Alright now... frustration sets in.

Ive had my stereo in now since Sunday night. The fuse that was in my amp was a 30, it blew right away. (within 5 minutes of playing...) So I put in a new fuse that was a 40. Now that I think about it, the amp was used, and the fuse could have been old. Driving home from the other side of town, I had the stereo pretty loud for about 10 minutes (metallica, and justice for all... hell yea), and I look down at the cluster, and the check gauges light is on. I look over at my 'battery' gauge, and its redlined all the way. I kill the stereo, and drive home, which is about another 15 minutes. Get home, turn truck off, sit for a few seconds, turn truck back on, and it goes to half way, which is normal. Turn stereo on, and it budges a little, but holds.

Did changing that fuse cause it to do that? Ive been playing it for a few days now with now problem. Or is this an alternator issue?

 

try running another ground wire off the battery to a chassis ground (i used a 4GA wire)....i'm running a 1200 Class D Concept amp and they actually said in the book to run another ground off the battery otherwise will have issues....might fix your problem, but been a few years since i've done any stereo stuff lol

 

I did a cheesy test a little while ago. I turned my stereo up a little louder than what I had it before, and turned my subs up couple of notches, and let the truck sit running for about 15 minutes while i watered the grass. I didnt get the same reaction. The needle stayed in the same place, barely over the middle line. Sounds like another ground maybe a good idea, considering i have my winch running to the battery too, it couldnt hurt at the very least.

 

I would suspect the regulator in the alternator. That's the voltage at the battery. I don't know, but I'd guess the gauge was showing 25 volts! If that's accurate (and it could be the gauge, too), that's not good for the electrical bits.

Changing the fuse didn't cause that much over-voltage. What size is the fuse supposed to be? If it had a 30A fuse, the fuse would blow at about 415 watts or so. A 40A would be around 550 watts when it blew. What does the book say is the proper fuse rating?

 

do you have an inline fuse on the power wire to the amp something that is rated for the watts maybe that was it but running a ground never hurts just helps keep the shorts from happening

 

Do you still have the stock battery in it? Those pictures that you posted the other day looked like you had the stock battery. If so, it could now be going bad, and the system could just be overloading it. I know mine started running really high last month, so I replaced it.

 

you need another ground source bro!

 

Ok let me see if I can remember all the questions.

As far as the fuses go, There is supposed to be a 30A in there, and I have a 40A in there right now, because the fuse blew right away. I will be putting a 30A back in there though. I do have a fuse inline on the power wire. Its a 40.

I think it might be the stock battery in there right now. I have paid much attention to it. Ried, good eyes my friend. Voltage regulator on the alternator? That could be a possibility. I suspected the gauge for a little while.

Im going to get another ground wire, and see if that keeps it mellow. I havent had another upset, ad like i stated above, Ive been pushing it pretty hard to see if I could get it react... but nothing.

Thanks again for all of your help!

 

I have been using the Stinger Pro 1/0awg wire for almost 10 years now. I always run an additional ground from the battery to the frame. A fresh hole tapped and paint sanded to get a nice clean surface. Since I run a short 3' 1/0awg ground near my amps, I generally throw a 4awg ground from the battery to the frame and that is perfectly sufficient. You can never over ground!

edit: You should never throw a bigger fuse than what it calls for. That's asking for trouble, especially in a amplifier that pulls a lot of current. I use lower rated fuses at a distro block within 3ft of my amps and then an entire power cut-off terminal on the firewall.

 

Dirty, Im going to consider you like my father, alwats giving me the sound advice. Thank you very much. Sounds good, the truck will be parked for the weekend, so on monday I will get another ground wire...