Amplifier issues now

[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

Hey guys, it's me again. I did that grounding RCA trick and nothing changed at all. Same noise, and now I have a new issue, 2 times worse than the whining noise. I am off the wall in frustration with this install, I've never run into this many issues on any single one install.

Now the amps won't stay on. They take 5 seconds to turn on (power light isn't even on the amps until this 5 second period) whetheer the engine is on or off. With the engine on, it takes about 5-10 seconds for amps to power up, and then they shut off every 5 seconds, then come back for 3-5 seconds, and off, on, same cycle with same spurt of time inbetween each shut off and turn on. When engine is off, the amps do not turn off, after that first 5 second interval. This cycle happens REGARDLESS the volume at the time. Both amps are affected, at the same time.

Now WTF is wrong? Only thing that happened was my remote wire came off re-installing/grounding the Head unit, and it was working fine before hand. I cannot figure it out for the life of me.

Car: 1998 Subaru Legacy

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[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

Here is a step by step type-visual of the new issue:

1. Sit in the car

2. Turn the car to ACC, turning the cigarrette lighter power on, which is where remote is run too

3. The Head unit, a Pioneer DEH7600MP, turns on

4. Looking back into the trunk with the seats folded down, the amps show no signs of life at this point

5. CD starts to play after 3 seconds, but neither the speaker amp nor sub is on

6. 2-3 seconds after HU starts cd, the amps kick on and play fine

7. they play for about 5-7 seconds, and then shut off without any noise. NOTE both amps power off and on at the same time, but have separate ground points.

8. Amps stay off for about 5 to 7 seconds, and then turn on and play fine

9. repeat steps 7 & 8 continuously.

This is a step by step for when the engine is ON. When it is just set to ACC, the delay of amps being turned on is still there, but lessened, and once the amps turn on, they stay on, no shutting down.

I posted this amp issue in here for one of 2 reasons. 1.) the guys in the amp sectionapparently are asleep at the keyboard 2.) I believe and have read that this might be a bad groundpoint issue.

 

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

I don't think it could be a bad ground point, because you said both amps do it at the same time, and they are grounded at different spots. If you have a digital multimeter, I'd suggest testing the power / ground wires going to the amp to see if they are still getting voltage when they shut off, and if so, how much at each time.

 

[dflw_99 10+ year member]

maybe your cd player signal

 

[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

maybe your cd player signal

What do you mean by that? I have the RCA's grounded, and as far as I know, the RCA's are the signal to my amp. The cd player stays on and plays, it is the amps that turn on and off.

My question is why do the amps turn on and off, if the remote is a constant draw? The power cable runs straight from the battery, so it is either the remote wire accessory having an issue, or it is something that both amps share, Like RCA's.

 

[johnecon2001 5,000+ posts]

If you have an aftermarket deck, why in the hell is your remote wire wired to the cigarette lighter and not the deck itself? Try unghettofying the system and see if that helps anything.

 

[Calikid 5,000+ posts]

X2

 

[coolahan 10+ year member]

remote wire to the amp... NOT the cig lighter bro.. what r u doing? lol

 

[the727kid 10+ year member]

I always wondered what the blue/white wire on the HUs were for.

 

[Bake 10+ year member]

Your amps may have a delay built in to avoid turn on thumps. If everything stays on when the engine is running but shuts down when not you may have a weak battery. Check the voltage at the amps with the engine off.

 

[EzekialPhoenix 10+ year member]

Maybe try running different RCA's. If the whine is still there, along with this new problem, there is probably a bad ground (which you have heard a million times by this point). You do know, however, that the grounds from your amps are good, because the new problem you're having happens to both amps simultaneously. This leaves either the ground from the head unit, which could definitely be the problem. Try grounding your head unit directly to the battery and see if that helps. Most likely it won't, though, because I believe your radio would not stay powered on if the ground was faulty. It might turn on and off, which I have not heard you say is happening. I'd probably try it anyway, why not. But, if the ground from your head unit is good, the only thing left would seem to be your RCA's. If grounding them doesn't help, I'd probably swap them out. It sounds like they are the culprit.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

RCAs on the HU could be shot as well...happened to me before when I hit the RCAs to the casing of the amp.

 

[spin dB 10+ year member]

I would check the remote is hooked up to the right wire behind the HU. You will probably see two wires one that is blue ( the remote and one that is blue with a white line ( usually this is power antenae or illum or something like that)

Try running a higher quality set of RCA's and see if that works. It sounds as though it is going to be your remote.

 

[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

I really hope it is the remote.

As for it being the RCA's, they sound great with the engine off, and signal is clear. Engine whine comes through, but that is it. Music plays through speakers, so ia m getting signal no problem

I did ground all 3 sets of RCA's to the HU casing, and then spliced in another 16gauge ground to go into the HU and fit that to the frame witha selftapping screw.

I bought 2 ground isolators for my speaker outputs.

I'll be remounting the Grounds if the above suggestions do not work.

And, the GF has a bad battery, she had it before I installed. But wouldn't the draw only shut the system off if the volume was on?

I'll be redoing the remote wire correctly tomorrow with shielded splice, and doing anything else I've been suggested. I'll also get a DMM somewhere inbetween if all else fails.

 

[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

Ohh, and I just found a Multimeter, so as soon as I figure out how to use it, I'll be doing that test tomorrow as well.