Two amps,Two subs,New head unit, New speakers.....wont work!

[Cowboyup]

Last night I was out on my 91 Ski Nautique from 5pm until midnight wiring in my new system. I have a custom made box for underneath the bow area with two Rockford 10" subs, a rockford amp for the subs, a new Pioneer head unit, 4 new pioneer speakers, and an alpine 4 channel amp to power them.
I used an 8 guage power and ground wire. I have power going directly to my Rockford amp from the battery and then I jumped it over to my Alpine amp. Same thing with the ground.
The Alpine amp has a set of preouts, so I used a set of rca's to go from the head unit to the Alpine amp and used the preouts on the Alpine to go over to the Rockford amp.
After hooking it up, I turned everything on and everything worked. I noticed when I was fooling around and trying to tweak the sound, the Rockford amp would shut off if I set the gain too high or the frequency too high. (It was not too high though. Anything past half way, would shut it off)After about 30 minutes of playing with it, the Rockford amp for the subs wouldnt come on anymore.
Can anybody help me? Where is the best place to put the ground wire? Right now I have it on the back of the head unit. Also, is there anything I am missing? Should I power each of the amps seperately and ground them seperately? I also have the remote wire jumped across the two amps. Does that make a difference?
Any help would be great guys!!!! Thanks in advance for all the great help!

[Onthewater]

RE: Two amps,Two subs,New head unit, New speakers.....wont w

i don't think 8 guage is enough to power two amps, especially when running two subs.

[mgswed]

RE: Two amps,Two subs,New head unit, New speakers.....wont w

How many watts total, amps, etc.? You might need to run a 4 guage or even a 2 guage wire. Also have you checked your fuses in line by the battery and on the amps. If your wire isnt sufficient it'll most likely blow the fuses somewhere in your system to protect your equipment. Also do you have one battery or two? The issue as to where you should run your ground wire, it should go directly back to the battery in a boat. That could also be your problem by not having it properly grounded.

I am about to do the same thing. I have a Kicker 350.4 and a 200.2 amp. I plan on running 4 guage wire from the battery to a fused distribution and 8 guage to each of the amps. Same with the ground except no fuses in the distribution block. Make sure you have a fuse a tthe beginning of each section of wire. -MG

[jonbassham]

RE: Two amps,Two subs,New head unit, New speakers.....wont w

Cowboyup,

The best way to setup the power and ground is to run at least 4 gauge to a distribution block from the + terminal and then also ground to a distribution block from the ENGINE BLOCK (where the battery is grounded). The negative battery post is not a good ground if you are running mcuh power at all. I dont think "jumping it" is a safe or efficient way to power 2 amps.

Here is a link to my system with pictures of the power block... it is a safest and most efficient way to do it.

http://www.wakesiderides.com/rides/i...ge=out&id=1469

[mfloski]

RE: Two amps,Two subs,New head unit, New speakers.....wont w

JonB, how did you secure the plate that the amps are mounted to, to the side wall of the boat? Any pics? I am about to do the same thing and need some ideas.

[jonbassham]

RE: Two amps,Two subs,New head unit, New speakers.....wont w

mfloski,

I used L brackets at the bottom screwed and glued to the board, that tuck under the carpet with a screw into the floor. I bent them so the board would sit flat against the side wall. At the top, i used a metal backstrap peice and bolted it to the board and to one of the tower bolts... it is probably better to bolt thru the rub rail, but i didnt want to mess with that and this is very solid

[Cowboyup]

Thanks for all the great info guys! I really appreciate it. I went home last night and started fooling around with things again, and I stopped and laughed for about ten minutes while I downed the rest of my beer.

I had a volt meter with me out on the boat, just to make sure I had enough power coming out of the battery after the winter time.(I havent even started the boat this year yet) Well, me being the dumba$$ that I am, rushed through that and accidentally turned the dial to the AC reading of volts. It read about 14-15V. So I thought, great, battery is still good........After all that fooling around for a couple of hours the previous night and then again after work yesterday, I realized what I did. I went back, checked the battery with the DC reading for volts and it came up as about 4-5V. The current draw from the amps, ofcourse, was too much and ended up shutting everything off when I turned them on.

I guess, it just goes to show you what you get when you rush. Anyhow, after I realized the stupid mistake I made, I pulled my truck up close to the boat, hooked up some jumper cables to the battery, turned it on, and it sounded awesome!!!! Chalk that one up!!!!!!

Not sure I like the speakers I got for inside the boat though. Whats a good 6" speaker for the money. I want to stay below $100 for a pair. Also, Im thinking about getting the Bazooka tubbies. Are they any good?

[jonbassham]

Polk's are are awesome! MC650 for around 99 a pair or the DB series for 60 a pair... check ebay. They have great midbass and are really loud... perfect for a boat.

[mgswed]

I agree with jon. I just got the db650 6.5". They sound pretty good inside the boat. -MG

[Hollywood]

Moral of the story, beer saves the day.

[darrel409]

When the choice is between buying fuel or buying beer, buy the beer- the boat will still float and the music will still play.