so anyway after deciding to put a stereo in the ol tahiti i decided a sub and amp would help the situation...and since then i have had nothing but troubles...i mean dont get me wrong the stereo works great, but my damn amp cuts out like a mofo...when i crank the stereo up the sub shuts off, and straight up says no! lemme tell you what i have tried...i have tried 2 decks....3 amps "one of which is in my truck and works in my truck" and 2 subs! all the same result! also i have tried connecting the amp to one of my regualar speakers, and guess what same thing cut out...the amp is a briged 745 watt amp, and a single 12" sub...i am running a power and ground directly from the battery to the amp, and the guage wire is 8 guage, but after all the process it seems to be boiling down to the wiring, and i know my wiring is stout, but maybe not enough...i have talked to quite a few people some members some not, and am just damn curious to know what am i doing wrong? should i try a thicker guage wire? should i be running 2 batts? should i just say efff it?

I had that problem with the system in my party barge. I had a 600 watt amp powering 1 Sony 12 and when I cranked it it would turn the amp off. Is your deck turning off or just the power to the amp? First it was my deck, I was drawing too many amps pushing the highs (didnt have the highs amplified) and that was causing it to turn off at higher volume then switch back on automatically. I fixed that then my amp was turning off. I ran a 4 awg ground wire for the amp, which I really thought was alot of overkill for a 600 watt'r, but that fixed the amp turning off problem. Boats are a new world for me compared to trucks with systems.. everythings weird!

Yah, if the light is just going dim then bright again when it cuts out.. Id say its your power wire or ground. I dont know why it would be though.. 8 awg should be fine. Stupid boat stereos!  Then again, 745 watt amp is pretty big, might just draw alot! Do either of the ground or power wires start to get warm after awhile?

do you have anyone you can borrow a 1 farad cap from. if you put that befoe your amp it will smooth out the draw on the battery when the subs needs the power.

just a thought.

other than that try either thicker cables or shorter cables. the longer the run the bigger wire you should use. i have 6ga in my boat and run the amp under the bow. my subs are also under the bow though.

If you want to borrow a Capacitor to see if that will help I can send one your way to test. Its a 1.5 farad Lanzar, works good to power my 2 2000 watt amps in my truck. Didnt even think about that! Stopped ALL headlight dimming in the truck. Im guessing shipping would be that bad, and its better than spendin 200 bucks to find out that it didnt help!

could it be the baTTERY AS WELL ?

I say cap as well. try larger wire at first but I don't think that is it. I have a 6 gauge powering almost 1000 watts in my truck and have no issues. Boats/trucks are the same. Motor, battery, alternator. I am running almost 15 ft from my batt in my truck to my amps in back cab.

are you running the speakers briged? if not try that. if you are try the other way. make sure the connections are all clean. even though they are screwed down current will stop under a load if there is corrosion present. dont worry we will get to the bottom of this. even if we both have to drive to a lake some where with a cooler full of beer to figure it out.

Always run same size power and grounds. Check out this website it has a ton of information also see what they say about caps .  http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/ . I used to install at a local audio shop. The cap will just mask the real problem.

Nordie, let me get this straight.  You have 4 gauge power and ground, direct from the batt to the amp now and its still shutting off. The light on the amp dims but does not go completely off. and the deck has no issues (no dimming ect).

 Heres what I want you to try, take a volt meter and check the voltage at the amps power/ground terminals when its playing/shutting off. See what its showing then do the same thing at the batt, if theres a big difference the problem is in the wires (doubtful with 4ga).

Also check the voltage on the remote wire (the wire from the deck that turns the amp on).  I know it doesn't really make sense but Ive seen some amps act weird like this when the remote voltage was to low. Its and easy thing to check by just temporarily jumping power from 12v at the amp to the remote terminal (disconnect the wire from the deck) and see if it helps. If it helps just put a relay on there to power up the amp.

 The cap might help and you can use the same 4ga wire you have for the amp for the cap. The cap just stores power, so put it as close to the amp as possible on the amps power/ground wires. No separate wires running back to the batt for the cap.  In sure you already know, but be sure to properly charge the cap before installing it, dont just connect it or it will make BIG spark thats not good for the cap.

 Like AQUAHOLIC said, dont worry, we can figure this out.    It would just be so muck easier if I could get me hands on it.

Curious to see what the outcome of this thread is.  I've been having the same problem with the deck in my boat and I'm not even running a sub/amp.  Only two 6x9's and two 5 1/4's.  The problem started after adding on the two 5 1/4's.

i heard craigs list has good stuff for sale......

now its gonna cost you more for me to look at it!!

bring it over!!!!!!!!!!!

Well does not look like that head unit is gonna work anymore. Do what propless said to check voltages. You can get a mini to rca adapter and hook an Ipod, sat radio, or whatever straight to the amp. I pulled a wire off my ignition and thew a switch on it and hooked it up to the remote turn on solved the problem of turning the amp on and off (just remember to turn it off when not in use). Hope the finger is ok and you get it figured out.