My friend has MB Quart Components on a JL 4/400 Amp. The light came on for low Ohms. What does that mean, and what could be the problem? I checked all the connections and its fine. Also when he turns it up to a certain level he blows a fuse. He has the JL 4/100 with components all around, and 1 JL 500/1 with a 12" JL sub (dont know which model) 4Gauge going from battery to distribution block splitting into 2 8Gauge wires to both amps. Any idea why its doing this? We also bought a Cap and circuit breaker to install later hoping this may help the problem. He cant turn it up past 21 on his Alpine headunit or the fuse wil blow. Oh.. And the system has already blew up the sub.

98' Eclipse GS- Hahn Stage 2- SOLD
02' Honda S2000- SOLD
04' Acura TL- Current Whip

Hard to tell, my guess would be a short in the lines somwhere. Try disconnecting the speaker outputs for both the left and right rear speaker inputs from the amp and turn the car on with them disconnected. See if the light low ohm light comes on, if it does. Hook the rears back up and disconnect the fronts(both left and right) and turn the car back on again to see if the low ohm light comes back on.
Im guessing if the low ohm light does not come on with the fronts disconnected your problem is either
a: a short in the wires or
b: the crossover for the components is incorrectly hooked up.

if it worked fine, and then for no reason one day, it just quit, and all the connections are good, you messed up your amp. the same thing happened to my JL 500/1, one day it just cut out, and then the Low Ohms light came on, and it turned out that it was blown for basically no reason. Underpowering, maybe. Bad ground, maybe, too.
I'd check at your crossovers for sure though, like the other guy said. Those things are really small and it's easy to cross wires at the crossover's terminals.

1995 Eagle Talon ESi

also, you are probably blowing the fuse because that amp draws quite a bit of amperage. upgrade to 4ga straight to the amp and up the inline fuse (or breaker) to around 80-100amps....rememeber the fuse is there to protect the wire, not the amp.

:shhh: i do cocaine :/shhh:

The Fuse is at the battery no fuse at the distribution block. Is it possible the reason why that fuse breaks is because the amps are pushing back the power and it surges? I don't know what that fuse would break at the battery. Also why would his sub blow? It's JL I mean certainily it should be able to handle it. He payed $2k for the system at a shop and they still want to rip him off. He has had this system for a year and its been down more than it has been working. Any Ideas?

98' Eclipse GS- Hahn Stage 2- SOLD
02' Honda S2000- SOLD
04' Acura TL- Current Whip

just sounds like a poor install. those amps should EACH have 4guage wiring to them. the fuse keeps blowing because the amplifier is pulling more amperes than the fuse (or wire) can handle. i dont know why the sub blew, thats probably another isntall error (box/amp setting problems). if the shop installed it, they should deal with it.

:shhh: i do cocaine :/shhh:

They refuse to without being paid. They said its out of warranty and want to charge my friend $60 an hour just to look at it. It's ridiculous that he spend $2k on it and its down more then its up. So maybe I'll try what you guys said and see what I can do for him. Those guys at the shop are assholes, they overprice and rip people. They usually do high end jobs on rich peoples lexus, bmws, and mercedes. So if know anyone in South Jersey, never goto Auto Addictions in Turnersville.

98' Eclipse GS- Hahn Stage 2- SOLD
02' Honda S2000- SOLD
04' Acura TL- Current Whip

his power wire might be shorted out somewhere, check that. if the fuse blows as soon as you complete the circuit (put the fuse in or attach the ground) that is probably the problem. to fix the low ohms, check anything between the amp's terminals and the speaker's terminals. test the amp out on a sub, too, with a new set of wires, that will help determine the problem. Test all 4 channels. if it still reads low ohms when there is no possible way there is a short, you might need to warranty the amp.

1995 Eagle Talon ESi

Wait wait wait....you're trying to run 4 sets of components and a sub off of a 4channel amp? That's a no no already.

And post model numbers so we can look it up or something

he already did aaron, look on the first post neuuub. :p

:shhh: i do cocaine :/shhh:

The sub is blown for sure because I have tested my subs out on his amp and it worked just fine. Also do you think it would help to replace that distribution block since it has no fuses in it? and would it help with the main fuse up front by the battery blowing? I don't like it at all. For the money he dumped into this system they really skimped on alot of shit.

98' Eclipse GS- Hahn Stage 2- SOLD
02' Honda S2000- SOLD
04' Acura TL- Current Whip

well... it wont "help" anything to fuse the distro. block, but it will be more safe. it wont help at all with the blown fuses at the battery. a quick explination:

fuses are put in-line with wire to protect them against overloading, which can lead to the wire warming up to the point of meting or incinerating. fuse rating for the wire are determined by the guage and lenght, which both have a major role in the resistance to amperage based on voltage. having a small fuse and wire powering equipment that draws mucho power will result in burnt fuses. DO NOT SIMPLY UP THE FUSE SIZE...THIS IS A MAJOR FIRE HAZARD. you need a better primary wire with a bigger fuse. everytime a guage is lowered (as in through a distrobution block), an appropriate fuse should be installed to compinsate for the maximum amount of amperage that "should" travel through that wire safely.

:shhh: i do cocaine :/shhh:

Like above said, it sounds like he is drawing alot more power then the fuse/wire can handle. If the amps are fused already then there is no need to fuse the distribution block. I would start by upgrading the wire. What are the gains set to on the amps? What is the impedance of the sub?

Allan
2008 Magnetic Black 350z NISMO /1976 Austin Mini 1098 Special (export)

Member# 1980

If you can wire a system, sounds like you can, then I would rewire it. Like someone said above, those amps should each have a 4 gauge wire powering them. I would run a 4 gauge to a cap, 4 gague from cap to a dist. block, and then a 4 gauge from the dist. block to each amp. I underpowerd an amp and I messed it up. I wouldn't push the system anymore until someone has a chance to fix the problem.

Off topic: We have an Auto Addictions in Allentown, PA and yeah, they do rip people off. They buy things at the A&A Auto Store down the road at consumer cost, mark it up and sell it again to their customers. I didn't think they did car audio, must be something new for them.

97 RS- Runs, but never driven
2000 Subaru Outback- Daily Driver

1995 Eagle Talon ESi

You are really trying to tell me that caps do nothing? I find that real hard to believe.

97 RS- Runs, but never driven
2000 Subaru Outback- Daily Driver

I can't find the article anymore, but basically capicators cost nothing. Your average cap probably only costs a manufacturer $5 or $10, but marketing lets them mark them up to $50, $100. They make gigantic profit off of those things, and really they don't help anything. I could show you my system with a cap and without one, and you will never notice a difference soundwise, and my lights actually dim more when I had the cap then when I didn't. Plus, if I was just sitting somewhere with the engine not running, the cap would kill my battery in about 20 minutes (amp went into low voltage protection), but without it, I could run my system for 45 minute before my amp went into low voltage protection.
The only caps worth buying are the really, really big ones, 100 farads and up, and those are only really useful in a system with more then a few thousand watts. I would recommend ANYONE upgraded their current battery or add another battery before adding a cap.

1995 Eagle Talon ESi

I agree with you when you say that replacing the battery, esp. to a yellow or red top, is more effective but a cap still protects the amp. Sure 100 farad is better than a 1 farad, but for most you are talking about a complete waste of many to get the extra 99 farads. Can anyone else chime in on this, are caps really not effective?

97 RS- Runs, but never driven
2000 Subaru Outback- Daily Driver

found that article thing, check this out:
http://www.realcaraudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42570&highlight=capacitor
telling quote: "I have seen the output of analysis done to prove the capacitor as a functional unit. The graph indicates that the voltage peaks would be reduced in favour of a voltage that changes more slowly with time." so basically you are reducing the headroom of your system for a lower average voltage then you would have had otherwise... basically, what it boils down to, is the inefficiency present in all things. The cap will suck more power out of your system because of this principle, wasting energy as heat and so on, which is a problem you will not have with just straight wiring.
a lot more debate has gone on since I first read that though, maybe somebody will have made a case, but logic still says that adding another capicator won't help much if you have quality amplifiers already (such as a JL). the reduction in headroom means you will run into distortion sooner. the reduction of peaks means that all those dynamic beats in trance, rap, so on, will not be a pronounced as they would be without a cap... ooh head hurts

1995 Eagle Talon ESi