Help debugging boat stereo issue.

[ZeroGZ33]

HI all. Newbie here. Looks like the place to get audio assistance. :thumb:

I'm having issues with the stereo on my boat. It has a Kenwood stereo with 6 Polk 6.5" speakers. I noticed static over the stereo and then loss of volume. Could not hear the music while cruising. Now I find out 4 of the 6 speakers are not putting out sound. Only the speakers in the front bow are working and they seem to work just fine.

The rear two and the two by the driver & front passenger seat do not even vibrate if you put your hand on the cone. A little sound is coming out of tweeter (very little).

Went through all stereo settings to ensure balance and fader were not set just to front. All appeared ok.

So I bought 4 new Polk 6.5's. No joy. I hooked up one of the new ones but still no sound. Now I'm at a loss. Stereo shop is a long ways away and cannot get me in until mid June. So it's time to dig in and fix it myself, with help / guidance from you guys n gals.

Any one else run into a similar issue? If so what fixed it. Other debugging advice appreciated.

Thanks

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[Kai Winters 10+ year member]

Have you inspected the system? Have you checked the wiring from the head unit to each speaker for loose connections, faulty grounding, incorrect wiring, etc.?

What is your system like? Are you running all the speakers (3 pair total?) off the head unit itself? if so, how? If not are you using an amp? what kind, how is it hooked up to the head unit and speakers?

Have you tested the speakers that are not working by connecting them, one at a time, to the working connection to assure yourself that the speakers themselves are working and not faulty.

If the speakers themselves are working and not faulty and if the pair in the bow are working you have begun to narrow down the problem to how the remaining 4 speakers are connected...and there is where to begin the search for a problem.

You need to provide a lot more information if you want useful answers, suggestions and advice.

Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[Sierra Nate]

Guessing here that front speakers are not hooked up to amp and being driven directly by radio head unit. They don't need a lot of volume since you're sitting right there by them. Or maybe a separate smaller amp. The rest of the speakers probably hooked up to 4 channel amp that has lost it's ground. Tweeters may be running directly from the head unit or somehow getting small amount of bleed through voltage passing through the un-grounded amp?

How is the system grounded? Since boat is probably made of fiberglass it has to be electrically grounded to the battery by wire. Trace the ground wire from the amp to the battery...or grounding block. Then grounding block to battery but if that were bad the whole electronics of the boat would malfunction. Grounding block may be located near the fuse block. Mine is underneath my steering wheel but that doesn't mean its a standard.

 

[ZeroGZ33]

Wow, you nailed it. Good job Sierra Nate. Thanks to you both for taking the time to reply.

Finally got to the bottom of the problem. Stereo only had two speakers hooked to it. The front two that were working. And It had RCA plugs which went to a Polk 4 way amplifier (hidden behind the gauge panel). So the 4 cockpit speakers were hooked to that amp. Amp needed 12 volts to work and my batteriy was only putting out 8. Switching the battery switch to both batteries verified that the Amp worked just fine.

Both batteries were purchased in June of 12. So I replaced both of them while I was at it. Stereo works perfect now.

What still confuses me is why wouldn't the stereo work when underway? With the 14 volts being put to the battery ...that should have given it at least 12 to put out. But that did not work. With a little luck from the weather I will be testing underway later today.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Wow, you nailed it. Good job Sierra Nate. Thanks to you both for taking the time to reply.
Finally got to the bottom of the problem. Stereo only had two speakers hooked to it. The front two that were working. And It had RCA plugs which went to a Polk 4 way amplifier (hidden behind the gauge panel). So the 4 cockpit speakers were hooked to that amp. Amp needed 12 volts to work and my batteriy was only putting out 8. Switching the battery switch to both batteries verified that the Amp worked just fine.

Both batteries were purchased in June of 12. So I replaced both of them while I was at it. Stereo works perfect now.

What still confuses me is why wouldn't the stereo work when underway? With the14votes being put to the battery ...that should have given it at least 12 to put out. But that did not work. With a little luck from the weather I will be testing underway later today.

Always good practice to test your alternator/generator when you find dead batteries. Often a failing alternator is the cause of the dead batteries and dead batteries will overwork your alternator possibly leading to premature failure.

 

[ZeroGZ33]

The boat had sat in my pole barn all winter, and it was plugged in to the trickle charge unit that was added to the boat a couple years ago. Assuming that unit is still good I'm thinking / hoping the 5 year old batteries were bad. They sat 9 months out of the year in upper Mich, then once I brought it to Ohio the summer of 2014 she still sits 7 months out of the year. That kind of life is not good for batteries and that is why I installed the trickle charger. My gauge show the alternator putting out 14 volts so trusting that for now. If my new batteries go dead I'll know real quick what the issue is.