Does anyone make a HU that has the power light lit with the radio off?????

[morabors]

I have (2) older Panasonic HUs that I installed years ago. IN each case, when I am driving down the road but not listening to music (HU off), the HU still has some illumination (power button and clock). This seems to me to be pretty basic so at night you can see the power button to turn on the radio. I recently installed a JVC Arsenal A735-BT in my daughters 2005 Accord. Wired up correctly using Metra wiring harness. Everything worked fine but with the engine running but system off I had no illumination. Called JVC and they said this was correct. I found it hard to believe but I called Crutchfield and told them I did not want my dauhghter fumbling to turn on the system at night. They assured me that Kenwood would have illumination even with the system off so I ordered a Excelon X596. INstalled it today (correctly wired again using Metra harness) and of course there is no illumination unless you turn the system on. Is this just the way it is now or is this a "feature" found on only certain brands? The only other possibility is an issue with the Metra harness and a 2005 Accord. Any body have any ideas? Please do not respond asking me if I wired it correctly as I am sure it is.

Thanks

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[UnderFire 10+ year member]

I've had a lot of HU's from budget to high-end, nothing ever had this, good luck OP.

 

[morabors]

Thanks for the response. So you are saying that if you are driving down the road at night and want to turn the radio on, you need to feel for the power button or turn on the interior lights? Seems dangerous to me. I must have been lucky with the Panasonics I have installed that does in fact have this.

 

[NuckinFutz 10+ year member]

Thanks for the response. So you are saying that if you are driving down the road at night and want to turn the radio on, you need to feel for the power button or turn on the interior lights? Seems dangerous to me. I must have been lucky with the Panasonics I have installed that does in fact have this.

Some people here may not like them, but since its for your daughter it wouldn't matter too much. But my Sony XPLOD deck buttons illuminate when the stereo is off.

 

[IonRL205 10+ year member]

There is normally an orange wire for illumination, have you made sure this is connected in the right spot? Sometime the wires on the harness are on the wrong spot.

 

[UnderFire 10+ year member]

Thanks for the response. So you are saying that if you are driving down the road at night and want to turn the radio on, you need to feel for the power button or turn on the interior lights? Seems dangerous to me. I must have been lucky with the Panasonics I have installed that does in fact have this.

I've always had no problem memorizing where it was, and normally don't drive without a bit of music. But I also never hooked up the illumination wire on any of them, maybe that's why.

 

[NuckinFutz 10+ year member]

I've always had no problem memorizing where it was, and normally don't drive without a bit of music. But I also never hooked up the illumination wire on any of them, maybe that's why.

Yeah, I think after couple hours of use you just get use to.reaching for it anyway. I can operate my HU without even looking at it.

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

It depends on the HU. My old Pioneer stays lit and the clock comes on. My JVC goes black.

 

[Exist_ential 10+ year member]

hell even my crappy Dual at least lit the power button, nothing else was lit with the unit off but at least i had a big red power button to press.

 

[morabors]

So I called Crutchfield tech support because it appears that at least Clarion will have the on/off button illuminated with the HU off. The tech support guy said it is no issue to leave the HU on when turning off the car, this is what he does. I am a little older and in my day this was a no no. Does anyone here agree that you can simply turn the volume down and shut off the car with the HU still on?

THANKS

 

[Exist_ential 10+ year member]

Most headunits now u don't even need to turn down the volume. They have a setting to store a default volume level so when u turn the radio back on it will automatically go back to the volume up have set. Mine goes back to 5 when I turn the car on.

 

[RicksI30 10+ year member]

I am a little older and in my day this was a no no. Does anyone here agree that you can simply turn the volume down and shut off the car with the HU still on?
THANKS

Yes that is fine. My head unit is ALWAYS on if I am driving, I never turn it off when I turn the car off either.

 

[smgreen20 10+ year member]

At night, you should have headlights on, right?????? That illumination wire should tell the HU to light up, even if it's off. I haven't seen many that don't.

 

[morabors]

Seems like differing opinions. I can only say that the JVC had no illumination with or without headlights on. Maylar pointed out that his JVC goes dark. I replaced it with a Kenwood (Crutchfield assured me it would have illumination when not on), and the same thing no illumination. Yes both HUs were wired correctly. I did speak to JVC Tech support and they said no illumination is correct. If they are wrong then the only possible explanation would be the Metra harness but I did use seperate ones when I installed the JVC and Kenwood. I had decided to keep the JVC but now my daughter says sometimes it works and sometimes it does not so this goes back too. The only thing from an install perspective that could be problematic is it seems like the harness needs to make a pretty sharp 90 degree turn (not much space behind it).

 

[itsblown 10+ year member]

power button has lit up on every single head unit ive seen or had even when the unit is off and the car is on