New subs :)

[CrealCritter]

Veggie hauler gets dual batteries and 350 amp 1/0 guage welding wire upgrade. No more disco lights flashing to the beat of bass

Batteries wired together and dual power and ground leads to and from the 250amp alternator. (Blue = + Green = -)

Primary starting battery dual engine block grounds, frame, chassis ground and ground to secondary battery. Plus 300 amp fused + secondary battery.

Secondary battery plus dual 300 amp fuses

I saved a ton of money doing it myself and making up my own terminals. Lots of fun - I like wiring so it wasn't any trouble at all. Upon completion I could sense the electrical was "breathing" easier. Every thing is snappy now and the engine cranks strong! Basicly I doubled my cold cranking amps and opened up the electrical system so electrical can flow a lot easier than before with stock wiring.

Next on the list is a 12,000 lbs electric. winch.

 

[CrealCritter]

Rewired my behind rear seat amplifiers with 1/0ga and 2ga welding wire and tidied up all the speaker wires, RCAs and remote turn on wires, while I had the rear seat out of the veggie hauler.

I re-turned my amplifers, everything was just about perfect... Although my wife got pissed at me for rattling a few pictures off the wall in the house while I was working on tuning the amps in the driveway (note to self do this when the wife is gone next time).

I had to run into town, then all of a sudden at normal listening volume it happened... Both sub woofers got loose, I smelt something burning. Then the sub-woofers voice coils unwound in the the baskets like a freaking slinky and my sub-woofer amplifier went into self protection mode. Needless to say I was really disappointed. I called the manufacturer and they are sending me brand new subwoofers so I guess that's ok... But still very disappointed none the less.

This is what the sub-woofer motors looked like after I took my pocket knife and cut the cone and spider loose from the basket so I could pull the voice coils to have a look. This is bad bad bad!!! I'm very surprised they didn't catch fire. But I bought amplifiers with really good protection circuity just in case... Well just in case happened!

Just because I'm that kind of guy and I wanted to know if the sub-woofer self-destruction was something I did wrong or not - i got to looking over the subwoofers real close. What I found shocked me actually... The voice coils tincle leads are mechanicly attached to a terminal block (each subwoofer has two voice coils) via a wire lug, lock washer and bolt. We'll the bolts we're loose on 7 of the 8 connections. Everyone knows loose electrical connections cause all sorts of problems but perhaps the worst is heat. I mean lots of houses have burnt down due to loose wiring connections.

So I shot a video of me taking my finger and moving the lugs around and sent it to the manufacturer. With a suggestion to use loctite and instead of a lock washer to use a star washer. They were very appreciative and called me like 15 minutes after I sent the email. They said they are stopping production to test my suggestion of adding loctite and a star washer... it felt good to actually have a manufacturer customer service person listen to you and take you serious and also move me up the management chain into the engineering department all while your on the phone.

Anyways I done my good deed for the day and hopfully improved this product a little. But man what a disappointment it was to experience subwoofer self destruction and for no good reason other than it would have costs less than a nickle per sub-woofer to fix

When my new sub-woofers come in you can betcha I'm going to the hardware store after star washers and adding a dab loctite to each bolt and tightening the nut on the terminals real tight. While I'm at the hardware store I'll also be picking up a fire extinguisher for the veggie hauler (just in case).

 

[CrealCritter]

More amplifier guts from my new 2400 watt class D sub-woofer amplifier. I love looking at electroincs - it's just so interesting... And to think about the amplifier engineer who designed it. Very cool...

This one has dual class D power supplies and elevated voltage rails to efficiently move vast amounts of high AC current to the outputs speaker outpouts. It also massive heatsinks to dissipate heat efficiently from banks of power tranistors. It's a very thoughtful, cleaver and robust design, my hats off to the engineer who designed it - who ever he/she is - nice work.

 

[sumi]

So glad they didn't caught fire and GREAT that the company listened to your suggestions for making their product safer. A few years ago we had a car catch fire not far from our farm due to an electrical fault. Scary stuff!

 

[milkmansdaughter]

I'd show this thread to my 18 year old but... he's 18.
@CrealCritter I'll be driving through not too far from you today. Maybe I just have to follow the bass to find your place?? I would think your truck just might be a very effective critter (the 4 legged kind) deterrent where you live.
Could the vibrations be loosening other electrical or/important connections in your truck? The subwoofer episode would have looking for other possible loose wires, and not just those associated with the sound system. Im glad to hear you didn't have a fire, but maybe it's a warning.
My son and I were diverted in Chicago once for a car on fire on an overpass. All lanes were funnelled into two lines around the fire. It was before the fire trucks got there. My son's concern was that the pizza delivery guy next to us was going to end up delivering a free pizza because there was no way he could delivery it in time.
Lol, with the vibrations you're talking about, I'd be our checking the lug nuts in my wheels!

 

[CrealCritter]

I'd show this thread to my 18 year old but... he's 18.
@CrealCritter I'll be driving through not too far from you today. Maybe I just have to follow the bass to find your place?? I would think your truck just might be a very effective critter (the 4 legged kind) deterrent where you live.
Could the vibrations be loosening other electrical or/important connections in your truck? The subwoofer episode would have looking for other possible loose wires, and not just those associated with the sound system. Im glad to hear you didn't have a fire, but maybe it's a warning.
My son and I were diverted in Chicago once for a car on fire on an overpass. All lanes were funnelled into two lines around the fire. It was before the fire trucks got there. My son's concern was that the pizza delivery guy next to us was going to end up delivering a free pizza because there was no way he could delivery it in time.
Lol, with the vibrations you're talking about, I'd be our checking the lug nuts in my wheels!

On YouTube I look at some videos that kids put up there and all i can do is shake my head and hope their wiring don't catch fire. I have a fuse on every run of power wire for all my gear not just my amplifiers. Some of the stuff I see on YouTube I wouldn't even put a key in the ignition let alone turn on the stereo - it's down right scary!

 

[CrealCritter]

So glad they didn't caught fire and GREAT that the company listened to your suggestions for making their product safer. A few years ago we had a car catch fire not far from our farm due to an electrical fault. Scary stuff!

Yes me too... I'm really glad I did my homework and purchased amplifiers with protection circuity. If I hadn't I'm 99% sure I would have had a fire. Some people have little to no concept of the basics of electricity.

The way I have the veggie hauler setup it generates more amperage (power) than what comes into my house from the electric company. Amperage is amperage irregardless if it's 12 to 14.4 volts DC (automotive) or around 220 volts AC (house). My meter main in my house is 200 amps, the veggie hauler generates up to 250 amps. Although I really need to bump it up to 350 amps before I put my winch and snow plow on. I planned all my wiring for 350 amps so it's just a matter of adding an additional alternator and a couple more fused runs of 1/0 guage wire.

 

[CrealCritter]

I'd show this thread to my 18 year old but... he's 18.
@CrealCritter I'll be driving through not too far from you today. Maybe I just have to follow the bass to find your place?? I would think your truck just might be a very effective critter (the 4 legged kind) deterrent where you live.
Could the vibrations be loosening other electrical or/important connections in your truck? The subwoofer episode would have looking for other possible loose wires, and not just those associated with the sound system. Im glad to hear you didn't have a fire, but maybe it's a warning.
My son and I were diverted in Chicago once for a car on fire on an overpass. All lanes were funnelled into two lines around the fire. It was before the fire trucks got there. My son's concern was that the pizza delivery guy next to us was going to end up delivering a free pizza because there was no way he could delivery it in time.
Lol, with the vibrations you're talking about, I'd be our checking the lug nuts in my wheels!

I must admit some old classic rock can get pretty intense... It's a little difficult driving when the bass drops , you can't see, your nose is itching like crazy and you find it hard to stay seated because your nuts start hurting. That's when it's time to reach for the volume knob and turn it down!

 

[CrealCritter]

This morning I had an eye doctors appointment @ 8:00am. When I pulled up in the parking lot about 7:45. I seen this older lady standing outside, as I pulled up her jaw dropped then I noticed she shook her head. So I figured I was being a bit a nuance so I cut the volume on the radio back quite a bit.

I parked and got out of the truck and as I walked by her I said Hi, how are you this beautiful morning? She said it sure is a beautiful morning isn't it? and I could hear you coming from two blocks away. I laughed and said, oh I'm sorry about that it does rumble a little bit I guess. She then said rumble and laughed, I could feel it in my shoes when you pulled into the parking lot. Then she said you play good music, not like those young kids, my friends and I have seen you in town a couple of times and when we pull up by you we roll.our windows down to listen.

Well that started a real conversation... Next thing I know shes sitting in my truck listening to the Guess Who No Time (her choice) and I showed her were the volume knob was and she was in control. You know that older lady got just shy of full volume. When the song finished she commented that she never in her life heard music that loud and clear before and not only "loud but thunderous". She got out and thanked me for the "experience" and I had to run into the eye doctor to make my appointment. It's kind of cool that even older people appreciate good music and the loud thing is just some new experience, which I totally appreciate.

When I walked into the eye doctors clinc, the receptionist asked me if that was me playing that loud music in the parking lot. I said yes that was me sorry... Oh no need to apologise we all like classic rock, besides Betty, she don't like much of anything. :Lol

I think next time I think I will cut the volume way down before I get to my destination - as to not drawing so much attention...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

That's a great story!