I have an Apline MRV-F540 that is not mounted yet, just kind of sitting in my trunk. My head unit is an Alpine 7897.
When I have the top down driving, I can turn the music up to Vol 20 or 21. Its loud but just not loud enough, so some songs I can go up to 22-24.
The problem I am having is that on MOST songs that I play If I go above Vol. 20 or 21 the music stops all the speakers like cut out. If I drop the volume down to Vol 19 or 20 it will kick in like after 3 to 5 seconds.
Is this a problem with my amp over heating? Or could it be a power issue? And help would be great...

 

are any speakers being driven by your deck? All speakers hooked up to the amp? Sub on the amp only? How many speakers?.........................if you describe your "complete" system better, I can prob help you.............................Bob

 

*hangs head in shame* Sorry about that.
Everything is powered off the amp. Alpine Type-R 5 and a quarter components, JL Audio Stealth box and the 7897

 

What size power wire are you powering the amp with?? 10, 8, 4 gauge? Also check all your connections to make sure they are secure. Maybe when you bump it too loud a wire gets loose.

 

We have checked to ensure that the connections are secure, but I used 8 gauge.

 

8 gauge is a bit lite for this application according to conventional 'wisdom' but it should be more than adequate for most needs.

now, is it immediately upon going up from 21 to 22 and above that it cuts out, or does it take a bit of time?
for example, let's say we go out to your car, crank it to 18 and play for a while. then you go straight to 24 -- did it shut down right away or did it play for a while?
is the amp fused or are you using a circuit breaker?

based on what you've given us -- i'd check (in this order):

• temp on the amp -- pull over if you have to and touch the amp. can you leave your hand on it for more than 2 seconds w/o pain or worse?
  
• ground -- what gauge is it and how long? where? make sure it is solid and has a good integrity connection.
  
• connections -- i'd check every single speaker connection from the amp to the speakers. make sure all the wires are not touching or close to touching each other. they should all be setup in such a fashion to where they cannot accidentally touch and there should be at least 10 mm or more between bare wires (near where they go into the amp). this could be 'close' wires sparking off and shorting out the amp.

what you've given us is kinda vague. these are all thoughts that come up based on the symptoms you have presented... some may be way off, some may be dead on... or none may be right... w/o some more info - it's hard to tell.
to me it sounds like a power shutdown issue and not thermal (usually thermal won't recover for many minutes, not w/in several seconds.)

also, how is the sub wired for load?

 

Sounds suspiciously like an electrical short to me. At higher volumes, greater voltage increases the likelihood of arcing between exposed wires. The amp detects the short and shuts down. Look for a spot where the speaker wires got pinched or the insulation is damaged.

Or, are the speakers wired correctly at an impedance that the amp is capable of supporting? If not, the amp might detect excessive current and shut down automatically.

Temperature shutdown would take longer, and I've never had a problem with Alpine V12s when wired properly. I don't think that's a factor here

The 8 gauge wiring may not be ideal, but the voltage drop across the relatively short distance from amp to battery isn't going to be enough to shut down the amp in this way.

 

Where are your gains set?

I don't know the ratings of those various components, is it possible you are over-driving your speakers?

 

Thank you for all of your feed back. Here is some more information for you.

8 Gauge wire is what the person from the audio store gave me to use. I picked up a kit which came with a fuse. The fuse is sitting by my battery. I did the install with a friend who has done many other car audio installs.

PJK3: I am not sure what you mean when you are asking about how my sub is wired. I can have the vol up to 20 or 21 when driving, SOME songs that are "quiter" (I guess they are poor recordings) I can take up to 24 - 25 but all songs with normal volume can go up to 20-21.

If I want enjoy my music (not blow my ears out or anything) the desired volume setting would be between 22 - 24. When I turn it up that high it will play the song for a few seconds and then cut out into scilence. The ONLY way to get the song to play again, it to turn the music back down to 21 or lower vol.

jeffbrig: Its going to be a pain in the a$$ but I will tear the car down again to find a short if I need to.
The ground is a FAT black wire that came in the rockfosgate wire kit and is going to bolt by the spare tire. That area was sanded down to ensure that we were touching metal.

The amp is not mounted yet (I have no more money) All of the wires and the amp and sitting ontop of the cover to the stealth box. I have a piece of wood wedged between the gap of the amp and the corner to ensure that the amp doesnt fly around.

 

what i am asking regarding how the sub is wired, is this...

is it a Dual Voice Coild sub? is it in series or parallel?

this really sounds like it's shorting out on something and powering back up... or that you're overloading the amp and it's shutting down to protect itself...