Constant buzz

14ga or 12 ga wire works just fine.. You can use 16 ga speaker wire doubled up twisted together as one wire if thats all you have that works just as well.
14ga or 12 ga wire works just fine.. You can use 16 ga speaker wire doubled up twisted together as one wire if thats all you have that works just as well.
So my buddy at work says that I should run both power and ground for the radio directly to the battery with 12 ga any thoughts on this/ would it be a good idea to do so in my case???? Or would running a 12 ga ground only be just as good?
 
So my buddy at work says that I should run both power and ground for the radio directly to the battery with 12 ga any thoughts on this/ would it be a good idea to do so in my case???? Or would running a 12 ga ground only be just as good?
I wouldnt run either wiring to battery.Power wire will be on Constant and run your battery down.Running a ground wire all the way to the battery is a waste of time and wiring when you can simply run approx 2-4 ft of 14-12 ga single wire to a SOLID GROUND to Bare Metal with a Screw and Ring terminal and maybe a washer= approx $2-5 bucks. I would recommend not taking any advice from your Buddy at work on this or you"ll end up stranded needing a jump start to get somewhere
 
So my buddy at work says that I should run both power and ground for the radio directly to the battery with 12 ga any thoughts on this/ would it be a good idea to do so in my case???? Or would running a 12 ga ground only be just as good?
Absolutely not. The ground wire is shorter than the power wire for a big reason, and that's safety. What's the point of having a fuse if the longest length of wire generating heat is an unfused ground? The ground cable should be short. Use the chassis, it's an amazing ground without needing a terminal right to the battery (electrically it basically is, vdrop on ground is minimal). You won't necessarily drain your battery because the ignition cable is, I assume, still going to be connected in line with your key wiring, but it's proper to just screw the terminal into solid metal somewhere behind the radio. Some radios provide a black ground right from the harness and I believe that goes back to the fuse box to ground, which is just fine too, why not both?

audiobaun's suggestion of splicing the ground wire from the harness to a grounded chassis terminal is a great idea if that's all you have, a lot of radios come with a ground terminal point already but there's no harm in adding one if you think it's a grounding issue (which are quite common).
 
Absolutely not. The ground wire is shorter than the power wire for a big reason, and that's safety. What's the point of having a fuse if the longest length of wire generating heat is an unfused ground? The ground cable should be short. Use the chassis, it's an amazing ground without needing a terminal right to the battery (electrically it basically is, vdrop on ground is minimal). You won't necessarily drain your battery because the ignition cable is, I assume, still going to be connected in line with your key wiring, but it's proper to just screw the terminal into solid metal somewhere behind the radio. Some radios provide a black ground right from the harness and I believe that goes back to the fuse box to ground, which is just fine too, why not both?

audiobaun's suggestion of splicing the ground wire from the harness to a grounded chassis terminal is a great idea if that's all you have, a lot of radios come with a ground terminal point already but there's no harm in adding one if you think it's a grounding issue (which are quite common).
Right
I wouldnt run either wiring to battery.Power wire will be on Constant and run your battery down.Running a ground wire all the way to the battery is a waste of time and wiring when you can simply run approx 2-4 ft of 14-12 ga single wire to a SOLID GROUND to Bare Metal with a Screw and Ring terminal and maybe a washer= approx $2-5 bucks. I would recommend not taking any advice from your Buddy at work on this or you"ll end up stranded needing a jump start to get somewhere
Right on I thought it would be a waist of time but figured I would at least ask and see if anyone else has tried it with any success
 
So yesterday I have removed and cleaned all grounds to shiny bare metal, added a new 12ga ground to the existing ground in the dash for the radio Which is the only ground I found that metered on the high side of things, used my multi meter to test my rca’s they are all good, Tested all my grounds with said multimeter, and everything is good there, I put a different cheapo pioneer in it, and nothing has changed and the sound still is there. If I hook up my phone to the rca’s in dash with the Y splitters, barrel connectors, and the headphone to rca adapter there is no buzz... I literally feel like I’m about to rip my hair out over this. I dont think it’s a grounding issue anymore as I tested all grounds for the audio system and everything meters out fine. What should I do next to try to resolve my issue. If I Where to have a bad capacitor in the amp is there anyway to test for that? And would there be a logical explanation of why it would go away when I play the system off of my phone?
 
My only thought is my phone is such a low output that it may be covering it up vs the head units pre outs.
I really doubt that. I have the 80prs and it has clean preouts. Have you tried the suggestion I mentioned above? about testing the ohms of your amp rca inputs? Less than 1000 ohms would call for a coax shielded type of rca rather than a twisted pair. I still think it's worth a shot. Since you are saying there is no buzz when you plug in your phone with y adapter, that indicates your amp internals are just fine and everything after that as well. You've already tested your headunit and even swapped it. You've triple checked all your grounds already. The only thing left I can see is try testing non-twisted pair with good shielding if your amp turns out to be less than 1000 ohms. This has nothing to do with whether the rca is bad or not. It's about how the signal is being received from your headunit to amp.


 
Last edited:
So I metered the amps inputs and got less than 1000 ohm of resistance so it looks like I need some shielded rca cables. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good set shielded coaxial style rca cables of good quality?
 
So I metered the amps inputs and got less than 1000 ohm of resistance so it looks like I need some shielded rca cables. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good set shielded coaxial style rca cables of good quality?



These are not too expensive and they're good quality. They have a 1-2 week build time so if you're willing to wait...
 
So I metered the amps inputs and got less than 1000 ohm of resistance so it looks like I need some shielded rca cables. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good set shielded coaxial style rca cables of good quality?
Stinger 8000 series I use and Have served quite well. Another option for you
 
Activity
No one is currently typing a reply...
Old Thread: Please note, there have been no replies in this thread for over 3 years!
Content in this thread may no longer be relevant.
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread instead.

Similar threads

I have my big 3 done in 1/0 so I got those grounds done up front. Both amps have their grounds to the reserve batteries on buss bars. Sub amp has...
6
1K
Hey all. Just took my car audio batteries out to build a box for them. When I hooked everything back up and turn it on. My subs have a constant...
0
646
for my amp ground I have it to the paneling in my trunk, secured with a bolt and a nut. I sanded as much as I could, and I used a grind wheel on...
72
6K
Try and use the factory ground wire in the harness instead of chassis ground to see if it makes a difference
3
838

About this thread

Thunderturkey96

CarAudio.com Newbie
Thread starter
Thunderturkey96
Joined
Location
Pinconning Mi
Start date
Participants
Who Replied
Replies
27
Views
2,144
Last reply date
Last reply from
audiobaun
1000006564.jpg

Mr FaceCaser

    Mar 28, 2024
  • 0
  • 0
1000006569.jpg

Mr FaceCaser

    Mar 28, 2024
  • 0
  • 0

Latest topics

Top