Smelly subs

[GavinGood 0]

Hey, Yall I just made an account for this page and I have a very important question... Last week I switched my set up from a 1.9 cubic foot sealed box with 2 10" kicker comp ds to a 2.0 cubic foot ported box and I have an awful smell at high bass. I did take my truck and have a local audio shop tune my kicker 1200 watt amp and it still smells... 

The subs are in perfect condition but they are about 3 years old but the box is a week old... If you need any more info please respond on here or email me at [email protected]

Have a great day! 

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Welcome to SSA.  How did they tune?

 

0.1 cube is not going to make a difference.

[GavinGood 0]

Thanks for the response Aaron I had it previously tuned by radio shack and since it was a sealed unit it didn't have a smell but now since its in a ported box it smells weird but still sounds clear and I think when he tuned it he only switched the gain but I will upload a pic of what its set at.

[GavinGood 0]

This is what its currently tuned at... But if you need I can send you the picture of what it was previously tuned at also.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

1 hour ago, Aaron Clinton said:

Welcome to SSA.  How did they tune?

 

0.1 cube is not going to make a difference.

YOu missed the vented part didn't you.

 

Unfortunately, just looking at the dials on the amp isn't going to give us the info we need.  The smell could be harmless or it could be, and more likely IS, that you are reaching the thermal limits on the driver.  It may be adhesive or the coil burning. You've likely already caused some damage as well.  Given the fact the enclosure is now vented gives the scent a straight path to your nose now, but it's also most plausibly the reason you're reaching their limits in the first place.  I would be willing to bet the enclosure is tuned relatively high and you reaching past the mechanical limits as well.   It would be great to know your enclosure tuning and vent size also, but we're still at a loss on the power side.

[GavinGood 0]

Thanks for your response! The subs still look in perfect condition and still perform as they should! The subs are rated for 1.2 - 1.8 cubic feet of air space but crutch field said 2.0 cubic feet would work just fine. Peak watts are 600 per sub and 300 RMS per sub. I've taken the subs out and checked everything and they still look brand new and they don't make a crunchy noise when you push on the cone... The guys at the audio store told me that it should be fine but I don't want to mess it up.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

1 hour ago, Tirefryr said:

YOu missed the vented part didn't you.

 

Unfortunately, just looking at the dials on the amp isn't going to give us the info we need.  The smell could be harmless or it could be, and more likely IS, that you are reaching the thermal limits on the driver.  It may be adhesive or the coil burning. You've likely already caused some damage as well.  Given the fact the enclosure is now vented gives the scent a straight path to your nose now, but it's also most plausibly the reason you're reaching their limits in the first place.  I would be willing to bet the enclosure is tuned relatively high and you reaching past the mechanical limits as well.   It would be great to know your enclosure tuning and vent size also, but we're still at a loss on the power side.

Ahhh SOB, yep missed that part.  D'oh 

[GavinGood 0]

I just talked to Crutchfield and they think they know what the problem is and come to think about it that makes more sense... I am currently running 18 gauge from sub to box and they said for that watt im pushing out that I should be running minimum 12 gauge...

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

I also notice you're listing peak wattage.  That is something never to take into account.  RMS of 300 and you are sending them roughly double that often.  Also I notice you have bass boost turned up past 0. 

[GavinGood 0]

The only reason I was listing peak wattage is because I only smell it at high power and they are ran to separate spring terminals so I smell it at peak . But hopefully, this new 12 AWG wire will do the trick... I've ordered it along with Rockford front door speakers and kicker rear... Schedule delivery is next Tuesday so ill let yall know next week if that fixed my problem or not. 

[Tirefryr 1,742]

The wire is NOT going to do anything.  Crutchfield is good to buy stuff from, but unfortunately, their "advisors" do not know much.  The 16 gauge is more than adequate.  Current is relatively low.

 

You're not going to see the damage.  Think about it.  The drivers stink and they're not supposed to stink.  They're reaching their thermal limits and you're smelling the burning adhesive and/or coil varnish or maybe even the coil itself. 

 

I'm almost certain you're reaching mechanical limits as well.  I'm guessing you're tuned right around the setpoint of the bass boost circuit on your amp, and the boost is set halfway up.  This is just an assumption, but common sense is hitting you right in the nose, so make sure you take heed.

[GavinGood 0]

So what do I do to make them not smell ? The only thing that I switched from running not ported to ported was the wiring from amp to box... the non ported box only used one set of +- on amp but the ported is running both +-. 

Btw I was running 14 AWG on non ported and 18 gauge on this one but Tuesday it will be on 12AWG 

PICTURE BELOW 

[Tirefryr 1,742]

You stated your amp settings were changed as well.  Keep in mind the vented enclosure changes how the drivers react as well.    You gain cone control in the passband, but go under that and your asking for mechanical issues quite easily. 

If the speaker wire was an issue, it would be hot or melting.  This will only happen if the wire is too small that it causes a resistance increase akin to a bad connection.  The wire will heat up and degrade though.  THe only thing this will do to the subs is cause voltage drop limiting output.

[GavinGood 0]

The wire did turn a darker color and seemed to heat my amp up more.. do you have any suggestions on what I should do?? Should I tune my amp on a 50hz pull with a dmm ??

[Randal Johnson 544]

My bass boost on my sub amplifier is set to zero. 

Crossover setting at 70 htz seems fine. 

I’m thinking you may have changed the ohm load the amplifier sees when you changed enclosures. 

[GavinGood 0]

So I need to turn my bass boat down ??? I am not familiar on amps and I don’t want to drive 30 min again for them to “Tune” it so I’m trying to fix it all myself 

[GavinGood 0]

And like I said up above the amp used to run both 10s off of one +- on amp now they are wired individually so is that the problem??

[GavinGood 0]

See what I mean... I was running outside + and - outside terminals so does that mean the inside terminals are set different ??? 

[Randal Johnson 544]

5 minutes ago, GavinGood said:

And like I said up above the amp used to run both 10s off of one +- on amp now they are wired individually so is that the problem??

You have the amplifier seeing screwed up ohm loads stressing the amplifier. 

[GavinGood 0]

Just now, Randal Johnson said:

You have the amplifier seeing screwed up ohm loads stressing the amplifier. 

How do I fix this ??? 

[GavinGood 0]

Or should I wire them both down to one spring terminal??? And wire it back to original outside +- ports ???

[Tirefryr 1,742]

What impedance are the drivers and what is the lowest load the amp can handle?

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Do you have enclosure specs?

[GavinGood 0]

I know the amp can hold 1 ohm and the enclosure is 2.0 cubic feet per sub and is capable of 30hz