Rockford Fosgate Punch P5002 Car Audio Amplifier Logo
Posted on Dec 18, 2007
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Rockford Amp - When grounded, both power and thermal lights go off

Just like the title says, when I hook up the ground to my amp, both the thermal and power lights go off. When i remove the ground, they both light up again. I have done things in some of the wrong order, "had rcas in first", been connected to the battery and tested the ground at the back...but I don't think thats the problem. I am using 10 gauge wire for a 250 rms watt amp, and I just cant figure out why when I ground the amp, the lights go out. Please help!

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Well This is a interesting problem. In this amp chassis ground and Power supply ground should be the same. With no power applied measure resistance between amp's chassis and Ground terminal of amp. Should be Continuity (low resistance 1-2 ohms or less ) if not you have a burnt ground trace in the amp most likely because amp had poor ground to Ground terminal and was Drawing its current thru chassis or thru Rca Ground which I have seen happed on this amp in the past. F.Y.I I have repaired lots and lots of Rockford amps usually shorted mehsa bar (output / power supply rails) or burnt traces otherwise pretty tough amps. Questions [email protected]

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It sounds like an internal problem. you may have some power transistors that are shorted, but since this is a rockford they may be power MOSFETs instead.

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You shouldn't have the power wire connected to the amp without having the amp's ground terminal connected to a good ground. With some amps, it will damage the head unit.


Does the amp power up normally if you connect power and ground and then apply remote voltage (turn the head unit on)?

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Your friend has damaged his amp. The power light coming on means that the amp's power indicator LED is at least working. That light is only there to tell you that the amp is receiving power on it's 12 volt rails, not that it's necessarily using the power in any way other than warming up the amp's internal circuitry. When you say the amp gets power, I'm not clear on whether you mean the amp works in that fashion, or there's just a red LED glowing but nothing else happens. The amp needs to be repaired, and I would suggest to him to not apply power to it again until it is checked by a professional. The power supply has probably been damaged, and it's possible, depending on how the amp was mounted, that it was searching for ground through the amp's chassis if it was screwed into metal at its mounting location. All that seems certain as of now is that the LED works, but nothing else, unfortunately.

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/reginald_bec291de192ca44f

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