Hey guys, I just installed an Audiobahn AW1206T sub into my truck, sealed maybe 1.5 cube box powerred by a Clarion DPX 1000.2 amp @ 2ohm, wired in parallel

Now the center of my sub is made of like metal or something so I dont know if its supposed to get hot or not Ive never had a system but sometimes I get a faint burning smell so I just turned the **** off, It pounds solid as hell on 80% volume with the gain turned all the way up

Just wonderring whats causing it and if it has to be fixed or if everything is perfectly fine

 

why is the gain turned all the way up?????? do you have a stock headunit or something?

the dustcap gets hot because the coil is connected to the former, and that former is attached to the cone. The dust cap is acting as a heatsink to get rid of the heat.

 

what is your settings? is your bass boost all the way? is your sub level all the way up on your headunit?

i would turn your gain down to about half and bass boost as well and adjust your subs with the sub level on your head unit!!!!

 

I dont know if I can adjust the sub level

I completely forgot about heatsink and how it would clear away the heat, I guess that would explain it

I dont know about the gains and **** though

 

 

using 4gauge for the main power then 10 gauge for the amp -> speakers

Now when I run it at full gain for 25+ min the sub will cut out for 10 seconds every couple minutes, I think something must be overheating

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by W O T &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">using 4gauge for the main power then 10 gauge for the amp -&gt; speakers

Now when I run it at full gain for 25+ min the sub will cut out for 10 seconds every couple minutes, I think something must be overheating</TD></TR></TABLE> You are over-driving the amp, [gain to high] the amp is "clipping" that is what is producing the heat in the amp and the sub, although the amp has overheat protection the sub does not, that smell, is probably the VC on the sub burning.
The DPX1000.2 is 1000watts bridged into 2ohms at 1% THD and uses 86 amps at 1000watts according to the spec sheet, your subs power handling is 1100watt rms.
Here are, in my opinion, what is wrong, I do not think that amp will make 1000watts, [not without being SBL] and not with a 10ga power wire, [if I understand you about your power wire] I think you are under-powering the sub. 94

 

my main power wire is a 4gauge, from the amp to the sub is 10

 

keep in mind that speakers are only about 5-10% efficient, so for every 100 watts rms you have going to your sub, most of that wattage is wasted as heat. and aluminum is a better conductor of heat than traditional polypropylene.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by W O T &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my main power wire is a 4gauge, from the amp to the sub is 10</TD></TR></TABLE>OIC, and you have checked all the connections? What kind of fuse do you have on the power wire, at the batt., [type]? 94

 

One thing people tend to forget is power handling can be affected by box design.

You running a speaker that was designed for a ported enclosure in a sealed enclosure. Your power handling at your intended frequency operation is going to be reduced.

The smell that you smell is your voice coil burning up. Turn down the volume or change your box design.

The turning off could be a number of things. You amplifier has a 1-ohm operation mode when it sees 1-ohm it shuts down and enters this new mode of operation. You could be inadvertantly entering this operation depending on the BL curve of the speaker.

Its doubtful the amplifier puts out 1000 watts. Even at 80% efficientcy it comes close but not quite 1000 watts.

 

maybe I should port the box, it will be louder anyways right?

 

the question begs to be asked - why is the gain ALL THE WAY UP - it's setup wrong - I'd count the days before something is not working and sent to car audio heaven/hell...

 

How big is the box, [air volume] http://www.audiobahn.com has 5 box recommendations 3 ported and 2 sealed, .5 and 1.25 sealed, 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 ported. unless the box you have is not at least 1.5 cu ft you can not convert it to one of Audiobahns recommended ported box's 94

 

I was looking at this http://www.audiobahn.com/tech/...2.pdf which I will be the fist to admit I know nothing about the Audiobahn line but from what I can tell that speaker was designed for a ported enclosure. While I'm sure it will work in a sealed it will be much happier in a ported enclosure.

 

I think I may just go ahead and cut a port in it then, do ports have to be a certain size or can I just cut a 8 X 1.5" hole or so at the bottom right of the box (which is against the passenger door)

 

You need to read the paper work that came with the speaker.

Yes box size, port length, and port diameter will all effect the performance of your speaker. Every speaker will be different, it is very easy to screw a ported enclosure up and reduce the power handling at certain frequencies. If you follow the guidelines specified in your paper work you will be fine.