h/u installation problems (marine audio)

[traksta15 10+ year member]

So me and my brother in law are trying to install a cd/mp3 player in his boat. He used to have a cassette/radio in it and it's time to upgrade. After trying to install it we ran into some problems:

after wiring everything the deck worked fine for approx 5 minutes, then when he turned the volume up it immediately turned off. Nothing popped/sparked/fizzled/burnt etc etc, it's like it was just turned off but it won't come on now. We double checked the fuses/wire connections/harness, etc etc and we're still scratching our heads.

The boats wiring is a bit different than a car, everything goes to a big switch board (has ac and dc panels) then to the batteries. We used the wiring that was behind the original deck but after closer inspection it looks like the previous owner used 1' long strands of red/black/brown wire, connected them together and ran them to the panel. Same for the ground wire. I'm hoping to get to re-wire everything but it's a pretty big pita to do it because it's all ran in the walls of the boat.

So far I know:

Red power wire goes to switch panel which is hooked up to battery.

Black ground wire goes to switch panel which is hooked up to battery.

Where does the yellow ignition wire from the deck go?

All he has hooked up the deck was (4) 6.5's, we couldn't tell which was the power and ground on the speaker wires, could they be wired backwards and blow the deck when turned up? Sorry for typing such a long thread lol

CLIFFS:

Where does the yellow ignition wire go on a boat since the power/ground wires go to a dc switch board?

Could backwards speaker wiring ruin a deck if turned up too loud?

Click to read more...

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

yellow goes to a constant 12v, or its supposed to so it remembers your deck settings, red and yellow both need power for the deck to work, red is supposed to be switched on and off by the ignition

backwards speaker wiring, I doubt would hurt anything other than sounding like crap and being out of phase

 

[traksta15 10+ year member]

where would the constant for the yellow wire be on a boat? All thats behind the panel is red/black and speaker wires.

 

[traksta15 10+ year member]

bump

 

[Proximity 10+ year member]

Dumb question: Do boats have alternators? Or do they rely solely on battery power?

 

[traksta15 10+ year member]

Dumb question: Do boats have alternators? Or do they rely solely on battery power?

I have no idea lol, I assume they have to have some way to recharge the batteries.

 

[bigaudiofanati2 10+ year member]

Pick of the wires?

 

[traksta15 10+ year member]

im back at the house now, they're just regular 16 ga elec wires. Whoever had it first messed a lot of stuff up lol

I think I just need to know how to make a 12v constant connection for the yellow wire. If he doesn't want it to save setting like the clock and stuff do I really need it?

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

not really, twist the red and yellow and connect them to the battery, the deck will work, problem is the memory will be drawing to the battery all the time and if he doesnt use it alot it could drain it, you need like a switch to disconnect it so it doesnt drain it

 

[traksta15 10+ year member]

could I just leave the yellow wire disconnected?

 

[traksta15 10+ year member]

bump

 

[jdawg 5,000+ posts]

could I just leave the yellow wire disconnected?

no, you have to have BOTH the red and yellow hooked to 12v for the deck to power on

 

[fatboyracing 10+ year member]

Ok I can help you out let me know a couple things

Do you have a key shut off for your boat that kills all power or just toggle switchs

 

[traksta15 10+ year member]

I believe its just toggle switches to turn everything on. Like the lights, cd player, deck lights, etc etc

 

[Sparc]

Is there an existing switch on the breaker board for the stereo? If so wire the yellow(acc) to the breaker for it and the red(12v) right to the distribution block on the back of the panel (some would say to fuse or breaker this wire as well...). This will let the switch act like turning your car on except it will be able to be used with the engine(s) off. The other option with this is to wire both the yellow and red to the breaker but this will reset the memory every time you turn it off.