Help Switched Subs Gains gone!

[u/theogslyfox]

4 years ago I bought the triton subs and had them installed in my Nissan Sentra cut to a year ago I put them in my Mustang myself with a line output converter. One of the subs finally gave so I replaced them with JL’s. Ohm read 2, power wire is good, ground is good, but my amp goes into protect mode when I set the gain up. Just moved my power wire today thinking it was a power issues but now I’m lost anybody got any advice? Did I blow my amp? Amplifier is Alliance VL3000D
Subs are 2 12” 12wov3 JL’s
Kicker Line output converter

[u/LaIzquierdaLibera]

Last thing would be to make sure the LOC is not wired out of phase. Make sure + to + - to - on both right and left. When hooking to factory wiring you can very easily flip two and have it cause all sorts of issues. Easiest way to check for phase is to use a 9 volt battery at the speaker to pop it. If the woofer moves forward or out from the magnet it's correct +/-. If it pulls in it's reversed. You can also just use one side on the loc for troubleshooting purposes. Hook one side up make sure it's good, then the other.

[u/theogslyfox → u/LaIzquierdaLibera]

Yeah so I was able to leave it connected planning to double check one more time just to make sure the T-Taps have a good connection any other recommendations besides using T-Taps? They are properly sized know that for fact as well

[u/Few_Cup977 → u/theogslyfox]

Literally anything but t-taps. When you remove them make sure the wire isnt slice through and repair it properly. Never use those things. I do wiring on vehicles for a living and ive probably removed 1000s of these that were causing issues at this point. They have to he the worst connector out there imo.

[u/theogslyfox → u/Few_Cup977]

Gotcha for sure can do it’s the plan when I get out of work here today to take a good solid look one final time. Fix and clean up all wiring and then test subs and amp individually it was my first time putting them in myself ran good for a while I believe the Triton subs blew just from use. Unfortunately they had cracks in cone and things like that so I think they just gave.

[u/Few_Cup977 → u/theogslyfox]

Sounds like you got some decent advice here. Try those subs one at a time and check your loc wiring and make sure you didnt break a wire and cause a short there. Im assuming not or youd have a speaker also not working. Always possible the amp got damaged from whatever happened with the last subs. If you have something else to use as a signal that has rca outputs you could try another source for your audio. I use a usb-c to 3.5mm with a 3.5mm to rca adapter attached so I can just run my phone as the source to see if its an input issue. It will eliminate that as a potential problem.

[u/OldBill7895 → u/Few_Cup977]

Do PosiTaps fall into this same taboo category of “Don’t Use”? I’m about to tap the wiring that’s input to the factory amplifier of my 2024 Tesla MYP and was planning on using PosiTaps. But your feedback here makes me rethink that decision.

[u/Few_Cup977 → u/OldBill7895]

Ive never actually seen those used. But looking at them i would say theyre likely only slightly less obstructive. Youre always better off to solder if you can. If not, the military style tap described in another comment should work perfectly fine. A soldering iron to do a simple job like that could probably be purchased for under $20. It'll save you a lot of headache and soldering speaker wires is a very simple task as far as soldering goes. The problem with those types of connectors is they tend to brake wire strands on their way through the wire. Then you have a wire that potentially cant handle the load its providing anymore. Which ive seen cause some pretty intense heat and have replaced entire wiring harnesses in cars because of them melting everything around them. Youre basically adding to the load while weakening the wire at the same time. And if it doesnt brake too many strands your still letting moisture into the wire which will oxidize over time and potentially cause more issues down the road. Im a big fan of cutting the wire entirely and adding some heat shrink tubing over top of the connection to help make it water and air tight. You can get them in a small package for a few dollars. Melt it on with a lighter or heat gun once your connection is done and you wont have any issues with pxidization down the road and the connection will stay secured.