Question about Rockford Fosgate Punch P5002 Car Audio Amplifier
Ive read many solutions and im not sure exactly whats wrong with mine. ive tried my amp bridged to 2 12" alpine E series 250 watters. they can carry a 4 ohm load. it was overheating so i switched it off of bridged to dual independent. so i think its carrying an 8 ohm load now but not sure. still a problem. when my car sits off with a 850 ccw battery it barely pushes, and while running it can go substantually louder but still cuts out frequently. especially at stop lights. and the overheat light has gone off but rarely. maybe a power problem instead? will a capacitor help? if not how can i wire it differently to lower my ohm load?
its set in a box with 2 speakers running directly to the amp to 4 seperate connections. single voice coil. do i need dual voice coil speakers? or maybe a liquid cooling system haha :P
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Cooling fans are your friend. You can power them with the remote and ground terminals on amp.
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Posted on Dec 18, 2014
Hello rodnekyl,
If you have that amp inside a box with no airflow for cooling, it will overheat and cut out no matter how you connect it, or what the impedance load you are running. Higher impedance equals less power, less heat. Lower impedance equals more power, more heat.
The amp is only stable to 4ohms in bridged mode, so the 2 SWE-1242 Type E's connected in parallel would be a 2ohm load. Wiring each sub to a separate channel presents a 4ohm load, which is OK.
After getting some airflow to the amp, the next thing I'd consider is a "big three upgrade". It's less expensive than a capacitor, and probably much more effective. And all you need is about 10-12 feet of 2 gauge wire, 6 ring terminals, some tools, and about 1 hour with a cool engine. If the amp still cuts out after cooling it down and getting more current to it with the big three, then consider installing a cap.
Posted on May 11, 2009
Hello again rodneykl,
Yes, wiring the subs separately is better. Paralleled/bridged results in too low impedance.
You could significantly reduce the overheating by using a simple 12V "muffin fan" like the one shown here. Run a flexible duct from the air-conditioned passenger compartment to the fan intake, and mount it to blow across the amp heatsink.
A cap will not take any strain off the amp. It will only provide additional current whenever the vehicle electrical system cannot handle the load.
Hello again rodneykl,
Actually, you'd only have to run the duct from anywhere within the passenger compartment. Surely there's an empty space somewhere that you could disguise an air intake to look like it belongs there. Cover the end with a relatively porous fabric or even a wire screen painted to match the interior. You might have to squeeze and shape the duct to get it to fit. Just don't squeeze it too much that you cut off the airflow.
Hey, there's another alternative, you know. And that's to move the amp to where the cool air already is. And there would be other benefits, too. For one thing, it's a shorter distance from the battery to the passenger compartment than to the trunk. Shorter wires means lower resistance. Shorter wires equal more current for a given wire gauge.
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Check the signal from your RCA'S Your head unit may not be putting any output out of the rca jacks on the rear. Or you could have a bad set out. As long as your voltages are right on your positive terminal and remote and you have signal the only other reason your amp will not have any output is if the internals are bad.
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well the box is pushed back all the way in my trunk in my accord and i leave the seat down so it gets adequete airflow which seems to help a little ive noticed, but apparently not enough. in addition ive already recently replaced all of my cables about a year ago due to corrosion. the only difference is its a 4 gauge instead of 2.
so let me get this right if i use the dual channel 2 ohm output its more impedence so its better to have it running then the 4 ohm bridged mode if i have an overheat problem right? oh and i think a huge factor is im in phoenix az and its already 100+ degrees here so its scorching hot in my car already. should i consider remounting my amp somewhere out of my trunk for better airflow? would a cap take some of the strain off the amp and reduce overheating? im not seeing too many options left sadly.
and a huge problem is because ive been considering buying a 2nd p500-2 amp with 2 12" p3 fosgate subs, but the power from that would be substantually higher and i would have a greater problem then i do know if im not mistaken..
this is an outstanding idea ive been trying to concieve but the same problem exists. how can i hide the ducting running from my AC system to the trunk of my vehicle? it is a honda accord after all haha
i bought a cap and installed it and remounted my amp to my trunk. no airflow but no sunlight like before. and it has a large area to disperse heat. but now im not sure if its overheating. because when im driving if im driving lik 30 miles/hour its fine, but when i stop itl play for lik ten seconds alright then itl start cutting out again. and theres already no airflow in my trunk so im thinking when my engines running at a higher rpm its giving it the current it needs electrical wise? im not sure but i dont know why it would cut out at a stop, but works fine while driving normally.
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