Alpine amp going into "Safety mode"

Any thoughts on this:

This problem started occuring in my truck a few months ago. When the sound is turned to moderate or high volume, the amp goes into "safety mode" after a minute or so of playing, basically shutting off temporarily and then coming back on again about 10 seconds later. Originally this didn't happen, I went a year or more without having this issue, this developed recently. I thought it was a problem with the amp so I sent it in for repair. I the meantime I replaced the amp with a NEW Alpine amp and the same issue occured immediately. I checked the power leads to the amp from the battery and found no problems. I also disconnected the speakers one at a time while playing high volume and the amp still shut off. Additionally, I wired each speaker out of phase to see if that changed anything, still nothing. If anything, the NEW amp seems to be a bit more sensitive than the OLD amp was and shuts off easier. Any ideas?

Probably not, but is it overheating/drawing too much current?

I thought it might be overheating too (it's mounted behind the rear seat), but I removed the seat and exposed the amp to open air and it still shuts off. Also, since I can make the amp go into "safety mode" within 10-20 seconds of turning it on when it's cold, I doubt it's overheating. I have never checked to see how much current it's drawing. If it is using too much, what would that indicate as a problem? Remember, both amps do the same thing so I'm thinking the issue is related to some other part of the system.

Check very carefully your ground connection, as alpine has shown in the past for my personal use to very awary of floating ground faults, check runing a good 10 ga wire directly from battery(-) ground to amp- and see if that cures your problem.

When the sound is turned to moderate or high volume, the amp goes into "safety mode" after a minute or so of playing,

The amplifier goes into safety mode whenever there is too much current draw on any one (or more) channels. It isn't because the amplifier is overheating.

Too much current draw is most likely caused by a bad speaker wire, where the pos (+) current is being shorted to ground. Reversing your phasing (I assume by swapping the leads at the speaker) would not change this.

It is also possible that one of the speakers is defective, with a shorted voice coil, although this would likely manifest itself with poor quality (or no) sound.

Test by disconnecting the speakers one at a time, and seeing which channel is causing the amplifier to go into safety mode. Then replace the wires to that speaker, and if the problem persists, then replace the speaker.

tanstaafl.

"Test by disconnecting the speakers one at a time, and seeing which channel is causing the amplifier to go into safety mode."

I tried this, and no matter which speaker was disconnected, the amp still tripped the safety mode. I suppose there could be 2 speakers or wires that have a problem, but that would be a big coincidence. I have purchased a new set of speakers to replace the ones that are currently installed, but I was hoping for an easier resolution.

Keep the ideas coming, Thanks!

I tried this, and no matter which speaker was disconnected, the amp still tripped the safety mode

Did you disconnect at the amp or by the speaker? If by the speaker, you're still exposed to a potential speaker wire to ground short... Try disconnecting all speakers at the amp and see how it behaves, then add them back one by one.

/Michael

When did we start using this:

bodybag
(Whiner)


?

Is your battery full'o'charge? does it still happen when the engine is above 1800RPM and generating good charge?

is the output of the empeg too high for the amp? (a long shot I know but you might be overdriving the inputs)

If you hook is up to an 8ohm home stereo speaker, does it still happen? (this would be less work for the amp)

When did we start using this:
bodybag
(Whiner)

I believe it was here...