless its deemed dangerous) that way when the amp turns on, the fan will turn on. So, is it safe to hook it up directly like that, and will i need any resistors or anything?

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

I *think* you can hook it up directly.. but I'm not sure about that.

 

Hooking it up to the neg and pos on the amps will not turn it on and off when the amp is on/off... the fan will be on all the time because its getting constant power. Now, if you hook the pos. on the fan to the blue wire (amp power on wire) that would work with the amps, but again I don't know if that would be 100% safe on the equipment.

[slick]

Hmmmm.... amp turn on wire does sound better.

 

Now thinking about it, it should be safe on the equipment. But, i still wonder about the volts though.

[musthavemuzk]

hmmm

before you go adding fans youneed to figure out why the amp is overheating.

in the manual it prolly saiy how much clear area is recomended around the amp for propercooling as well as the proper method to mount the amp.

many need a couple inches on all sides for proper cooling.

i cannot think of any that are recomended to be mounted upside down.

as for mounting vertically there is usually one way better than the other to allow for the heat to rise out of the end cap vents and not go all the way across the board inside the amp.

 

other problems could be insufficient wire size or poor ground connection.

 

once those are all figured out then i suggest hitting up this site for fan wiring info.

http://www.bcae1.com/

 

Monty

[slick]

Yes, its mainly because of where i have it mounted is the reason that it overheats, and i realize this too. But, for right now, I need something to atleast pull some of the heat away from the amp, until i get my amp rack built. But, the wiring is correct.

[rudefyet]

to add to the fan issue...just grab a 12 volt computer fan...and wire it dirtecly to the remote turn on/ground for the amp

 

I had issues with a Kicker ZR240 with beefed up internals that liked to overheat...but that was most likely due to the fact producing the power/heat of a ZR600 while the heatsink was designed for a smaller amp

[musthavemuzk]

those kicker ZR amps were mean and beefy.

when fed the proper juice they would dbl their output easily.

this caused them to be a HOT amp. you could almost fry eggs on the heatsinks of them bad boys.

 

so ya know the deal.

read that site on how to wire a fan and you will be good to go.

 

Monty

[rudefyet]

my ZR240 easily put out 600+ watts...and it liked to melt 8 gauge power cable...only problem was it wouldn't take any bigger cause the terminals only held 8 gauge

 

i still can't figure out why i sold that thing

[Canada]

Just hook it to the controlled side of your relay that turns the amp on and attach the other wire to ground.

 

This puts the fan in parraellel with whatever else you are running.....which will cause no problems.

 

All the more a resistor in series with the fan is going to do is drop the voltage avalible to the fan down.......which would slow the fan speed down. (This is how the blower switch on your dash works to control blower speed.)

 

Find out why this thing is overheating.........maybe its normal operation......but if its getting so hot you need a fan, something is wrong perhaps.

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

I would mount it properly so it doesn't overheat.. might blow it up one day and I doubt a little fan will help cool down the internals that much.

[IL_pilot]

I'd watch hooking it right up to your remote turn on wire. That's an awfuly little wire that runs an awfully long ways, you might be trying to draw too much current from it.

 

I've got my remote turn on lead going to a relay, triggering 12VDC from my disribution block. This turns on my 2 amps, crossover and 2 cooling fans (one sucks, the other blows). Cooling fans are there because of a substandard install location, in a closed box under a bunch of stuff.\\

[Canada]

Thats why I say connect the fan to the high side and controlled side of the relay.

 

That way, the fan is on when the amp is on......and you aren't sending anymore current through the smaller wire that runs to the switch to command the relay on.

[god910]

Thats why I say connect the fan to the high side and controlled side of the relay.

 

That way, the fan is on when the amp is on......and you aren't sending anymore current through the smaller wire that runs to the switch to command the relay on.

 

I don't think he's running a relay. If he doesn't have the amp mounted right, I doubt he took the time to use a relay. If you hook that fan upto the remote wire you will need to buy a new head unit. You WILL roast the remote turn on lead. It isn't protected and it is only meant to supply control amperage. (like .1 or .2 amps) Use a relay that was suggested before, and you won't have any problems. FWIW, the accepted number of connections for a remote lead is 4, any more than that and you should use a relay. An old install we did had 4 high amps, 1 sub amp, 2 line drivers, and the x over. That's alot to ask of the h/u for the remote lead.

[Canada]

I don't know how you could power an amp without a relay..........even a tiny amp.........they would require more current than a 16 gauge wire and switch could possibly provide before you had a thermal event.

[musthavemuzk]

the turn on lead from a HU is simply an on/off switch.

it can easily power a couple of items with no real risk of damage.

but it is recommended to use a relay if you start running more than that.

 

Monty

[Canada]

A couple of items, yes (as long as the current adds up to a safe amount.....if they are wired in series. If the items are wired in parallel, the only thing then you have to worry about is the amount of current running through the switch.) with ........but god910 made it sound like he was running the amp directly through there.

[rudefyet]

I used my remote turn on to power a fan and about 5 or 6 neon lights (I was 16 and liked to push the limits) ....it had plenty of current to power those...can't see why one fan would cause problems

[THe_DeTAiL3R]

I'd like to put some neon lights around my amps, but I'm just gonna wire it up to the trunk light.

[slick]

OK, how do i wire up this relay? Right now, i have the fan's pos. wire in the remote turn on in the amp, and the neg. on the amps neg. terminal.

[IL_pilot]

OK, how do i wire up this relay? Right now, i have the fan's pos. wire in the remote turn on in the amp, and the neg. on the amps neg. terminal.

 

Assuming a Bosch relay-

 

86- ground

85- remote turn on lead

30- +12VDC

87- to amp (power), & fan OOPS- that SHOULD read power-on lead!

 

I think this is how I did mine, it's been a while though.

 

added-

87a- unused

[god910]

GUYS PLEASE!!!!! If anyone had intended on you running anything other than the remote turn on lead from the h/u it would have a 4ga. wire. No, you shouldn't power anything w/ the remote wire. If you're not worried about your head unit, then go ahead.

[slick]

Question- How big of an inline fuse to i put in there?