Amp goes into protection mode when volume is turned

Readers are supported by DecibelCar.We will earn an affiliate commission when you buy via links on our site.

One of the most frustrating things that can happen to a car audio system is the system shutting down and the protection light turning on, seemingly for no reason at all.

We will start with the good news.Protection mode is a built-in feature of the amplifier, and it can almost always be fixed.It is the same principle, but a little more complicated in execution, and you have probably thrown a circuit breaker in your home before.

Most of the Amps you should be buying are engineered with protection circuits.The protection circuit trips when something goes wrong, shutting down the entire amplifier to keep the problem from getting worse.The electrical engineering version of the COVID-19 lockdown is what it is.

It isn't a blue screen of death.If you follow the correct steps, your amplifier will work again in no time.

The boring but practical answer is to read the owner's manual.You can almost always find it in PDF form if you misplace it or throw it away.

You are on easy street if the last part is true.To find out what sequence the light is blinking in, look in the manual and then skip to where we talk about solutions.

It is still important to understand what the lights are saying at all times if you are not a code-talker.Sometimes the protect light turns on for two seconds when the amplifier goes off, like a check engine light.There are lights that are green or blue.

Some Amps do not have power lights, but they still have circuits that protect them.The power light blinks before shutting down.You might be in protect mode if you can't turn your power light on by pressing the button.

Unless you have access to a fully-stocked workshop, you won't be able to fix every power protect fault.The six steps will get you through 90 percent of the cases.

Load mismatch and lack of air flow are two of the most common causes of protect faults.If it feels like a hot stove, check to see if you have plugged it into a unit with a lower resistance than the minimum.

It is time to move your amplifier if it does not match the resistance on your speakers or head-unit.It will get more air if you put it in your car.It is possible to extend the life of your amplifier by attaching a fan to it.

Clean, secure connections should be found at every port.Make sure the connections are free of dust, debris, and oxidation when driving on bumpy roads.If you see dirt, clean it with a dry cloth.

Check that the grounding cables are securely attached to the car.This is a good time to make sure that the amplifier isn't touching the metal of the car at any point.

You will need a multimeter for this.You can either borrow one from a friend or get a cheap one.

The multimeter has a red probe that you can use to check the voltage on the ports.If they read less than 11V, there is a problem with the internal wiring, something that should be delivering power.

Bad grounding can cause low voltage.If the voltage on every terminal in your battery is low, that's a good sign.

To verify that you have a problem, touch the black end of your multimeter to a piece of metal on your car and the red end to the ground terminal.Your amplifier is almost certainly in protect mode if it reads more than 0.1V.

If you want to solve a grounding problem, you need to clean your wires and put them in a location in your car where you are certain they won't rattle loose.

If you haven't found the problem yet, it's time to try isolating the vault.

Turn your amplifier on and see if the speaker is still in power protection mode.The problem is in the speaker if it starts as normal.

If you want to verify that the speaker is the problem, you need to test its ports again.Something has gone wrong in the speaker if the voltage is less than 12V.

Plug any cables that connect the amplifier to your radio, CD system, or mp3 player, and try to turn it on again.The problem is in your head unit if it starts normally.If the car is on, you can use the multimeter to see if it has 12V with it.

You won't be able to fix it on your own if you discovered a problem with the internal wiring.Take it to a sound technician.

If your amplifier won't leave power protect mode even after you've disconnected it from everything, then you need a professional's help to diagnose the problem.If you're certain you can put it back together, we don't recommend taking it apart.