New to this amplifier business

[Eyebrows7]

Hey guys. I just installed my amplifier today. Its an Alpine MRP-T220. I know its small, but this is my first project so I thought I'd just get a good reliable amp thats cheap. I put in 4AWG wiring incase I ever want to upgrade to something more beasty.

Anyway, I'm a bit concerned about how much it heats up. I had it going for about 10mins and when I went to touch it, it was friggin hot. Close enough to burning my hand. I realise that the casing is prettymuch a heatsink, but without some sort of fan, I don't see how this things gonna stay cool.

I'm bridging it into a 12 inch Pioneer sub, and the amp itself is in a vertical position. I heard somehwere that amps heat up faster when they're vertical. (I realy don't see how or why.)

So pretty much, should I be worrying?
How long would you recommend I could keep it going before it needs to cool?
Is there anything I can do to keep it cool?

[Corollacrazy42]

Well an amp only norally gets hot if it is put into a Ohm setting it can't handle as in it maybe be only stable at 4 Ohms and you are pushing it down to 2 Ohms.

Are you sure you have this wired right? Either that or you have you gains to high... But that usually inst the main problem.

You could do what I have done and use a computer fan connected to something in your can that is electronic that turns on when you turn the key to your car. It just needs to be above it to cycle in cooler air. That should help quite a bit.

But.. given the amp heats up in no time at all. I'm thinking you have this sub wired to an amp thats not suited for it. Or your amp isnt quite as reliable as you anticipated?

Regardless, heating up within a 10 min period is not normal. That is more normal for competition guys who run less than 1 ohm for very short amounts of time. They get really hot amps because of extreamly low ohm settings at nearly full power.

[Eyebrows7]

Yeah, I'm certain it all wired perfectly. I'm guessing it mught be the gain then. I had it all the way up to maximum. I thought it'd be alright, cause I can't hear any distortion. I've turned it down and I'll see how that pans out over the next few days. Trying to find a sweet spot.

[Corollacrazy42]

Haha, yea your only really supposed to run your amp at around 3/4's or distortion point, that way you don't run it at full power.

That would explain your heat problem I'm guessing. You may have to sacrifice some power, or get a bigger amp.

[Eyebrows7]

Yep, looks like I'll need a more powerful amp. I turned it down to the nominal gain setting and it only got warm. Problem is, it feels like I don't even have a sub, cause the volumes that low.

I turned the gain back up so that I can just feel it, but it got hot again. I'm gonna need more than 140 watts RMS for this thing.

Thanks for the help.

[Corollacrazy42]

Not a problem my good man.

That amp is actually pretty nice, just used more readily for a tweet amp or mid-bass amp, not subs lol