Blown AMP on 280DA

gnealon

New Member
Apr 8, 2009
570
West Babylon, NY
Boat Info
2005 280 DA, Garmin 4208
"Ship Faced"
Engines
Twin 5.0L Merc BIII
Guys, I am pretty sure my amp bit the dust on me last weekend which gives me the perfect excuse to upgrade the stereo system :grin:

Couple questions...

1. Anyone know what kind of factory AMP is in a 2005 280DA?
2. Do you think the existing power wires (gauge) would be fine for an upgraded AMP? (ex. JL audio 6 channel amp)?
3. The rocker switch, next to the aft berth, for the stereo system... does that actually cut power to the amp? Or does it cut the signal from the head unit (blue wire i believe?)

Thanks everyone!
 
Hey, I'm also in the process of replacing my amp to a 540W 6-CH MB Quart Nautique (might want to check it out, it's nice & affordable) and have done A LOT of reading because I didn't want to burn the boat down, but also was hoping to simply take the wires off the old amp & wire the new one in. The short of it, unless you are going to replace your amp with one of similar size (mine was 60W x 2), you need to do some wiring, sorry. Quick answers to your other questions, the brand is simply "Marine Audio" on mine, some cheap thing. The rocker switch in my panel controls power to the amp only. I can turn on my stereo from the helm (button with the pic of a speaker) without turning on the amp.

The amp breaker in the panel is 25 amps. Another rule of thumb: Whatever the sum of the fuses are in the amp (they're usually exposed car-type fuses along the connection side), that's what you need in the panel AS WELL AS 12" or less from the connection to the battery! This latter fuse is crucial, as if there is a short, the fuse blows before your boat catches fire. So if your amp has two 60A fuses, you'll need a 120A fuse at the battery (another reason why the panel breaker will not be sufficient). So if you're curious, here's what I'm doing:

-Running fresh 4-gauge wire directly from the battery (with a fuse 12" away!), through the bilge wall (near the area where Sea Ray came through the wall with all the cabin wiring) to the amp. I've also decided to run the ground directly back. There's many opinions on this and most amp kits have small-length ground wires (because they're made for cars). At the end of the day, I wanted a clean, direct connection free from interference or noise from, say, grounding on the same block as my cabin lights. I also had to lengthen the speaker wires to reach the new amp so I took the opportunity to buy a brand that wasn't super-expensive (still 16-gauge), but was a nice blue color to compliment the amp.

-Now I have orphaned & unused power, ground and remote wires (where the old amp was connected). I decided to lengthen the wires (via solid connectors) and attach a powered Bazooka 10" subwoofer. It has it's own built-in amp that draws about the same power as the old amp did (so I knew the connections, wiring & breaker would be a match).

-So I went from a 6-speaker setup with 2 speakers running off the head (sounded awful) and the other 4 speakers running off an under-powered 120W amp to a 540W 6CH amp with dedicated power, 60W going to each speaker independently, plus a 100W powered subwoofer tucked in the mid-cabin. I upgraded my stereo head two years ago to a Fusion MS-CD600, and so glad I did, because now I'll be able to assign each pair of speakers (and sub) to a Zone that can be controlled from the remote (volume for all, only on deck, only in the cabin, etc.).

Good luck and do your research (or have it done professionally!).
 

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