[Huskie]

I currently have a 2002 subaru outback base model that i had previously installed a subwoofer system into myself. im pretty sure that everything is hooked up correctly. recently though the system has stopped working properly and now doesnt even want to power up.

problems are that when the radio turns on the capacitor gives off a low voltage warning, when i check it, it goes below 12, and usually sits around 8 to 6 volts, although my obd adapter says that the systems voltage is sitting correctly at around 13.8 volts. i cant figure out what is causing such a drop, where, or why its not effecting anything else in the car.
could it be a bad around? if so could someone suggest a really good place to put a sturdy ground for the amp. or could it be my alternator or something.


if needed, 2.5l 4cyl subaru outback base model.
340 dual XAF340. BOSS 2300w subwoofer dvc. 2 farad capacitor.

help is most appreciated!

 

[lashlee]

Get you a multimeter and get ready to get intimate with your past install. I would check voltage at the battery and work my way back. Though your OBD reader should be accurate it never hurts to check.

My initial thought is that the ground for the cap is loose, which also may be the ground for the amp. Checking voltage at the cap and the amp will verify this. If the voltage is good at both places you may have a faulty meter on the cap. Since it's not effecting anything else leads me to believe it's isolated to the cap (and possibly the amp). Rockford and Sony amps used to be very sensitive to voltage swings and you may have damaged the power supply in the amp.

Check the voltage first and see what it is and we can go from there.

 

[Huskie]

Get you a multimeter and get ready to get intimate with your past install. I would check voltage at the battery and work my way back. Though your OBD reader should be accurate it never hurts to check.

My initial thought is that the ground for the cap is loose, which also may be the ground for the amp. Checking voltage at the cap and the amp will verify this. If the voltage is good at both places you may have a faulty meter on the cap. Since it's not effecting anything else leads me to believe it's isolated to the cap (and possibly the amp). Rockford and Sony amps used to be very sensitive to voltage swings and you may have damaged the power supply in the amp.

Check the voltage first and see what it is and we can go from there.

well i tried to check the voltage of the battery with my mulitimeter, and it blew it up, so thats out. took it to autozone and had them test the voltage and such with their machines, and they said that the batery is all fine, same with the alternator (although they didnt do a load test for some reason)

i tested my amp, sub, and cap at home by hooking it up to a dcv powersupply, everything checked out, votage reads fine on the cap, spot on, amp works with less than 1 amp of power and everything.

went in my car, and i took out all the wires, resanded the ground point, and hooked the cap straight up from ground to the pos, and it worked fine! then hooked up the amp, and it all started working, then suddenly it stopped.
one wierd thing i noted was when i moved the ground it would spark, then everything would turn on for half a second, so it sounds like a bad ground to me, but i got it to work, tightened the bolt down really tight, and it kept working, then suddenly it just stopped, i cant figure this out.

 

[lashlee]

It's definately a ground issue, and I'm thinking you have a bad ground circuit in the amp. A small spark is normal and expected, a large spark isn't. It could be as simple as the connection block on the board of the amp to a trace inside the unit.

 

[Huskie]

It's definately a ground issue, and I'm thinking you have a bad ground circuit in the amp. A small spark is normal and expected, a large spark isn't. It could be as simple as the connection block on the board of the amp to a trace inside the unit.

It was a ground issue! (i have forgotten to reply forever sorry)

i figured it was ground, so i had went out and bought cable wires to replace my wires just in case. ended up i had a really bad ground cable that was faulty!

everything works fine now, and its even better than before now with proper connections. thanks to everyone for replying!

have a picture too!