PPI PC450 amp and car battery...
09-03-2004, 11:49 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
PPI PC450 amp and car battery...
Hey guys, I was wondering how many of you guys have used this amp before or are familiar with it?
For some reason the on light is always RED whenever the amp is given no power. The amp functions fine when the car's on or it's running off the battery (the on light is GREEN, like it should be), but like I said, as soon as I turn the car off the amp goes into RED mode, so to speak.
Now, I've been running this amp and a 500W subwoofer amp for about 2 months and the PPI amp has always done this ever since I installed it. Even so, the car always started and stuff like normally until this week. All of a sudden my car's battery is dying after sitting for less than a day. I'm curious if this red light has slowly been draining my battery to death for the last 2 months and finally the battery is losing the fight? Or does that little red light run off of a built in battery in the amp so it shouldn't affect my car's battery or what? I'm trying to narrow down the issue here, so any help would be appreciated!
Btw, the battery is two years old.
For some reason the on light is always RED whenever the amp is given no power. The amp functions fine when the car's on or it's running off the battery (the on light is GREEN, like it should be), but like I said, as soon as I turn the car off the amp goes into RED mode, so to speak.
Now, I've been running this amp and a 500W subwoofer amp for about 2 months and the PPI amp has always done this ever since I installed it. Even so, the car always started and stuff like normally until this week. All of a sudden my car's battery is dying after sitting for less than a day. I'm curious if this red light has slowly been draining my battery to death for the last 2 months and finally the battery is losing the fight? Or does that little red light run off of a built in battery in the amp so it shouldn't affect my car's battery or what? I'm trying to narrow down the issue here, so any help would be appreciated!
Btw, the battery is two years old.
09-04-2004, 05:49 AM
#2
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Monroe, OH, USA
Posts: 194
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Re: PPI PC450 amp and car battery... (rkonfire)
Well, the little red light is an LED, meaning it pulls extremely low amperage...i think maybe .1A if that...
No, if anything is it's that the amp is still on but in protect mode. To be honest, this is the first time I've ever heard of this problem, usually when an amp is in protect it won't work at all.
First thing you need to do is check all of your wiring. You WILL need to have a mulitmeter on hand. Test to see if the amp is still recieving voltage on the remote wire when the radio is off for starters.
Then with the car off check to see how much current is flowing through the amplifier when the car is off. You turn the meter's dial to test for Amperage, put the positive probe to the power line and the negative pole to the ground line. This will measure just how much current it is sapping (if any) when the car is off and will give you a guess at if it is the problem or not.
Because the amp functions properly when the car is on however, I don't see what could be causing it to stay on unless it's some internal damage to the amplifier.
And seeing as it is a PPI PClass then that means your remote is on the opposite side of the amp from your power/ground, meaning you can't be having any arcing problems causing your power wire to turn on the remote lead.
Let us know what you find out about it and maybe we can help further...it's hard to say what it is without being able to look at it.
No, if anything is it's that the amp is still on but in protect mode. To be honest, this is the first time I've ever heard of this problem, usually when an amp is in protect it won't work at all.
First thing you need to do is check all of your wiring. You WILL need to have a mulitmeter on hand. Test to see if the amp is still recieving voltage on the remote wire when the radio is off for starters.
Then with the car off check to see how much current is flowing through the amplifier when the car is off. You turn the meter's dial to test for Amperage, put the positive probe to the power line and the negative pole to the ground line. This will measure just how much current it is sapping (if any) when the car is off and will give you a guess at if it is the problem or not.
Because the amp functions properly when the car is on however, I don't see what could be causing it to stay on unless it's some internal damage to the amplifier.
And seeing as it is a PPI PClass then that means your remote is on the opposite side of the amp from your power/ground, meaning you can't be having any arcing problems causing your power wire to turn on the remote lead.
Let us know what you find out about it and maybe we can help further...it's hard to say what it is without being able to look at it.
09-04-2004, 12:21 PM
#3
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well, in the booklet it says that if the LED is lit RED, then the ACM-420 noisegate is on. However, isn't this noisegate something totally separate from the amp or is it built-in to the amp? Also, wouldn't the noisegate only work when the amp is on and not off?
Taken straight from the manual.. "POWER/MUTE indicator light- A green light indicates that the amp is on, a red light indicates that the amplifiers muting circuits have been engaged by an ACM-420."
Taken straight from the manual.. "POWER/MUTE indicator light- A green light indicates that the amp is on, a red light indicates that the amplifiers muting circuits have been engaged by an ACM-420."
09-04-2004, 04:27 PM
#4
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 86
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Lol, sorry for all my posts in row here but I'm finally getting somewhere...and I believe it has to do with the remote lead.
Okay, I have 1 remote wire running from my HU. During installation two months ago, I opened up the insulation on the remote lead and wrapped another wire around it that way I could have 2 remote wires (one for each amp). Now, with that in mind, I just did some testing with the car OFF...
With each remote lead wire plugged into each amp (my issue right now): PPI = RED
With one lead plugged into the ppi amp, no lead plugged into other amp: PPI = GREEN
As soon as I replug the other lead into the other amp: PPI = RED
With no lead plugged into ppi amp: PPI = no color
So, for some reason my PPI amp is getting power when the car's off. However, when both leads are connected, the PPI amp goes red. When just the PPI amp has a lead, the amp goes green. I know I'm sounding repetitious, but here's where we stand.
Okay, I have 1 remote wire running from my HU. During installation two months ago, I opened up the insulation on the remote lead and wrapped another wire around it that way I could have 2 remote wires (one for each amp). Now, with that in mind, I just did some testing with the car OFF...
With each remote lead wire plugged into each amp (my issue right now): PPI = RED
With one lead plugged into the ppi amp, no lead plugged into other amp: PPI = GREEN
As soon as I replug the other lead into the other amp: PPI = RED
With no lead plugged into ppi amp: PPI = no color
So, for some reason my PPI amp is getting power when the car's off. However, when both leads are connected, the PPI amp goes red. When just the PPI amp has a lead, the amp goes green. I know I'm sounding repetitious, but here's where we stand.
09-04-2004, 07:11 PM
#5
Old Fart
Join Date: May 2004
Location: kelowna, bc, canada
Posts: 26,173
Likes: 0
Received 14 Likes
on
14 Posts
Re: (rkonfire)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rkonfire »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Lol, sorry for all my posts in row here but I'm finally getting somewhere...and I believe it has to do with the remote lead.
Okay, I have 1 remote wire running from my HU. During installation two months ago, I opened up the insulation on the remote lead and wrapped another wire around it that way I could have 2 remote wires (one for each amp). Now, with that in mind, I just did some testing with the car OFF...
With each remote lead wire plugged into each amp (my issue right now): PPI = RED
With one lead plugged into the ppi amp, no lead plugged into other amp: PPI = GREEN
As soon as I replug the other lead into the other amp: PPI = RED
With no lead plugged into ppi amp: PPI = no color
So, for some reason my PPI amp is getting power when the car's off. However, when both leads are connected, the PPI amp goes red. When just the PPI amp has a lead, the amp goes green. I know I'm sounding repetitious, but here's where we stand.</TD></TR></TABLE> Try a 1/4 amp diode on the trigger wire to the 2nd amp.
94
Okay, I have 1 remote wire running from my HU. During installation two months ago, I opened up the insulation on the remote lead and wrapped another wire around it that way I could have 2 remote wires (one for each amp). Now, with that in mind, I just did some testing with the car OFF...
With each remote lead wire plugged into each amp (my issue right now): PPI = RED
With one lead plugged into the ppi amp, no lead plugged into other amp: PPI = GREEN
As soon as I replug the other lead into the other amp: PPI = RED
With no lead plugged into ppi amp: PPI = no color
So, for some reason my PPI amp is getting power when the car's off. However, when both leads are connected, the PPI amp goes red. When just the PPI amp has a lead, the amp goes green. I know I'm sounding repetitious, but here's where we stand.</TD></TR></TABLE> Try a 1/4 amp diode on the trigger wire to the 2nd amp.
94
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
