Phoenix Gold Phorum

I just picked up a 1200.1 from the F&F sale and got it all hooked up today to replace my 8001. I set the Gain correctly using a Fluke DMM to 49.3v which should give me the 1200 rms that I am looking for.

Subsonic is 14 ish clicks for around freq cutoff around 20 ish if I remember correctly. Bass boost is down all the way. LPF is set at around 50.

However when listening to music the amp turns into protection mode and its really bothering me.

I have 2x 1.5F caps running to the amp. Both caps hooked together Positive off each cap going to the seperate + inputs on the amp. Caps share the same ground connection. There is also 2 seperate grounds going into the amp both grounded at different locations. 4ga ground wire from the battery to chasis ground so it should be good there. 4ga power wire to the amp with a 2x 80a Fuses. 1 Right off the batter and the other at the Distribution box.

Subs are 2 Polk DB12s in the factory polk Db212 setup wired for 2ohm with a single output. Speakers go into 1 channel on the amp since If I remember they are pretty much tied together anyways so no need to bridge them on the L&R channels. This is really starting to bother me. Is there something wrong with this new amp. My 8001 set for 800w with the Fluke never gave me any issues with the same subs.

Please help

TIA,
James

Oh no! Is it a xenon 1200.1 or a rsd 1200.1?

If my math is correct it looks like you have a RSD 1200.1 and you are running it at 2 ohms

square root of 1200 x 2 = 48.98

I just got a xenon 1200.1 from the F and F so i hope that doesn't happen. As for it going into protect, i really dunno about that.

Try bridging the speaker outputs instead of using the "1 channel". The outputs are wired in parallel.

Mine is a Xenon 1200.1

I will try bridging the outputs and see if that helps... I turned down the Gain some so hopefully bridging it will fix the issue...

If not I will Give PG a call later today when they open.



James

With a Xenon you need to gain set your amp at 4 ohms, since it makes full power from 1-4. So you should actually be looking for sqrt(1200*4) ~= 70 volts.

Of course that doesn't describe why you are getting your protection issue... I know the Xenons had an early batch failure with poor solder joints on the amps. This caused them to go into protection inconveniently. Deathcloud just had this failure on his X200.4 as well, so it appears the bad batch amps are still out there.

Though PG did mention to us that all of the amps sold at the sale were looked over by their techs.

I did have an amp from the F&F break twice, PG fixed it for free both times (they even payed the shipping to Canada the second time, and took the duty charges, since it wasn't fixed right the first time).

If you have a xenon 1200.1 then aren't your calculations supposed to be

1200 x 4 (Since it is Xe Load you have to multiply it by 4 the highest number it can handle insead of 2)

1200 x 4 = 4800

root of 4800 = 69.28

So you should technically be hitting around that with a DMM

Am I wrong? Someone either correct or glorify me

Ps. I got a xenon 1200.1 on its way to me from F and F. hope i have no problems.

deathcloud wrote:Am I wrong? Someone either correct or glorify me

I just posted the same thing right above you

Sorry you are having problems James. Give our Service guys a call and they will take care of it. Feel free to shoot me an email at rklasen@rodinaudio.com.


Oh- it was the 2 and 4 channel Xenons that had a problem with the PCB layout, not the monoblocks.

It's highly recommended to use both positive and negative connectors. From what I understand you can do it with just one, but if it draws too much current it's not so good. I have my 200.4 hooked up using both connections and have yet to have a problem.

mr tibbs wrote:It's highly recommended to use both positive and negative connectors. From what I understand you can do it with just one, but if it draws too much current it's not so good. I have my 200.4 hooked up using both connections and have yet to have a problem.

Thanks Mr. Tibbs.The reason I ask is that the wording in the manual seemed some what unclear on if both need to be used. To me, it just read like, and maybe I am mis-reading, if you feel like it, connect both, if not no big deal.

It depends on the length of your 4g runs. If you've got 0g to the back and a couple feet of 4g, you should be fine with one terminal. If you've got more than a couple feet, I would use both inputs for posterity.

Another cool option, if you've got a short 4g run, is using the second inputs as an "output" for a capacitor. Since both of the input terminals are run in parallel, it would draw power from the other side to feed it. Just run + and - out, and connect them to the cap terminals.

Well I think I am good now... Seems it is not shutting off any longer and seems to work pretty damn good. What a stepup from the V8001. I have the Amp running ~ 40v right now as I am not home to raise the Voltage any more. Will do that tonight and report back.

But so far where its at with the speakers bridged everything seems to be working great.


Thanks again,
James

stipud wrote:It depends on the length of your 4g runs. If you've got 0g to the back and a couple feet of 4g, you should be fine with one terminal. If you've got more than a couple feet, I would use both inputs for posterity.

Another cool option, if you've got a short 4g run, is using the second inputs as an "output" for a capacitor. Since both of the input terminals are run in parallel, it would draw power from the other side to feed it. Just run + and - out, and connect them to the cap terminals.

So If I have 0/1 awg ran to the back and only about 1 ft of 4 awg to the amp I shouldn't need to power both sides of my xenon 200.4? I like your idea of the cap on the other end which i would probably do for my xenon 1200.1 but I thought i remember you saying basically the cap is a band aid for your car, and if you have proper wiring and size of wire you don't really need a cap.

option 1 ) Wire 4 awg to both terminals of the xenon 200.4 and xenon 1200.1

option 2 ) wire both sides of the xenon 200.4 and wire 1 side of the xenon 1200.1 and other side wire up a cap

What would be best scenario?

Well I spoke too soon.. Happened again...

Called Tech and they were pretty much no help... Said it must be the Speakers causing the issue. Kinda funny as they V8001 came off yesterday working perfectly and the 1200.1 when it using all the same wire except the Additional Power and ground wire that was added for the Second inputs.

Guess I better Do what they said.. Rip my speakers apart and check all the Wiring and void my polk warranty.


James

man thats a total bummer... I hope you find something out and it all works out for ya.

Is there some sort of sticker or something on the polks....?

Just hook something else up and test it....... You should have bought PG's anyway.....

Well I just went thru the System again.. Set the gain to 69.2v using a 50hz test tone... with my deck farther than I would ever turn it up... I am not tearing apart my speakers and I highly doubt that is the case...

Will try again in the morning on my way to work.


James

if u live in North America isn't it a 60 hz test tone? Maybe thats the problem? hahaha

My Fluke is a true RMS so it shouldnt matter.


James

ok that makes sense then. let me kno.

I have 1200.1 and 200.4 xenons in my Z been running them for 2 years and I did have to have my 200.4 repaired once cut out and started making some ungodly noise like it was posessed anyway PG fixed it and I have not had a problem since. Oh and I am running 1/0 to the Ti powercore 15 then 4GA to both inputs on both amps. PERFECTION

well about to the end of my 30min drive to work it did it again. I am thinking it has to be an amp problem as its fine for a little while. but to please pg i will take apart the polks and verify its not polks wire job

Check for stray wires around the speaker terminals as well. With the Xenon line, the connectors are right on the open board, so there's lots of room for a small strand of wire to short out your speaker terminals and cause the amp to protect.

i plan to call pg and see if i can open it up and visually inspect for cracked solder joints ect without voiding my warranty as i am IPC certified in pcba rework and repair but i dont know if that would be an option or not...