So...maybe I'm a retard, but I don't know what to do about this anymore. I got a used JL12" and mediocre-at-best kenwood amp. Wired it up to a sony head unit and all was well...for about 2 weeks. Then the sub stopped working. Turns out the internal wiring inside the box blew off the speaker. No big, I took it out, re wired that ****. Now, you should be aware that the guy I bought it from did a hack job on it - messy solder, no twisting, etc. One of the wires from the cone was hotglued to the terminal, seriously.

I did a bit of a hack job resoldering it all. Just got it messed on and away we went. That held for about a month or two - and blew off again. I was in a hurry when I fixed it, and hack jobbed some messy solder on again. Bought me another month. Blew the wiring off again...

So last time, I did it right. New wiring. I took desoldering braid to all of the terminals on the speaker, cleaned them bitches up. Pulled off old wire remnants, got totally clean terminals. Looped through and twisted all the wires, nice clean solder and flux job...etc. I can do nice work when I'm patient, and this was far cleaner than most of my guitar or PC soldering jobs.

Bought me about 3 weeks - and now the sub is cutting in and out like a wire is loose again. I dont understand it. When I say blow off, I mean that I'm assuming heavy vibrations are kicking the wires off somehow. I thought twisting would make that all but impossible - but barring something wrong in the amp which I'll check later - its gotta be that speaker wiring. What the **** am I doing wrong? How does everyone else usually wire this **** in? I must be doing something wrong that this keeps happening even after that...The box is fully sealed and the appropriate size for the sub. Its a good system but not fantastic, it doesnt hit that hard that it should need anything special but...**** it, I'll try anything haha.


Any suggestions? Thoughts? Pictures? Examples?

Thanks all!

 

ok ok hold on is the wire thats breaking the tinsil lead from the subwoofer cone to the terminal or from the sub terminal to the box terminal cup?

If im a good guesser and i tend to be then its the tinsil lead. and if its too short because of ur hack job friend then theres nothing you can do other then possibly replace the whole lead. Speaker manus make the tinsil lead exact because it has to be. if its too long then it can hit the basket and **** up the speaker. so if that guy cut of just a little bit then the problem isnt your soldering job its the fact that its simply too short. anything short of replacing the tinsil will work but the clock will always be ticking. Ive replaced tinsils before and its not "fun" and is somewhat of an art because that **** is not supposed to be repairable SO if that is the case then i would just call it a day and find a new speaker.... it wont be worth your hassle

 

The first time it was the tinsel that he apparently had held on with hotglue - it didnt appear cut, but it was out of the "clip" that held it on from the factory. I put a touch of solder on that its been fine the other 2 times it was out. The 2nd time it was just a hack job of poor wiring I guess. Still a bit odd that it would vibrate off.

Since Ive resoldered it and first had this problem cropping up again...I'm actually wondering if its something else.Typically, the speaker would cut out once or twice, come back, and then it would be done until I rewired. When the problem showed up the last time, it cut out 3-4 times on the way to work, and then I posted this.

It continues cutting out at higher volumes + higher bass. However, if I cut volume way down and lower bass, the sub will work un-interrupted. Once volume goes back up, it cuts again. Could this be a problem with the amp? Could this be a problem with the leads going from the amp to the box? They were kind of beat up last time and might be a bit thin in the terminals? Any other thoughts?

I really dont mind replacing the speaker if that proves to be the problem again...I guess thats what you get for buying from jackasses on craigslist...but I want to avoid tearing out the whole setup if it might be something simpler...

Thanks a ton for your reply and assistance emperor! Thanks in advance for any more replies.

 

what amplifier do you have. You can try just cutting out the low bass to see if that helps. The problem is the speaker moving too far. how far a speaker moves has to do soly on the frequnecy being played and the power on it. depending on the setup your speaker might move more at 20hz on 100w then at 50hz on 800w

 

Kenwood - KAC-8105D

I believe this is the guy. Like I said - nothing special haha

Why would it have been okay and then suddenly one day stop working? Not arguing, just curious really. I beat on the system pretty hard and pretty regularly... what would be shitting out that suddenly, the settings aren't playing nice?

Thanks again for all the good info - you're a beast haha.

 

this has happened to me before.. I just upgraded to bigger wires, make sure you have all the correct spec. fuses, also like the other guy said strip off a good portion and cram it in there real good and tight

 

Update: Rewired the amp to box connection over lunch...got a real solid connection and the problem persists. Would that tin issue be making it intermittent? I also rolled back the low bass to cut some of that and it didn't make a difference...still cuts out on harder or consecutive hits...and comes right back on a few seconds later.

Any other tips to rule out box or amp? Soon ready to put the whole rig on craigslist and go shopping haha...

Thanks again all!

 

as long as the fuses in the amp are correct, try jumping up to a little bigger fuse in the power wire that goes from your battery.. I've had a 100 amp in place of my (75 amp i think; idk it's been awhile).. If that doesn't work try bigger speaker wire.

 

what model is the JL sub? and what impedance (single 4?) and do you have it bridged or not

when it cuts out does the amp lights change or stay the same?

 

JL Audio 12w3v2-d2. 4 ohm operation.

Can you define what you mean by bridged? I had it running wired in series: http://mobile.jlaudio.com/pdfs/12W3v2_MAN.pdf (for reference) off of only 2 of the 4 terminals on the amp to match impedence. If memory serves me correctly, bridged would be doubling up the power from the amp by wiring off all terminals for however that goes. If my horrid description is correct, than it is not bridged.

The amp light stays on as expected, dims slightly when it actually kicks - but I remember it always doing that...

seems to point towards a problem with the speaker or wiring?

 

I've become confused trying to follow this....Pictures of where the problems are?

 

yup series is right but bridged is hooking it up to the amp not how you wire the speaker.

i actually just took apart a jl w3v2 and if i remember correctly the terminals were pretty integrated. pics of what you are soldering?

 

I'll have to pull the speaker out and get some pics up....i'll do it ASAP...but it could be a while...

 

The cell phone pics were horrible quality....but I came to the conclusion that the tinsel lead was too short...wasn't worth fighting with IMO. The more I read and heard that solder runs down the leads and such and makes them weaker etc. etc. - I decided eff it haha. I have a Fi 12" on the way...should be pretty nasty!

Thanks for the advice and help Emperor ...you the man!

Once I receive the new one and get everything up and running again I'll bring on some pics and a battle report in a new thread

 

yup... good choice man which fi did u end up getting???