Car Amp Overheating usually occurs due to high voltage from the head unit. To prevent overheating, there are certain steps you can take with your amp to ensure that it will last a long time, and keep you safe in the process
What is a car amp and why does it overheat?
A car amp is a high powered amplifier that helps to boost the sound of speakers and helps to ensure that it does not distort. The amp produces heat as a byproduct of the power it needs to work. The higher the power of the amplifier, or the more speakers it is powering, or higher quality speakers for that matter, the warmer it will get. If you turn on your system and notice that your amp gets warm after some time, this could be an indication of an issue with your car amp and you should take measures to prevent overheating.
If one of your car’s speakers is damaged, it can still be powered by the amplifier and eventually get too hot and shut itself off. There are many reasons why amps may overheat, but most of these can be prevented by following these few steps:
Bad Ground or Power Connection
An amp that has a bad ground or power may overheat and shut down. This is because it’s not getting enough power to run the amp how you want it to. For solid wiring, you should use at least 8-gauge power and ground cable for each amp. Both ground and power wires should be the same size and run directly from the battery to the amplifier.
Lower Impedance Than Amp Can Handle
When you use one or more woofers whose total load is lower than the amplifier is designed to work with, it may overheat and shut down to protect itself.
Connecting two speakers in parallel to an amplifier that only has 2-ohm is a common mistake. If an amp is not prepared to work with a low impedance of 2 ohms, it will heat up because the extra power needed cannot be met. If it gets too hot, it will shut down or go into protection mode.
Gain & Bass Boost Set Too High
Sometimes your amplifier can overheat. But you can try some simple adjustments to the gain and bass control settings before taking any drastic measures. The gain control tells the amplifier how much power you want it to produce. If you have the gain set too high, the amplifier will try to make full power right away.
If you run your amp too hot, you’ll get annoying distortion and clipping. On the other hand, if you set the gain too low, your amp will still make full power but it won’t sound as loud as it should.
The Amp Is Not Strong Enough for Speakers
If you have powerful speakers, you need to ensure that your amplifier can handle them. Otherwise, the amplifier will overheat and shut down.
Amplifier Does Not Have Sufficient Ventilation
If you don’t have enough air flow in your amp, it can overheat and go into protection mode or shut down completely. When a fan is not working properly, it turns off and on frequently. If you have an amp with this problem, it can be damaged permanently.
If you need an amplifier with active cooling, consider the MTX JackHammer JH600. It can be a good option if you’re limited on space in your car and don’t want to worry about your amp overheating in the trunk. When the amp overheats, it turns off the power to prevent further damage. It is also designed to protect other components in your car. When an amp breaks down, it can also damage other components in your car.
If your amplifier is heating up, you may experience some problems. But don’t worry — this article will help you get your sound system back up and running. The first step is to find out why it’s heating up. Is the amplifier in protection mode? Or is there another reason?
How to keep car amp from overheating
Install a cooling fan
If you amp is getting too hot, maybe you need to install a cooling fan. It’s important that amps get fresh air. If you think your amp needs more fresh air, you might want to install a cooling fan.
Many car fans can be powered by 12V, and their installation is straightforward. You can install it next to the amplifier, and it will blow the heat away, keeping the amp running as it should. A good example is the Stinger SGJ78 8.25-Inch Cross-Flow Fan, which, placed next to the amp, blows the cool air on top of the metal amp’s body.
You can bolt it down through four bolt holes next to the amplifier, and it is ready to work. The installation is a piece of cake, and it takes just 15 minutes.
Use Reasonable Volume
Use Reasonable Volume The simplest preventative measure is volume control. When the volume is too loud, it creates a lot of heat that can overheat your amp. Neither amps nor speakers are made to work at their highest volume for a long time.
Check the Size of the Power and Ground Wire.
When installing a strong subwoofer, you must have the correct gauge wire. For example, if you have a 4-gauge amp and 2-gauge wires, the wires will be too small to handle the energy.
Amplifiers need good ventilation.
To increase airflow around the amplifier, avoid installing it in the trunk’s tight spots. Instead, make sure there is enough space between the top, bottom, and sides of the amp for unrestricted airflow. In some cases, you may need to add spacers to the bottom of your amplifier to increase the distance between it and the mounting surface.
Make Sure Amp’s Impedance Matches the Speakers
To get the most out of your speaker system, make sure the speaker’s impedance matches the amplifier’s output. Otherwise, the speaker will use more energy than it needs to and the sound quality will suffer.
The most common impedance in car audio is 4 ohms, but some speakers work with a low 2 ohm impedance. The lowest impedance used in the car audio is 1 ohm, but this is only used for the strongest subwoofers, for example, the Skar Audio ZVX-12v2 D1. Regardless of which impedance your speakers work, make sure your amp can support it.
Picking the wrong impedance speaker cables can cause problems. When you pair 2 ohm speakers with a 4 ohm amplifier, your amp will overheat and cut out.. Weak amplifiers shut down because they can’t handle 2 ohm speakers.
When your speakers are blown or have bad connections, the sound is distorted and you can’t hear anything. To prevent your amp from overheating, check to make sure all of your speakers are not blown or shorted. It’s easy to tell when your speakers are blown because they don’t work or make a bad sound. If the amplifier heats up, it’s probably because the speakers are blown and the wires connecting them are loose.
Installing a new amplifier high quality
When you’re installing a new amplifier, choose a high-quality one. Cheap amplifiers are more likely to overheat than those that are branded. If your car is overheating, it’s because of the amplifier. Keeping the temperature down will ensure your vehicle stays in great condition.
Adjust Bass Settings on Your Amplifier
If you over-amplify an audio clip, the amplifier may overheat and clip. If you under-amplify, it won’t sound loud enough. A good way to adjust the volume is to set bass boost at zero and slightly adjust upwards. If you start hearing any sound distortion or clipping of the amplifier, reduce bass by 2dB and leave it at this level.
Make Sure the Amplifier Has a Good Ground Connection
If your amplifier isn’t working properly, it may be because of a poor ground. Amplifiers will overheat if they aren’t connected to a proper ground. To fix this issue, make sure your car’s chassis is the amplifier’s only ground source.
If you have a poor ground connection, your amplifier might overheat right after you turn it on, fail to turn on at all, or not work at all. Check the ground connection and bolt if needed. Before connecting the wire to the car’s chassis, make sure that any paint is removed from the grounding point. The ground wire should only touch the bare metal of the car’s chassis.
Conclusion - Put your knowledge into practice by preventing car amps from overheating
In this article, we will provide a few tips on how to deal with car amps overheating as well as share some helpful products that will help you prevent the issue from happening.