So I'm having a little problem.
01-13-2008, 03:13 PM
#1
So I'm having a little problem.
Heres the story. I've always had horrible interferance and engine noise with my system. I think it might be my head unit, as it is now 3 years old. But recently i switched out my Blaupunkt 4 channel to my new Infinity 4 channel amp. And i pulled out my headunit to mess with the RCA's and stuff.
heres the problem
when i have my truck just on accessory, everythings fine, i still have my bad interferrence, everythings the same. But when i start the truck, and the volts go up to 14ish, the door speakers dont work. The amp is on, and it is brand new, so i do not think it is the problem. Some friends of mine think i have a short somewhere in my wiring, or my head unit is done for. Also, if my truck is started, i can turn on my head lights and air conditioning, and my speakers come on. So it is a voltage issue.
heres the problem
when i have my truck just on accessory, everythings fine, i still have my bad interferrence, everythings the same. But when i start the truck, and the volts go up to 14ish, the door speakers dont work. The amp is on, and it is brand new, so i do not think it is the problem. Some friends of mine think i have a short somewhere in my wiring, or my head unit is done for. Also, if my truck is started, i can turn on my head lights and air conditioning, and my speakers come on. So it is a voltage issue.
01-13-2008, 04:52 PM
#3
no, its not a soft start.
it works when its in accesory, then i start the truck, the sound cuts off and only bass plays. when my subs hit hard enough to make my voltage drop, the highs come back on for a second or 2, then go off again.
Also, if i put some strain on my electrical system (head lights, air con, roll down windows) they come back on again
it works when its in accesory, then i start the truck, the sound cuts off and only bass plays. when my subs hit hard enough to make my voltage drop, the highs come back on for a second or 2, then go off again.
Also, if i put some strain on my electrical system (head lights, air con, roll down windows) they come back on again
02-10-2008, 03:04 AM
#5
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so aside from the noise, which sounds like you have the infamous pioneer blown pre-amp micro fuse, with the old amp it worked?
i have seen strange things happen aside from noise, when that fuse blows. it may be possible, if your internal fuse is blown, that it is also causing your issues on the new amp. you may try and ground the shield of the rca and see if it helps you out. there's a 50/50 chance. but it's really a band aid if it works. you should either get a new H/U or have that one fixed with a higher amp fuse (2 amp). it'll cost you about $100 to send it in to a repair place to get done. or you can also desolder the fuse and solder in a resistor.
to ground the rca shield, i'd try it at the amp. attatch a wire to the negative connection. then touch it to the outer ring on the rca. if anything worse happens, immediately take it off. if there's no change, take it off. if it works, solder it on. do not touch it to the male prong on the inner part of the rca.
yours is a wierd problem that is hard to diagnose without having my hands on it.
i have seen strange things happen aside from noise, when that fuse blows. it may be possible, if your internal fuse is blown, that it is also causing your issues on the new amp. you may try and ground the shield of the rca and see if it helps you out. there's a 50/50 chance. but it's really a band aid if it works. you should either get a new H/U or have that one fixed with a higher amp fuse (2 amp). it'll cost you about $100 to send it in to a repair place to get done. or you can also desolder the fuse and solder in a resistor.
to ground the rca shield, i'd try it at the amp. attatch a wire to the negative connection. then touch it to the outer ring on the rca. if anything worse happens, immediately take it off. if there's no change, take it off. if it works, solder it on. do not touch it to the male prong on the inner part of the rca.
yours is a wierd problem that is hard to diagnose without having my hands on it.
02-10-2008, 10:20 AM
#6
Already grounded my RCA's man. It fixed it for about a day, then came back.
And I know its a really weird problem. 2 of my friends are professional installers and neither really could give me a straight answer on what it could be.
I also found out that if I have it started, and I hit both of my window switches, it causes my voltage to drop down to around 11 or 12, and the highs come back on? but as soon as it rises back up, it turns off again. I beleive it is my head unit though, considereing my 4ch is brand new.
And I know its a really weird problem. 2 of my friends are professional installers and neither really could give me a straight answer on what it could be.
I also found out that if I have it started, and I hit both of my window switches, it causes my voltage to drop down to around 11 or 12, and the highs come back on? but as soon as it rises back up, it turns off again. I beleive it is my head unit though, considereing my 4ch is brand new.
02-10-2008, 10:56 AM
#7
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how, where, and with what are you measuring the voltage?
i think the culprit has more to do with the HU, but never rule something out just because it's new.
try a friends HU, or jump RCA's from their vehicle to your amp and see if the problem goes away.
i can believe your friends being stumped. years back when this problem first appeared i had never seen some of the side effects it caused before. it even threw certain amps into protection.
back when i was spending more side work time in the shop, i changed our wiring technique to help eliminate the blown internal fuse problem. we run the H/U's + and - wires all the way from the terminals at the amp. we would still use the factory keyed turn on wire in the dash. this does take more time, but it keeps the amp and HU seeing the same voltage instead of them have a voltage potential difference between them when the amp is drawing a lot of current.
what happens (which can also be a problem of not good enough wire upgrades in the vehicle, bad connection, too small power or ground wire on amp) is that when there is a voltage difference between what the HU sees and what the amp sees, it will cause current to flow through the rca shield between the 2. since the pioneer pre-amp fuse is too small (amp rating), it doesn't take much flow to blow it.
i've even seen the factory HU ground go bad and cause problems. probably not the case your newer vehicle, but it's another stone to turn over if you can't find the problem elsewhere.
i think the culprit has more to do with the HU, but never rule something out just because it's new.
try a friends HU, or jump RCA's from their vehicle to your amp and see if the problem goes away.
i can believe your friends being stumped. years back when this problem first appeared i had never seen some of the side effects it caused before. it even threw certain amps into protection.
back when i was spending more side work time in the shop, i changed our wiring technique to help eliminate the blown internal fuse problem. we run the H/U's + and - wires all the way from the terminals at the amp. we would still use the factory keyed turn on wire in the dash. this does take more time, but it keeps the amp and HU seeing the same voltage instead of them have a voltage potential difference between them when the amp is drawing a lot of current.
what happens (which can also be a problem of not good enough wire upgrades in the vehicle, bad connection, too small power or ground wire on amp) is that when there is a voltage difference between what the HU sees and what the amp sees, it will cause current to flow through the rca shield between the 2. since the pioneer pre-amp fuse is too small (amp rating), it doesn't take much flow to blow it.
i've even seen the factory HU ground go bad and cause problems. probably not the case your newer vehicle, but it's another stone to turn over if you can't find the problem elsewhere.
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02-12-2008, 04:23 PM
#8
Voltage is measured by eye on the stock cluster (not accurate i know) and through the headunit.
To clear some things up here is a quick overview again.
Key turned to ACC (truck off) >>>>> Everything works (Highs, Lows)
Key turned to Run (truck off) >>>>> Everything works (Highs, Lows)
Key turned to Start/Run (truck on) >>>>> Lows only (subs are hitting)
Key turned to Start/Run (truck on) + Stress on electrical system (power windows, air conditioner, lights) >>>>> Everything works untill voltage recovers to normal 14v +/- range
It all started after changing from my blaupunkt amp to my infinity 4 ch. I would change the amps back, but my POS monster RCA's are too damn tight and rip the RCA terminals out. I shortened my speaker wire coming from the amp (they were about 6 ft too long each before i cut them). However, I did notice that my seat had smashed the ground wire of my amp, the wire was not severed, not even the rubber surround, and the wire is still intact.
My wiring set up.
Battery > 4 gauge streetwires power wire > Monster One 4 gauge to four 8 gauge dist block V
8 gauge monster power wire to Inf sub amp, 4 gauge ground to chasis
8 gauge monster power wire to 4ch, 8 gauge ground to chasis
To clear some things up here is a quick overview again.
Key turned to ACC (truck off) >>>>> Everything works (Highs, Lows)
Key turned to Run (truck off) >>>>> Everything works (Highs, Lows)
Key turned to Start/Run (truck on) >>>>> Lows only (subs are hitting)
Key turned to Start/Run (truck on) + Stress on electrical system (power windows, air conditioner, lights) >>>>> Everything works untill voltage recovers to normal 14v +/- range
It all started after changing from my blaupunkt amp to my infinity 4 ch. I would change the amps back, but my POS monster RCA's are too damn tight and rip the RCA terminals out. I shortened my speaker wire coming from the amp (they were about 6 ft too long each before i cut them). However, I did notice that my seat had smashed the ground wire of my amp, the wire was not severed, not even the rubber surround, and the wire is still intact.
My wiring set up.
Battery > 4 gauge streetwires power wire > Monster One 4 gauge to four 8 gauge dist block V
8 gauge monster power wire to Inf sub amp, 4 gauge ground to chasis
8 gauge monster power wire to 4ch, 8 gauge ground to chasis