Thermal light goes away when ground added

it could be the blue remote wire that goes to the amp from the radio is not properly connected if so try better ground bare metal

hook up the remote wire ( or make sure its hooked up good) check your ground! ground wire not big enough awg wire and put on bare metal not more than 1 foot away from amp. bad ground will cause this.

There is no catch all or simple answer. Troubleshooting steps must be taken to determine what is causing the problem.

It is one of 3 things....

1. Impedence under rated value or Thermal Protection.
2. Short to ground in wiring.
3. Internal Component Failure.


One of the more confusing things with a car stereo can be when the amplifier goes into protection mode. One minute it's working and the next minute it's not. Here's a brief troubleshooting method that will hopefully help you if your amplifiers ever go into protection.

1. Try to determine the cause. Amps can go into protection mode for several reasons. Knowing what happened before it cut out can help determine how to fix it.
Did the amp not work as soon as it was turned on?
Did it happen after blasting for hours (may be thermal overload and it needs to cool)?
Did it cut out after you hit a bump (a wire connection may have come loose)?

2. Tear it down. Get the amp down to it's most basic state. Remove all of the speaker wiring and RCA wiring and leave only the power, ground and remote leads connected. If you still have a problem in this state then either your amp is defective or you may have an installation problem such as the amp touching metal.

Remember that an amplifier should only be connected to the vehicle through the power and ground terminals. Mounting the amplifier to the metal of the vehicle, including putting the mounting screws into metal, can cause problems for your amplifier.

Always mount the amplifier to a non-conductive surface. An easy way to accomplish this is to mount the amplifier to a wood board and then mount the board to the vehicle.

3. If the amp is OK in this torn down state keep adding the other wires back on until you find what causes the problem.
Add the RCA cables first.
Then add the speaker wires one at a time.
If the speaker wires cause the problem then they are probably touching metal or have a blown voicecoil.
Check to make sure that a speaker wire isn't being pinched somewhere between the amp and the speaker.
Also check that the speaker wire or speaker terminals aren't touching the vehicle metal near the speaker opening.
Rear decks and door panels can easily touch unprotected speaker terminals if not properly installed.

If the problem starts occuring when you connect the subwoofer wires to the amplifier you may have your subwoofers wired at too low an impedence. First check the spec's on your amplifier to make sure what kind of loads it is stable under. Then check the wiring configuration to make sure that your load is not too low:

If you believe your amplifier is defective contact the manufacturer first. Many have flat repair rates that are very affordable and cover parts and labor.

However local repair shops may be cheaper if it is just a small repair.

Compare the manufacturer's repair rate to that of a local shop. If you don't know the reputation of the local shop it may be better to send it to the manufacturer who will have working knowledge of the amp and parts readily available.

THanks for using FixYa - a Very Helpful rating is appreciated for answering your FREE question.

Hello newwithtech,

There are 4 possible causes for the amp to go into protection mode. Kicker calls it SORT for Short, Overvoltage, Reverse polarity, and Thermal. If the amp has been in and working properly, it's probably not reverse polarity. And if it goes immediately into protection when power is connected, I'd rule out thermal. So it's probably either a short or overvoltage.

1) Start by removing the speaker wires and see if the amp powers up properly. If it does, one or more of the speakers is shorted or grounded.

2) Test each pair of wires with a multimeter set to the lowest resistance (ohms) scale. Measure across each pair and from each individual wire to ground. Across each pair, the meter should read about 3-4 ohms. From each individual wire to ground, it should read infinity. If the meter reads "0" ohms (shorted) in any test, you have located the problem.

3) If the speaker wires test OK, set the meter to read DC volts and measure the voltage at the amp positive terminal. If the voltage is higher than 16V or lower than 9V, you've located the problem.

4) If the voltage is OK, remove the RCA inputs and test for proper power up. If it powers up without going into protection, you have a shorted/grounded input. Replace them one at a time to determine which one(s) is/are defective and replace the cable.

If these tests show all the wiring is good and the voltage is OK, the amp is probably shorted internally (most likely an output MOSFET), and requires service at the component level. You need to take it to your local audio shop or send it to Kicker for repair.

Hope this helps.

Have you tried replacing all of your fuses? If that does'nt work check your ground........ I would check all your connections also could be a connection shorting out causing your red light to come on.

hi there
you will need to ground your amp to a new location if there is paint there scrape it away it needs to be on a metal surface........make sure no other wires are attached to the amps ground wire
hope this has helped

Check your ground wire that's more than likely the problem.Try grounding it in a different spot make sure your ground is a paint and dirt free surface also make sure its directly metal to metal.

Disconnect all speaker wires from the amp and disconnect the RCA cables from the amp. If it still goes into protect mode, use a multimeter to confirm that you have 12v on the B+ and remote terminals. Place the black meter probe on the ground terminal of the amp when measuring the voltage. If the voltage is sufficient and the amp goes into protect, it will have to be repaired. JL only accepts repairs from authorized dealers. You'll have to find one in your area or you'll have to find a repair shop willing to work on JL amps.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Only way to find out is to undo the wiring and see if the problem goes away, but yes there is a good possibility they tapped into the wrong wire, those guys are just kids and they know nothing about what they are doing except finding a hot wire and a ground to tap into, this often in my experience this causes problems.

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)?