Rockford Fosgate Power II Installation guide

Brand: Rockford Fosgate

Model: Power II

Type: Installation guide

ROCKFORD-FOSGATE

POWER II INSTALLATION MANUAL

IMPORTANT

The Power II amplifier is designed to be professionally installed.

The length and nature of your warranty are dramatically affected if

you attempt to install it yourself (See Warranty).

This is because professional installers are experienced with making

your car sound right the first time. Professional installers make

their installations durable because the last thing they want is to have

you come back screaming at them because your system isn't working.

If you still want to install your own unit, read the following instruc-

tions

completely....and

Good Luck!

If you decide to have your dealer install your system, throw this booklet

away and relax.

DESCRIPTION

The Rockford-Fosgate Power II is a state-of-the-art

Watt per channel

stereo amplifier, designed to provide top-quality sound in cars, vans,

boats, or anywhere a

Volt battery is available.

The Power II is designed to be used with a Rockford-Fosgate equalizer/pre-

amplifier and any high-quality music source. There are several preamp

equalizers available, including the ZX, the Z, and the 250 preamp.

The Power II is protected by main battery line fuses and by internal

"Short

Stop"

circuitry which detects shorted speakers or internal problems

and shuts down the amplifier for about

second.

The Power II incorporates internal battery line filtering and extensive

ground loop prevention circuitry.

In order to get the most sound from its inverted power supply, the Power

II uses floating speaker grounds.

This also allows extremely simple

"bridged"

"strapped mono"

operation in special applications.

WIRING FOR THE POWER II

See Figures for wiring diagrams

Power Connection (White

12-Gauge

Wire)

The White wire must be connected directly to the positive terminal of the

battery to provide a power source with low voltage drop and low noise. If

the power wire is connected to any other point (the fuse block, for instance)

the amplifier's power output will be reduced and oscillations and noise may

distort the sound.

If the power wire must be extended, use only

12-gauge

larger wire and make a good splice.

The power wire comes with an in-line fuseholder for a

20-Amp

AGC (3AG)

fast-

blow fuse.

Do not use a higher-current fuse as the amplifier will not be ad-

equately protected.

Ground Connection (Black

12-Gauge

Wire )

The ground wire must be connected directly to the car chassis, near the amp-

lifier.

Ground loops are aggravated by the length of the ground wire or any

resistance in the ground path.

For this reason we don't recommend extending

the ground wire in any installation.

The ground point in the car should be a

piece of chassis metal that is welded to the main body of the car. Painted

surfaces should be scraped or sanded clean before the ground lug is bolted down.

(Cover the bare-metal area with paint or grease to prevent rust.)

Turn-On Connection (Red Wire from 6-Pin Connector)

The Power II is turned on by applying Positive

Volts to the red wire. Usually,

the red wire is connected to source unit's "Accessory" or "Auto-Antenna" lead,

either of which will go positive when the source is turned on.

Although the majority of high-quality automotive source units have an

Accessory or Auto-Antenna output,

there are many variations which may re-

quire different turn-on methods.

If the source has no Auto-Antenna lead

(or if Auto-Antenna goes down during tape operation):

Find the internal switched power voltage inside the source unit and

solder a lead to it.

Run the lead out through the back of the unit

(being sure to use a grommet for insulation from the case) and

connect to the Power

II's

red turn-on wire.

Or:

Install a switch in the car with one terminal connected to

+12

Volts and the other to the Power II red lead.

Or:

Obtain a

Rockford-Fosgate

accessory current-sense converter

(Model

CS-101)

and connect in series with the unit's power lead.

The

CS-101

senses the increase in the source unit's current when it

turns on, and applies a positive voltage to the turn-on lead.

Or:

Connect the Power

II's

red lead to the Accessory point at the

car's

fuse block.

In this case the amplifier will be on whenever

the car is on.

This method will allow the amplifier to amplify any

noise and turn-on and turn-off transients, and may therefore be unsat-

isfactory.

Interconnect Cable

(5-Pin

DIN Cable)

The DIN interconnect cable connects the Power II to its equalizer/preamplifier.

The cable supplies DC power to the equalizer and carries the signal from the

equalizer to the power amplifier.

The internal wiring of the cable is shown

below:

Shield--Ground

Red

-----+18 Volts

Black--

-18

Volts

White---Right Channel

Green---Left Channel

Speaker Connections (Wires from

6-Pin

Connector)

ORANGE--Left Positive

BLACK

---Left Negative

YELLOW--Right Positive

BROWN---Right Negative

For wiring to 4-Ohm woofers,

use at least 18-gauge wire if the run is less

than 6 feet.

Use at least 16-gauge for longer runs.

certain to observe speaker terminal polarity throughout the system. It

is critical for the Power II to use the correct negative leads for the right

and left channels, since the right negative lead (brown) is the

"hot"

lead

for the right speaker.

DO NOT chassis ground any of the speaker leads. Un-

stable operation may result.

Speaker Impedance

The Power IT is rated for operation into loads of 2.5 ohms or greater in stereo

operation.

The primary load on the amplifier comes from directly connected speakers (not

isolated by capacitors), and the measured resistance for each side cannot be

less than 2.5 Ohms.

Single 4 Ohm woofers or parallel 8 Ohm pairs per side will

form a high-performance system.

The maximum direct load per side is an 8-Ohm

speaker in parallel with a 4-Ohm speaker.

If two 4-Ohm woofers per side are used,

they must be wired in series (since in

parallel they would equal 2-Ohms) and the Power II will deliver only half power

into the load.

Bridging Mode

The Power II amplifier is capable of driving 8 Ohm speakers in a bridged mono

configuration to deliver full power into a single speaker.

This is done by

connecting the orange wire to the speaker's positive terminal and the brown

wire to its negative terminal.

This capability can be used to run a single

woofer in a stereo system,

to run two bridged amplifiers in a high-power stereo

system, to run one amplifier as a bridged mono woofer and another as a-

high-frequency stereo amp, and many other applications. In any bridged app-

lication, DO NOT use speakers with less than 6 Ohms impedance.

Mounting the Punch

(Refer to Figure 5 for mounting diagrams)

The

Powr

II has a large

heatsink for its power level and is therefore

reasonably tolerant of various mounting positions. However, care should

be taken to be sure of adequate cooling.

Passenger Compartment Mounting

The best mounting position for cooling will allow plenty of cool air to

circulate around the fins.

Mounting the unit vertically, with the fins

going up and down,

allows the air to flow upward in a chimney effect.

This

is the best possible mounting for maximum cooling.

Mounting the unit under dash will provide satisfactory air flow. Floor or

under-seat mounting will normally work adequately, but if the air flow is

severly restricted (for instance,

if the seat bottom is less than

inch

from the top of an upside down Power II), the unit may overheat with contin-

uous heavy use.

The thermal protection circuit will turn the Power II off

when the heatsink temperature exceeds about degrees Celsius

(165

degrees

Farenheit).

Trunk Mounting

We have measured trunk temperatures as high as 150 degrees Farenheit in the

summertime.

Therefore it is important that trunk-mounted amplifiers have

the best possible cooling.

Mounting the unit on a vertical surface with

the fins vertical provides the best air flow for cooling. Horizontal or

"upside down"

mounting positions are not recommended for trunk installations.

Rockford Fosgate Power II Installation guide

Brand: Rockford Fosgate

Model: Power II

Type: Installation guide

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Rockford Fosgate Power II Installation guide

Rockford Fosgate Power II Installation guide

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