# curciut breaker keeps tripping.



## sirtokesalot (May 15, 2008)

i have a curciut breaker in the power line of my system it is a 150 amp breaker. it has been fine for over a year now never tripped untill today. i was coming home from work and the breaker tripped i stoped and reset it no less than a minute later it trips again it did this 5 times in less than 2 miles travel then i got tired of reseting it and drove home with the sterio off. what could have happened? i do have alot of stuff powered off that line 4 amps 3 of them are for the bass around 2500 watts going to the subs and the 4rth amp is a 4 channel 450 watt for the interior speakers. do i need a bigger breaker?


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## [email protected] (Nov 16, 2004)

The breaker is trying to tell you that you have a short somewhere in the system. You need to isolate which device is causing the short by following the wire(s) out of the breaker and removing power to one device at a time.

Something is shorting out. Either a component like the amplifier, or a wire that leads to a component.


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## sirtokesalot (May 15, 2008)

[email protected] said:


> The breaker is trying to tell you that you have a short somewhere in the system. You need to isolate which device is causing the short by following the wire(s) out of the breaker and removing power to one device at a time.
> 
> Something is shorting out. Either a component like the amplifier, or a wire that leads to a component.




sorry i should have mentioned it did stay on if i left the volume low enuph. it was when i was playing it loud that it would trip the breaker. like if i left it on volume level 30 it was fine but when i turned it up to say 35 or 40 (40 is the max i go with it) then it would trip the breaker. i thoght if there was a short it would just trip the breaker right away and i wrong here? luvkly i did allt he wireing on this car so i know where all the wires are running so it shoudlent be too hard to inspect the wireing.


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## [email protected] (Nov 16, 2004)

Keep in mind that the system you're running can cause large amounts of vibration, then of course, so can the road. A vibration caused short can be quick, perhaps not enough time to blow the breaker because breakers are designed to tolerate short term shorts at or near their rating. 

Shorts can be intermittent.

The fact that it's fine at say 30, then tends to blow at 35 can have _several causes._ Both external (wiring) or internal to the amp itself. If your system worked fine for over a year, and is now causing problems, that implies something is failing in the amp itself. And it may be caused by either the increased heat the higher volume causes or by the increased vibration from the speakers at higher volume levels. 

A intermittently shorting voice coil inside a speaker can also cause this issue. Have any of your speakers made any squawking or loud buzzing noises lately?


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## sirtokesalot (May 15, 2008)

nope all the speakers have been fine there is 6 12's 4 are in sealed boxed and the other 2 in a ported box. its 2g wire from under the battery a half foot to the breaker then from the breaker to under the back seat where the distribution block is mounted to the floor and from there its reduces down to 4g wire2 of the amps are under the back seat and the other 2 amps are mounted in the trunk. there is also a 1 farad capacitor under the back seat before the distribution block. i did put extra protection around the wire where ever it went throgh a hole i slid rubber hose over the wire so the rubber was extra thick where it went thogh the body holes. i wouldent think it chewed threw a wire anywhere but i will check all the spots it passes throgh a hole in the body. is there a way to test amps other than running them and seeing if the problem is there? im not allowed to play my system here at the hosue my nebors will call the cops if i did so i have to go for drives for anythign with testing my system.


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## [email protected] (Nov 16, 2004)

There sure isn't, it kind of requires a shop. Although your problem may be easier for a tech to localize since you say the breaker always blows if you're running above 30. But such a shop would open it up, hook a bunch of test instruments to various power devices, replace the speakers with resistors (let's say you have 8 ohm, 200W speakers, a good shop would have equivalent resistors), then power it up and monitor the various devices while turning up the volume.

BTW, I would definitely check that 1 Farad capacitor first off. That's sooo big, it would take me an hour or two to devise and set up a test. If I could get a new one for not to much money (what's the voltage rating?), I'd just swap it out.


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## sirtokesalot (May 15, 2008)

well theres no cuts in any of the power cables that i see anywhere. when im running i have around 13.8 volts but i get alot of voltage drop it gets around 10 volts sometimes the stock alternator does not like me but it has to hold out untill income taxes i cant affourd the one i want till then. the cap is probly not even a half a year old i bought it late summer trying to take a bit of strain off the alternator so it would last till i got the new one but its not really helping much. i did notice it sound the slightest bit better thogh. i have a plan to redo the whole tihng durring incometax time as i want to setup a seperate charging system for the system and have 2 alternators one running the car and its electronics and the other one to run just the system. i also plan to get a kinetik car audio battery when i do this as well as rewire everytihng so i dont want to spend much on the current setup.i guess tomarrow ill try unhooking one amp and drive it to work and see if it happens. if so ill hook it back up and unhook a different one before leaving work and check again on the ride home. it should get done within a few days time. i dont have the gas to go driving aimlesly.


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## [email protected] (Nov 16, 2004)

I should also mention that a loose connection at the breaker itself might cause localized overheating...and breakers are designed to open due to heat. And of course, this is an imperfect world so the breaker itself might be the issue.

I wouldn't waste money on a so-called 'Audio Battery'. That's just a marketing ploy to get more of your money. It's the alternator that doing most of the work. Just get a battery that's rated at 20% more cranking amps then your vehicle needs and you're covered. That assumes you can get one that fits in your battery box. You can find a larger alternator at a truck parts store. 

I wish it was easy to narrow down the potential problem area but it really isn't. Power equipment like this requires some serious test tools.

Good luck. And remember, you have a serious investment in equipment, it might be worth it to take it into a car audio shop and let a tech look at it. Take all your model numbers along...they might have experience with your models failure modes.

Finally, I like your proposed testing method. Probably what I would do in similar circumstances.

Try this as your first test though. Disconnect that capacitor. Start up the vehicle, drive a few miles to top off the battery, then turn on the amps.


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## sirtokesalot (May 15, 2008)

found it. the memphis 1000 watt mono block failed. wioth that amp unhooked im not losing voltage so bad not sure if it would pop the breaker thogh the breaker failed today it shut off on the ride to work i thoght the breaker tripped but it dident wigged the wires going into the breaker and it turned back on for a second. so right now it does not have a breaker or fuse its just wired into the battery direct. wireing it direct like that told me there was definetly somtihng wrong thogh because when the problem started happening it was drawing so much power the dash lights were almost going out all together when the bass hit. it was fine for the first 10 mminits thogh but after those first few minits of loud playing it would start drawing crazy amounts of power. so i ordered a new breaker im just waiting for it thrgoh the mail and im looking for a new amp now too.


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## [email protected] (Nov 16, 2004)

May have been the repeated over current events that finally took out the breaker. They have a limited life time. Some of the cheapest units are good for 25-50 over current events, middle of the road quality is like 50-200, then the really good units it's over 200.

Sounds like you've got a good handle on it. You might consider some dielectric grease to slather on those big cables when you install the new breaker.

I know if it was mine, I would not run the system without a breaker. I'd wait until I got the new one.


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## sirtokesalot (May 15, 2008)

gets even better i tookt he amp apart and found a bit of corrosion inside the amp turns out it had been getting wet where it was mounted in the car. i cleaned the corrosion up and re-installed it in the car and its been working fine all day today. i think i have fixed the amp.


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## [email protected] (Nov 16, 2004)

That is entirely possible. The right corrosion can be conductive. Especially if there is rust in it. Especially important to check out and clean the leads of the power devices.

I usually use pencil erasers, contact cleaner, an acid brush, and then a sealant after cleanup. When the board is especially bad, I'll remove any transformers or delicate items that might be affected by water (switches and the like) and throw the whole thing in the dishwasher with a couple ounces of dish soap (not the powder type) and run it through. Then blow it off with air and let it fully dry over a couple days.


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## sirtokesalot (May 15, 2008)

well its not over. it was fine the whole time i had that amp unhooked untill i got the new amp and installed it and the issue has returned. i know i have a low voltage issue when the bass is playing but like i said earlyer in the post it had been playing fine like that for the past year or 2 now. im lost now i dont know what the issue is.


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## [email protected] (Nov 16, 2004)

Then perhaps you're seeing the effects of a weak alternator? I don't recall, do you have a heavy duty alternator now?


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

Are you running a ground wire from the battery or just using the frame?

Frames are steel, wires are copper. The negative cable is just as important as the positive cable.

BG


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## sirtokesalot (May 15, 2008)

no its the stock alternator still. another few months ill be getting my taxes back and redoing all the wiring and new alternator. it probably is the alternator dieing ive tested it at work with the tester and every time it says i have a good alternator maby its on its way out? i have a battery light on my dash that is supposed to come on if the alt fails or is starting to fail i have not seen it light up. no the bulbs not out ither it does light up before starting the car with all the other lights.

it grounds tot he frame. i did upgrade the grounds to thicker Gage wire though.


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## [email protected] (Nov 16, 2004)

Well, no, I'm not talking about a bad alternator, I'm saying that if you've put in a heavy sound system that it's generally SOP to beef up the alternator because that's what's supplying the power for the system. Especially at low RPM's. So, if your car came with a 90AMP alternator, it's not unusual for an audiophile to beef that up to a 120AMP or so.

It takes some alterations to the alternator brackets sometimes and some digging into what alternator you need but you can find almost any rating at a truck parts store.

Finally, low operating voltage, caused by an underrated alternator, can cause over current in the amp, causing the amp to overheat, and the CB to blow.


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## jaggerwild (May 21, 2007)

You need to add a second battery in the back, you will either need a bigger alt or you'll need to double what you now have. How long is the ground cable, how is it mounted to the frame? You've got amps getting wet and you wonder why it keeps blowing fuses lol YEAH OK! :thumb:

I suppose there floating around inside the trunk.........Two amps under the rear seat, no fans on them?

The more times you TURN up an amp(feed distortion into a woofer) and over volt the woofers, the less time you have left in the system. Eventually the woofers will stop working all together and will not move inside the basket.
That's if you keep the fuse out.........:nono:

Sorry to revive this! Its just to easy to tell whats going on is all(maybe help someone else).


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