Problem powering Car amplifier

[sfetaz]

I bought a Jensen 220 watt max car audio amplifier.  It has 3 power posts.  12 volt, remote and ground.  I connected the amp to my arcade cabinet power supply, with 12 volts going to the 12 volt connector and to remote, and ground going to ground.  When I plugged in the cabinet, the cab would turn on for 3 seconds, the amplifier would not light up, and then the cab would shut down.  Repeated attempts resulted in the same problem.

I looked at the power supply and 12 volt shows 2.5amp, while the fuse for the Amplifier is 15 amps .  So I took one of my 250 watt PC power supplies which has more than 15 amps going to 12 volts and connected it the same way to the car audio amplifier.  I cut one of the Floppy power connectors off.  One of the yellow was connected to 12 volt, another yellow was connected to remote, and one of the blacks was connected to ground.   I ended up with the same result.  The amp would not light up and the power supply would shut down after 3 seconds.

The Jensen amp has the volumes all the way down with no source audio running to them.  The 15 amp fuse appears to be just fine.  The Amplifier does say that it requires 12 volts and negative ground, could negative ground be an issue?  If not what could be the problem?  Thanks!

[Trimoor]

There's no such thing as "negative" ground.
Ground is neutral, having no potentual, and can be neither positive nor negative.

Try connecting it to a car battery.  Maybe it has a high peak amperage.
Also, look up what the remote pin does. Maybe it shouldn't be 12v.

[Mameotron]

There's no such thing as "negative" ground.
Ground is neutral, having no potentual, and can be neither positive nor negative.

Technically, this is correct.  However, when dealing with auto electrical systems it is common to say "negative ground" when you mean the negative terminal of the battery is connected to ground.  There are some old and really obscure cars that do have a "positive ground".

The ground on the amp should be connected to the ground (negative) of the power supply.

Also, look up what the remote pin does. Maybe it shouldn't be 12v.

That's what I would do, too.

[spystyle]

I am successfully using a car amp in my cab wired like this :

12volt = yellow molex wire (+12v)
ground = black molex wire (ground)
rem =  red molex wire (+5v)

It has worked for nearly a year like that

It's a 125 watt (max) car amp, connected to a 300Watt PSU that powers both the Athlon computer and the amp, with no trouble.

Groovy?
Craig

[Tailgunner]

Technically, this is correct.  However, when dealing with auto electrical systems it is common to say "negative ground" when you mean the negative terminal of the battery is connected to ground.  There are some old and really obscure cars that do have a "positive ground".

I haven't found a car yet that was wired that way. I have seen several hundred old farm tractors that use a positive ground setup though. I've yet to hear of a valid reason for a positive ground system, I figure like differing wheel bolt patterns it was mostly a way to make farmers buy factory replacement parts instead of robbing stuff from their other tractors.

[Mameotron]

I haven't found a car yet that was wired that way. I have seen several hundred old farm tractors that use a positive ground setup though. I've yet to hear of a valid reason for a positive ground system, I figure like differing wheel bolt patterns it was mostly a way to make farmers buy factory replacement parts instead of robbing stuff from their other tractors.

Here's one, just for starters.
http://www.amphicar.com/