Sundown SAZ 1200-D fried...can't figure out why

[RJT2011 0]

Hey guys i'm new to the forum pretty much and i drive a 2011 camaro. i got that sundown amp with an incriminator audio death row 12.... i took it to the most reputable shop in town and asked them to install it. i've taken three cars to this place before and nothing has ever went wrong. They hooked it up, said everything was great, but they had set the gain on the lower side as i would need to break in the subwoofer for awhile and go easy on it. that was fine with me because i wasn't really gonna start slamming til i replaced my door speakers which will happen around late october. well the system worked fine the first day, it sounded amazing, better than anything i've heard in my previous vehicles. But then when i was driving the power to the amp just shut off. i pulled over immediately and checked the amp, it was a little hot, but not anything over the norm. the sub wasn't warm at all and there was absolutely no smell. i got in the car, and the system came back on when i cranked up, only to shut off again a minute later and i had the volume on 5 out of 45, you could barely feel the base. so i knew i wasn't overpowering the amp. I took it back to the shop and watched them take it apart to see what the problem was, as the fuse had blown on the amp and the power wire. Everything was hooked up correctly, i watche right over their shoulder, nothing was loose. i even looked up the way to wire the car online and they did it step for step. The owner told me he knew sundown was a great product, and in the many he's installed nothing like this happened. he seems to think it is just a malfunction and a one in a thousand chance thing. Any ideas on what could've happened? i really hope it was just a one time thing and i can get a new one!!

[ssh 924]

Stock electrical?

[jonbearsmt 919]

what impedance was the sub?

[ricksi30 923]

Voltage drop is a possibility, did you or they ever check the voltage drop. If I recall correctly the new Camaro's have decent stock alts ~140-150, but not sure.

[RJT2011 0]

Stock electrical? i know my battery is but is a 14.x volt battery and when the amp was working the lights didn't dim at all and i have hids. Impedence? sorry guys i really don't know much about the subject so i don't really know what that means. the sub is 1000 watts rms. i know the combination of the amp and sub were a good fit i bought it from SSA after figuring out what i needed through Denim

[RJT2011 0]

Voltage drop is a possibility, did you or they ever check the voltage drop. If I recall correctly the new Camaro's have decent stock alts ~140-150, but not sure.

They did check that...and i think its 150 he told me what it was when i got it installed.

[jonbearsmt 919]

was the sub a dual 1 ohm.. or a dual 2 ohm.

[RJT2011 0]

was the sub a dual 1 ohm.. or a dual 2 ohm.

that i can answer! it was a dual 2 ohm

[jonbearsmt 919]

this is weird.. cause even if he hooked the sub up wrong it would be above 1 ohm..

and a 1000 watts should be fine on a factory charging system.. unless

what size power wire was used?

where was it grounded?

[RJT2011 0]

this is weird.. cause even if he hooked the sub up wrong it would be above 1 ohm..

and a 1000 watts should be fine on a factory charging system.. unless

what size power wire was used?

where was it grounded?

i dont have the car on me right now but i know it was grounded to the negative battery cable. and the wire was either 2 gauge or 4. battery is in the trunk.

[95Honda 486]

Anything could have happened, there is no way anyone on here will be able to lead you to an answer over the internet.... Literally, a hundered things could have gone wrong with your system....

Is the amp still under warranty? If not, you are going to be out a $100 or so to get it fixed, that is pretty much the bottom line.

For what it's worth, most car audio shops have people who are good at making things look real good, they don't really have much knowlege of how electonics actually work. The car audio shop is suspect to me as soon as I read your installer's gain and break-in statement, because both are pretty much wrong...

Not trying to be a bearer of bad news, but it is what it is.....

[RJT2011 0]

Anything could have happened, there is no way anyone on here will be able to lead you to an answer over the internet.... Literally, a hundered things could have gone wrong with your system....

Is the amp still under warranty? If not, you are going to be out a $100 or so to get it fixed, that is pretty much the bottom line.

For what it's worth, most car audio shops have people who are good at making things look real good, they don't really have much knowlege of how electonics actually work. The car audio shop is suspect to me as soon as I read your installer's gain and break-in statement, because both are pretty much wrong...

Not trying to be a bearer of bad news, but it is what it is.....

Yeah true alot of things could've happened. looks like this was just a lemon amp. it definitely wasn't an installation error i know that for a fact i research things before i make moves i looked up 4 threads on camaroforum all showing exactly how to wire a system in the camaro. I even talked to a guy who has worked on literally hundreds of these fifth gens, steve from subthump. i printed out instructions, and pictures. Just as a fail safe, just to make sure it was right. The installers comprehended the some thirty pages of notes easily and said it was the way they were going to do it anyway. but thats just how much i prepare. So it wasn't the installer i assure you that. it is the product. i know turning up the gain makes the sub louder and i know that you're supposed to break in subs light at first so they get flexible and not so tight. Yeah it really sucks. glad its under warranty it'll hopefully be replaced. i just came here trying to see if others have had the problem to see if i could find out just what went wrong. If it was a common thing that i could identify, i most likely wouldn't want the amp replaced anyway. From what i've read though they seem to be good. My installer knew they were good. he was just as surprised as me that it was the amp's fault. And also he's done my buddy's camaro with the same sub and stetsom amp and it is still going smooth.

[shizzzon 461]

then you need to do more research....

Turning up the gain on an amp only makes a sub so loud.. then it starts to get less output.. only because of excessive clipping at high volume

that's why we always say gain is not volume knob.

Secondly.. you do not have to break in a sub....

So.. you still have some time to get this experience down.

[RJT2011 0]

then you need to do more research....

Turning up the gain on an amp only makes a sub so loud.. then it starts to get less output.. only because of excessive clipping at high volume

that's why we always say gain is not volume knob.

Secondly.. you do not have to break in a sub....

So.. you still have some time to get this experience down.

but it does make it so loud......it involves output in some way....thats what i said. either way when your volume goes to 45 and you don't take it above 23, you have the bass knob below 1/4, and your bass is set to -6 on the radio, so definitely no loud volumes to clip at, you realize its either an installation problem or a product problem. i know the installation was great, so its the product. the sub nor amp was being pushed and yet it fried. andddd yeahh you do man haha. i've seen a brand new 12 blown because the kid wanted to show off and blast that thing the night he got it...had the trunk opened, was sounding great, the sub was more powerful than the amp, and guess what happened? the sub starts smelling and all of a sudden cone chunks are flying. Take it to the shop the next day, they asked him if he gave the system time to break in, he said no. there was the problem. replaced the sub went lighter on it before letting it hit full excursion and it still sounds great today. not to mention almost everyplace i look and every person i know says that it needs to be broken in somewhat too.

[RJT2011 0]

either way it cant hurt to break it in. its not a bad thing to do. quit trollin for no reason

[ricksi30 923]

No need to break a sub in. And it is highly unlikely that you received a "lemon." User/Installer error is almost always to blame, and from reading your posts I'm not sure you could judge whether it was a proper install or not.

[shizzzon 461]

haha, you going to tell me to quit trollin.

You must not know who i am.

You must also not believe i have no information to help you..

Ok then.. i'll do as you ask.

From this day forth... believe that you must break in your subs because it was clearily the subs fault that it wasn't broken in...

[RJT2011 0]

No need to break a sub in. And it is highly unlikely that you received a "lemon." User/Installer error is almost always to blame, and from reading your posts I'm not sure you could judge whether it was a proper install or not.

i can. i couldn't on any car but this one but i have literally about 100 photos from the camaroforum of people doing step by step instructions on putting it in. this place has been in business for 20 years and has done my friends camaro. it wasn't user or installer error. it never got loud enough to blow anything.

[RJT2011 0]

haha, you going to tell me to quit trollin.

You must not know who i am.

You must also not believe i have no information to help you..

Ok then.. i'll do as you ask.

From this day forth... believe that you must break in your subs because it was clearily the subs fault that it wasn't broken in...

yeah i am. i don't but clearly you can't be any guru. i've seen physical proof of a sub needing to be broken in man. you can't just push it to the max from the box. i will know that and have for awhile...it wasn't the subs at all man the amp was malfunctional.

[ricksi30 923]

No need to break a sub in. And it is highly unlikely that you received a "lemon." User/Installer error is almost always to blame, and from reading your posts I'm not sure you could judge whether it was a proper install or not.

i can. i couldn't on any car but this one but i have literally about 100 photos from the camaroforum of people doing step by step instructions on putting it in. this place has been in business for 20 years and has done my friends camaro. it wasn't user or installer error. it never got loud enough to blow anything.

Getting "loud enough" has absolutely nothing to do with the probability of something failing if not setup properly. And the audio shop I went to when I was 16 had a good rep and was in business for a while and still is in business. Long story short, they destroyed my car. Oh and to top it off I knew everything back then too.

[RJT2011 0]

No need to break a sub in. And it is highly unlikely that you received a "lemon." User/Installer error is almost always to blame, and from reading your posts I'm not sure you could judge whether it was a proper install or not.

i can. i couldn't on any car but this one but i have literally about 100 photos from the camaroforum of people doing step by step instructions on putting it in. this place has been in business for 20 years and has done my friends camaro. it wasn't user or installer error. it never got loud enough to blow anything.

Getting "loud enough" has absolutely nothing to do with the probability of something failing if not setup properly. And the audio shop I went to when I was 16 had a good rep and was in business for a while and still is in business. Long story short, they destroyed my car. Oh and to top it off I knew everything back then too.

true. man i'm telling you i have a buddy who went to them and they installed everything the same way same gauge wire same everything even subwoofer and his is working great today and has never had a problem. They've double checked it all and i was there when they did and it is identical to the way they did my buddy's....i just can't think it could be installation.

[ricksi30 923]

Well to be more on topic, is it still under warranty? Is the shop going to help you out?

[imnottrippin 0]

No need to break a sub in. And it is highly unlikely that you received a "lemon." User/Installer error is almost always to blame, and from reading your posts I'm not sure you could judge whether it was a proper install or not.

i can. i couldn't on any car but this one but i have literally about 100 photos from the camaroforum of people doing step by step instructions on putting it in. this place has been in business for 20 years and has done my friends camaro. it wasn't user or installer error. it never got loud enough to blow anything.

Getting "loud enough" has absolutely nothing to do with the probability of something failing if not setup properly. And the audio shop I went to when I was 16 had a good rep and was in business for a while and still is in business. Long story short, they destroyed my car. Oh and to top it off I knew everything back then too.

true. man i'm telling you i have a buddy who went to them and they installed everything the same way same gauge wire same everything even subwoofer and his is working great today and has never had a problem. They've double checked it all and i was there when they did and it is identical to the way they did my buddy's....i just can't think it could be installation.

then why don't you take it back to "20 year-double check audio"? if you aren't willing to at least listen to the advice given here then dont waste anymore of everyones time. for the record, your problem IS both installer(your shop) error and owner(you) ignorance. i know for a fact that sundown amps are some of the absolute best you can buy. extremely well made and individually tested. and shizzon knows his shizznit, you shoulda listened.

[RJT2011 0]

No need to break a sub in. And it is highly unlikely that you received a "lemon." User/Installer error is almost always to blame, and from reading your posts I'm not sure you could judge whether it was a proper install or not.

i can. i couldn't on any car but this one but i have literally about 100 photos from the camaroforum of people doing step by step instructions on putting it in. this place has been in business for 20 years and has done my friends camaro. it wasn't user or installer error. it never got loud enough to blow anything.

Getting "loud enough" has absolutely nothing to do with the probability of something failing if not setup properly. And the audio shop I went to when I was 16 had a good rep and was in business for a while and still is in business. Long story short, they destroyed my car. Oh and to top it off I knew everything back then too.

true. man i'm telling you i have a buddy who went to them and they installed everything the same way same gauge wire same everything even subwoofer and his is working great today and has never had a problem. They've double checked it all and i was there when they did and it is identical to the way they did my buddy's....i just can't think it could be installation.

then why don't you take it back to "20 year-double check audio"? if you aren't willing to at least listen to the advice given here then dont waste anymore of everyones time. for the record, your problem IS both installer(your shop) error and owner(you) ignorance. i know for a fact that sundown amps are some of the absolute best you can buy. extremely well made and individually tested. and shizzon knows his shizznit, you shoulda listened.

i did. they know its the amp. not them. YOUR ignorance is evident. i listened to the advice, but no one wants to address the real problem here: what went wrong with this amp? the shop is not the problem they know what they're doing. way more than you do obviously. hey my guy said he knew sundown was good too thats why he was suprised i got a lemon. he said when i walked in with the amp " damn son you spent a pretty penny on this piece of fine machinery" so back off you obviously have no idea what you're talking about. it was the amp. face it. like i said my friend has the same car, box, and sub, but on a stetsom amp. and his has worked great since MY shop installed it. no more need to show ignorance man chill. lets just try to find out what went wrong inside this amp.

[jonbearsmt 919]

no one can tell you what the problem was/is untill you send it in for repair........ so send it in.. or talk to sundown about it.

leave it be.