sundown audio sa-8's tinsel leads burning

[them6 0]

Hi guys new to this site, and I seem to be having a problem, I have 3 SA-8's been running them for a few months, love em, but the other day, I noticed one of them wasnt playing, and one of the other was moving very little compared to the other, so I figure a terminal connection had come loose, so I pull it out of the box to find that the tinsel leads are burned right through, on both subs near the center, , now when I depress the center I get no scratching whatsoever, and looking through the vents the coil looks prestine, and im very much wondering why this has happened, as I have an alpine pdx m-12 so the subs aee getting rated power, as well they are in a 2.1 ^3ft tuned at 34 hz port are 29 square so its all to spec, and I let them break in gently, and I am very frustrated, anybody got ideas, or what to do ?

[Julian 641]

Too much power probably, If you're running a cheap korean amplifier that can be an issue too which can lead to tinsels burning up

[Impious 1,476]

Did they actually burn, or tear apart?

Makes a difference if you were thermally or mechanically overpowering them.

[jonbearsmt 919]

where is your SSF set.... ........ and whats your voltage been looking like,

where are setting on your head unit,

how high is your gain....

altho the torn burned leads are normally from too much power..... i think.it can be caused from clipping.... alot of people dont believe that... but i do..... i have seen it, and clipping causes heat paired with high power, can snap them

mixed with a improperly set SSF, can be a VERY deadly combo. IMO!!!

ohmyimhigh.

[porkchop 304]

i have seen at least a half of dozen of these...all in the same place....there can be other factors..however strictly in my research and formed personal opionion.....they have fail wrote on them.

the new drop ins are not too costly and have the round tinsel leads....these have had a better success rate in the exact same set ups as broken ones have been previously mounted in...

we just ordered all 6 of ours even though not all 6 did not need it,

[them6 0]

I am not using a cheap amp, I am running an alpine pdx amp, and I am not clippibg them to my knowledge, amp gain is set @about 2/3 way up, with ssf at 15 hz, I dont even play them super loud as my surrounding speakers do not yet keep up as they are just powered by the headunit and they litterally looks black, and burned through, I found it weird that they all bunt right at thr center, before it reaches through the cone? Anybody have suggestions on where I go.from here?

[dbsupra 69]

Where is the burnt sub in relation to the port? Pic of enclosure?

Could be unloading.

[them6 0]

I would, upload a pic of box, not sure how to do that yet.. Though, but I can try and deacribe it, it would have been the closest to the port, they sit in kinda the shape of a trianle, with the port starting at the top left corner, the two 8's closest to the port have burned tinsles, although, I wouldnt have throught they could be unloaded out a 2.5 inch wide pprt?

[pmureika 31]

Are you running the SA-8v.2 subs. If the box is tuned to 34hz why is your subsonic filter set so low?

[stevemead08 752]

Common problem in the sa8s. I reconed dozens and dozens of these when I ran them. I think he solved the problems in the design by making the v2s. A little to late for me though

[jonbearsmt 919]

your SSF is way too low... way too low.

[them6 0]

No see I am running the original sa-8's some might even cal them the 1.5's according to sundown but, yeah, they are the flat kinda braided single tinsels, and I didnt reallize my subsonic was to low, my p only seems to give me the option of 0 15 and 30 and 30 seemed a bit high? Or am I wrong? I mean id love to get the v2's but 3 of those ais a big chunk of cash if these aee rendered useless, I could be subless for a few months

I have been trying to figure out whether this would be covered in warranty. But I really havent been able to determine it, but it seems like a slight fault in design to m, as no im obvilously without an operational product,

[MikeMartel 64]

SSF should be set at enclosure tuning.. Maybe a hert or two below turning but not much more than that.. You should for sure set it closer to tuning of your enclosure.

[edouble101 314]

Even with a subsonic filter set an octave lower than tuning I do not understand how that could lead to tinsel leads burning. Other soft part failure would be more likely IMO.

From the experiences of others in this thread it maybe safe to say that it was indeed a design flaw from the manufacturer. I would contact Sundown.

I would set your SSF at 30hz regardless.

[jonbearsmt 919]

i dont understand.... your saying in one breath that you disagree... and a mega low setting on the SSf would have nothing to do with the sub self destructing.............................. then in the next breath you say that he should indeed, set his SSF accordingly..............................

now i know how defensive you get........ but there is no reason to.... im just calling it as i see it,

[ricksi30 923]

i dont understand.... your saying in one breath that you disagree... and a mega low setting on the SSf would have nothing to do with the sub self destructing.............................. then in the next breath you say that he should indeed, set his SSF accordingly..............................

now i know how defensive you get........ but there is no reason to.... im just calling it as i see it,

I think what he meant was that a low ssf setting won't "burn" the leads, BUT his ssf is still way too low. Meaning he didn't burn the leads because of the ssf setting but either way he should adjust it so he doesn't have other problems down the road.

I could be misinterpreting what was said though.

[jonbearsmt 919]

you know what rick.. i think your right...... and its true... normally a low SSF will cause the spider to break away from the former, or ripped spiders.......

thank you for pointing that out.

[ricksi30 923]

No problem man. Every once in a while I do something right

[edouble101 314]

i dont understand.... your saying in one breath that you disagree... and a mega low setting on the SSf would have nothing to do with the sub self destructing.............................. then in the next breath you say that he should indeed, set his SSF accordingly..............................

now i know how defensive you get........ but there is no reason to.... im just calling it as i see it,

I think what he meant was that a low ssf setting won't "burn" the leads, BUT his ssf is still way too low. Meaning he didn't burn the leads because of the ssf setting but either way he should adjust it so he doesn't have other problems down the road.

I could be misinterpreting what was said though.

Yep that's what I was saying. I thought it was clear, oh well, thanks.

[95Honda 486]

The only thing that will burn up servicable tinsel leads is too much power. The type of signal doesn't matter here as long as we are in the audio realm.

Now, if the lead is damaged in any way the potential for higher resistance (at the damaged point) occurs. When you have higher resistance you get voltage drop. When you get voltage drop you get heat. When you get heat you get more voltage drop. So on and so on until something fails.

Not trying to create an end-all answer, but that pretty much is it.

[///M5 2,833]

Indeed, which would lead me to ask why you are running 8's. It's rhetorical though, I don't need an answer but more cone area would be your friend.

[shizzzon 461]

remember too.. many amps on the market produce more power at the lower end of the frequency range..

So, having the SSF set very low can also be the result of thermal failure, not just mechanical failure.

[95Honda 486]

I wouldn't neccesarily say that. Most amplifiers have pretty flat voltage gain in their usable bandwidth, and unless the load is crazy, power is pretty flat. At least within a db or so....

[shizzzon 461]

maybe i should reword that.. worded it in the totally wrong direction....

In this situation, with the SSF set way lower than the tuning frequency is, the potential for the impedance curve to be very low below tuning is great. Therefore, the subs are probably accepting lots of power below tuning when they shouldnt be if it was set right.

[them6 0]

I guess what gets me is the idea that the tinsel leads have become the weakest link in the sub I mean weve talked about to.much power and whatnot, although I do.not believe I was giving it any more power than.what is within reasonable parameters so yes im just wondering why the weakest link seing as the coil is also effected by those same things yet it is perfect even though it would seem to.me.the coil would have a hsrder time.disipating hest than the tinsels, simplybecause of the environment it operates in and how the wiring is.distributed?