# JL Audio amp -- SPARKs on 12V power input



## phildog33 (Aug 22, 2009)

Can anyone help me..
Im a noob but have all the DMMs and meters to test this

...

I have a JL 500/1 amp, in box with all packaging, it looks brand new and got it local

When I connect the power lead 12V everything is fine, then I touch the ground to the ground connection and little spark.. and the thermal light quickly goes red and then off when we move the wire away

same thing, when ground goes in ok.. then power touches 12V lug and then zap. SPARK.. and we remove the wire

whats going on?
is there anything I can test here

Such a downer.. I just bought it and its mine now to deal with this
Please offer any advice I can do to make this work
P


----------



## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

phildog33 said:


> Can anyone help me..
> Im a noob but have all the DMMs and meters to test this
> 
> ...
> ...


What seems to me is 1st, you are connecting an amp with a live power wire...things will spark when you do this. You should NOT be connecting wires without the fuse pulled so the power wire is dead. By connecting with the power wire live, you may have touched something you should not have and fried the amp. 

I would pull the fuse, connect everything (fuse may spark a tiny bit when connecting it) and try to power it on again. If it still goes into protect, you would need to send it in to JL to have it repaired.


----------



## SQ Man (Nov 27, 2008)

Is it lots of sparks or just a little spark?
If it's only a few little sparks as you connect the cables it may be the capacitors in the amps power input charging up.
As said, safest way is pull the fuse, hook up the cables then refit the fuse.


----------



## phildog33 (Aug 22, 2009)

just a little crackle and spark.. we were installing it into a car, that had a capacitor in the back


----------



## phildog33 (Aug 22, 2009)

the remote wire was not hooked up during these tests.. would that be the big difference?


----------



## ncv6coupe (Oct 25, 2009)

Are your speakers connected? It sounds like the output positive is touching the output negative, neibur3 said it earlier, disconnect your negative battery cable before installing anything in the car, and the remote wire should be hooked up, the amp shouldn't power up without some kind of power going in that connection, what exactly did you do to the amp, don't leave out any detail, for you and the cars safety, let's see if we can really help you *fire hazard*


----------



## evo9 (Jul 6, 2005)

phildog33 said:


> Can anyone help me..
> Im a noob but have all the DMMs and meters to test this
> 
> ...
> ...




It is normal to get a small arc/spark. That has to do with the capacitors inside the amp being charged. Once charged up, if you remove the power then put it back quickly, there should be no arc/spark. If the power is disconnected for longer than 1hr it may arc when reconnected. When there is no power to the amp the capacitors will discharged. 



.


----------



## PorkCereal (Nov 24, 2009)

Yup, arcing is normal. I know its going to happen but it still makes me jump.


----------



## matt1212 (Jan 14, 2010)

I would start by disconnecting the fuse as already mentioned but also make sure the capacitor is not charged. It may hold a charge thats putting out the spark. You can find information online about how to safely discharge a capacitor.


----------



## SQ Man (Nov 27, 2008)

phildog33 said:


> just a little crackle and spark.. we were installing it into a car, that had a capacitor in the back


Did you get it working or not?


----------



## phildog33 (Aug 22, 2009)

ill try it again when i get back. or in a diff car without a capacitor
p


----------



## paintballer91114 (Mar 26, 2010)

i have a similiare problem. during the process of hooking my subwoofers up i sparked the ground wire with i think the signal wire. the amp was live and it was a tiny little spark. the subs do not hit hard at all. i can not even tell they are in the trunk yet the woofers move alot. any suggestions of what the heck i did? i do not have a cap and i have the subs hooked up to a stock radio through a line converter. the line converter is a hi lo what ever that means....appricaite some help.


----------



## benny (Apr 7, 2008)

paintballer91114 said:


> i have a similiare problem. during the process of hooking my subwoofers up i sparked the ground wire with i think the signal wire. the amp was live and it was a tiny little spark. the subs do not hit hard at all. i can not even tell they are in the trunk yet the woofers move alot. any suggestions of what the heck i did? i do not have a cap and i have the subs hooked up to a stock radio through a line converter. the line converter is a hi lo what ever that means....appricaite some help.


If the woofers are moving with little to no sound, youve got something out of phase. Recheck all your + and -'s


----------



## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

I wonder if you wired something out of phase?

Also, don't feel bad if you mixed up the + and - on either the high level inputs or the subs because I had a professional install in 2007 where they tried to deliver my vehicle with the Line Output Converter wired out of phase. I asked the installer if he even bothered to check it out before calling me to say the car was ready.


----------



## paintballer91114 (Mar 26, 2010)

well i had a guy from best buy hook up the line converter and run the power wire and the signal wire. i was like 50 bucks cheaper for me to make the connections and figured it wouldnt be so freaking confusing. so i connected the power to the battery terminal and then to the amp. then i connected the signal wire and turned my car on. then remember that i had to ground it. so i found a screw that was holding the onstar box to the frame and then proceded to hook the it to the amp when i saw the spark. the guy from best buy said there was a fuse under my dash by the stering wheel colum and not to spark it. lol so i sparked it and now am left with subs with no bass. the cones do move and my volt meter says there is 12 volts between the positive and negital on the power input. would the wiring from the channels to the subs affect it at all? do you think i fried my amp? and if yyou guys still think that its the line converter how can i check that out without messing up what the guy from best buy did.....it cost me 87 dollars just to have him run the power wire and install the line converter. i appriate the help because im lost now and i dont have alot of money to put towards this process cause i wrecked my last car due to ****ty snow and i am left with a budget system

sony xplode 12" X2
audiolab amp 820 watts
8 guage amp kit which i was told is really a 10 guage

thanks guys!!!!


----------



## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

replace da fuse ^^^^


----------



## paintballer91114 (Mar 26, 2010)

I checked the fuse on the side of the amp and the fuse under the hood that's connected to the power wire and everything seems too be fine.....should I check the speaker wire from the amp to the woofers? Would a professional at best buy put a fuse on the remote line? It almost seems that the sub hits no matter what beat is played and not very hard at all. It almost seems as if the subs hit at different times at least to my eye. 

Give me everything you guys kno cause I'm dead in the water on this one


----------



## tanakasan (Sep 8, 2007)

What kind of fuses?

Those glass tube ones are notorious for looking fine but being bad.

Check with a meter for continuity. Heck, for grins replace them. At least you will know!

Also check the polarity of all cables and wires as been mentioned before, thats what it sounds like is the issue.

Robert


----------



## Torquem (Jun 27, 2009)

ground should be the first wire you hook up and the last wire you take off.


----------



## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

Send the amp in . . . she's toast!


----------



## paintballer91114 (Mar 26, 2010)

alrighty then so im pretty much going to crap that amp and just get a new one. thats where im also asking for some help. i dont know if i should get a 2 channel or a 4 channel and bridge it. i have 2 sony xplodes 12 inch with an rms of like 400 watts. i found a 6000 watt 4 channel amp on ebay for aroun 200$ obivously i would have to limit the power. let me know what you guys think would be a good semi cheap amp for me because i don want to underpower the subs. i am using the stock stereo and an 8 guage amp wire so im not competing here but i want it to be noticed.

thanks!!!!

heres a link to another one i was looking at

NEW NITRO 4 CHANNEL 1000WATT CAR AUDIO AMP AMPLIFIER - eBay (item 390175766080 end time Apr-03-10 18:33:06 PDT)


----------



## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

paintballer91114 said:


> alrighty then so im pretty much going to crap that amp and just get a new one. thats where im also asking for some help. i dont know if i should get a 2 channel or a 4 channel and bridge it. i have 2 sony xplodes 12 inch with an rms of like 400 watts. i found a 6000 watt 4 channel amp on ebay for aroun 200$ obivously i would have to limit the power. let me know what you guys think would be a good semi cheap amp for me because i don want to underpower the subs. i am using the stock stereo and an 8 guage amp wire so im not competing here but i want it to be noticed.
> 
> thanks!!!!
> 
> ...


The link for that amp you were looking at is just a 300 watt amp (maybe). You need to look at the RMS output rating for any amp (peak means absolutely nothing) and a brand like that probably won't bench the 300 it states either. That 6000 watt amp is probably in the same boat and does only a couple of hundred real watts. You can't limit the watts of an amp, you only have a gain control...this is NOT a volume control or watt limiter. I would find something in the classifieds section on here....sundown, JLAudio, JBL, something much better for your $200.

Oh, and since you didn't start this thread....MAKE YOUR OWN....it is not polite to thread jack! Maybe try that little search button at the top of the page and look around a little bit.


----------



## paintballer91114 (Mar 26, 2010)

i dont even know how to start a new thread if i wanted to 
=[ any specific names or types of amps that be some use to be?


----------



## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

Look, if you can't figure out how to start a new thread, you don't need to be playing around with car audio!!!


----------



## paintballer91114 (Mar 26, 2010)

listen ive built computers and hooked up audio equipment before. i dont "blog" for a living. or do this kinds stuff often. i came on here cause i was stumped and wondered if someone on here could point me in the right direction. if you dont want to help then dont reply cause your not helping me get anywhere. 

thanks


----------



## SpecV (Mar 26, 2009)

Theres a button at the top of each forum and sub forum that says "NEW THREAD" it is orange. Click it and go from there


----------



## paintballer91114 (Mar 26, 2010)

I. Don't think I ca
n post threads yet cause I'm so new. I had thoswith a paintball site like this


----------



## Niebur3 (Jul 11, 2008)

You don't think you can?? What, is it to hard it hit a little button and find out?


----------



## matt1212 (Jan 14, 2010)

DEAR ORIGINAL THREAD STARTER, 

If it makes you more comfortable I wired a Slash 1000/1 last night. After putting in the ground wire, i plugged in the power wire. It also gave a small crackle, nothing to even make me jump. This it just (I think this was mentioned already earlier) the capacitors in the amp getting charged up (Unless you had everything connected, and the amp was trying to play). Hope you solved your problem. Matt


----------



## paintballer91114 (Mar 26, 2010)

nope problem still there. and for the other guy i have to button that says new thread! i was tryin to say that mayby your need a certain amount of posts to start a new thread. thats how it was on my paintball website.

i think ima just pay someone to fix it cause i have tried everything and still dont have a clue. well thanks for the helps guys except the jerk with the button thing.


----------



## HIS4 (Oct 6, 2005)

Torquem said:


> ground should be the first wire you hook up and the last wire you take off.


Isn't it the other way around. First off, last on. When you disconnect your battery from the car, you take the ground off first.


----------



## SQ Man (Nov 27, 2008)

Torquem said:


> ground should be the first wire you hook up and the last wire you take off.





HIS4 said:


> Isn't it the other way around. First off, last on. When you disconnect your battery from the car, you take the ground off first.


You remove the ground first on a battery because it is SUPPLYING current.
You remove the ground last on an amplifier because it is SINKING current.
If you were to remove the amp ground first, it will earth the amp back through the RCA's and may burn out the earth print in the next piece of equipment back down the chain, e.g. EQ or head unit. Pioneer head units are prone to suffering from burnt out RCA earths for this very reason.


----------



## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

SQ Man said:


> You remove the ground first on a battery because it is SUPPLYING current.
> You remove the ground last on an amplifier because it is SINKING current.
> If you were to remove the amp ground first, it will earth the amp back through the RCA's and may burn out the earth print in the next piece of equipment back down the chain, e.g. EQ or head unit. Pioneer head units are prone to suffering from burnt out RCA earths for this very reason.


Which is why I double-ground a Pioneer head unit every time I install one. Probably a good idea regardless of the brand.


OP, did you get this figured out?


----------



## HIS4 (Oct 6, 2005)

SQ Man said:


> You remove the ground first on a battery because it is SUPPLYING current.
> You remove the ground last on an amplifier because it is SINKING current.
> If you were to remove the amp ground first, it will earth the amp back through the RCA's and may burn out the earth print in the next piece of equipment back down the chain, e.g. EQ or head unit. Pioneer head units are prone to suffering from burnt out RCA earths for this very reason.


I wouldn't be taking off the ground at the amp before disconnecting the battery anyway so the order I disconnect the amp is less important when there is no power connected.


----------



## SQ Man (Nov 27, 2008)

HIS4 said:


> I wouldn't be taking off the ground at the amp before disconnecting the battery anyway so the order I disconnect the amp is less important when there is no power connected.


The amp may have power stored in the power supply capacitor bank, that's why i suggest you leave the earth connection as the last to be removed.
That way there is very little chance of any current flowing through an alternative path.
You might be surprised how often we come across people who have fried the RCA earth in their Pioneers because of this simple mistake.


----------

