HU to battery (alpine 9835)

[thai_creeper 10+ year member]

Since I'm running my stock speakers from the HU, it's suggested to connect the power to the HU directly to the battery. I need an amp wiring kit to do this? I've searched and found I need 10 guage, question is how do I do this? I didn't install my amp/sub myself, the most I've done is wire/install my HU matching up and connecting the color wires, think this is a lot harder than that? The alpine dealer around here seems like nice people so if I don't think I can do it(scared to cause permanant damage) I might get a quote from them for that, how much do you think that would be? I wanted to get opinions before I go and talk to them about price quotes. Thanks for any help.

(the speakers sound a lot better to me from my prev HU so what do you think the benefits would be from doing this? I was thinking 1) speakers sound even better(more power) and 2) HU won't overheat?)

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[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

you don't need to wire the deck to the battery, however i do recommend grounding it to the battery to help prevent induced noise

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

The V-Drive internal amp in some Alpine units suggests you connect power directly to the battery as allegedly it makes more power than most cars' factory wiring has sufficient gauge cabling for. I do not know whether or not this is true as I do not use Alpine's gear.

Having said that - on the back of your head unit you have two power wires. One is red and that is simply for 12v power, generally connected to a switched source so that the stereo turns on and off with the ignition. Basically it is the remote turn-on for your deck. The other power wire, which will be yellow, is the constant power connection that retains your clock, your radio station presets, keeps your EQ settings and whatnot, etc etc etc.

That cable, the yellow, carries the lion's share of the current drawn and used by the deck. Connect this yellow cable, using a 10awg cable or larger, directly to the positive terminal on your battery (using an inline fuse the same rating as what is in the back of the deck). I do not know if there are any real-world advantages to connecting it in such a fashion but that's what Alpine suggests, at any rate.

 

[thai_creeper 10+ year member]

you don't need to wire the deck to the battery, however i do recommend grounding it to the battery to help prevent induced noise

Any advantages worth wiring it to the battery? Is there a tutorial I could look at to see how to ground it? Not sure if I'm getting induced noise but I wouldn't mind doing it anyway. Does induced noise come from the HU or external amps(or both)? Not to familiar with it, after doin a search I came up with it being some type of whining noise.

That cable, the yellow, carries the lion's share of the current drawn and used by the deck. Connect this yellow cable, using a 10awg cable or larger, directly to the positive terminal on your battery (using an inline fuse the same rating as what is in the back of the deck). I do not know if there are any real-world advantages to connecting it in such a fashion but that's what Alpine suggests, at any rate.

How would I do that exactly? I'm thinkin cut the yellow (between the alpine and harness or between harness and car?) and twist/cap that with 10 guage wire and connect it to the battery(using something from an amp kit?)? Is there anyway I can mess things up?

Also if it sounds like I'm a little over my head what price range would you pay for something like this (connecting to battery and grounding)? Thanks for the help so far though

 

[slain93gsr 10+ year member]

what kind of car is this going in to....i've never used the internal amp in my 9835. so i couldnt tell you if it sounded better with the direct connection or through the factory wiring harness..

 

[thai_creeper 10+ year member]

what kind of car is this going in to....i've never used the internal amp in my 9835. so i couldnt tell you if it sounded better with the direct connection or through the factory wiring harness..

I put it in my 98 accord already, just have the power connected through the harness so considering connecting it straight to the battery

connect it straight to the battery... just the POSITIVE, using atleast 12ga (25amp) cable...
you could connect the negative too, but you should be alright just grounding that in the cabin somewhere, although, I'm sure it wouldn't be that much harder to ground that to the battery. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

good info, I don't think you know how much of a a newbie i am with this though, I'm wondering how to connect the small wire from the alpine harness with the 10 guage wire, just twist and tape/cap it (wondering since one's fatter lol)? Or do people solder in these situations. thanks for the replies.

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

you don't need to wire the positive to the battery. my 9835 is doing fine on the stock harness. i just grounded it to the battery so i knew i had a good ground. noise can come from any form of processing or amp or install.

 

[zachzchw 5,000+ posts]

If you have it installed already, and you dont have any problems, why worry about it?

Id leave it how it is.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

If you have it installed already, and you dont have any problems, why worry about it?Id leave it how it is.

Yup.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," is a pretty reliable policy.

 

[thai_creeper 10+ year member]

If you have it installed already, and you dont have any problems, why worry about it?Id leave it how it is.

Yeah thats what I was thinking too, just worried cuz I read somewhere that it might prevent overheating/damaging the HU? Also figured doing this might make the speakers sound even better, if that's the case then I'd do it to get the full use outta it. Any opinions on those two reasons?

 

[thai_creeper 10+ year member]

that is the opposite to what you should have done...
why ground to the battery when there are DOZENS of places you could ground it behind the dash //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/eyebrow.gif.fe2c18d8720fe8c7eaed347b21ea05a5.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/rolleyes.gif.c1fef805e9d1464d377451cd5bc18bfb.gif

Question, if I did wire it to the battery directly, I couldnt leave the ground alone through the harness? or would I need more "ground" lol cuz I'm using bigger wire and havin it straight from the battery

 

[Fosgate_sux 10+ year member]

I would almost guarantee that you will notice no difference wiring the head unit directly to the battery.

 

[Savstyle 10+ year member]

If your deck isnt dimming when [playing music full blast then dont worry about it, i have the v-drive in my deck and it would cut off around 20 or so. I added 10 gauge wire from the battery dimming gone. I didnt help the sq, didnt help overheating(never got hot anyway).

So if your deck isnt dimming or shutting off, dont worry about it.//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[cam5860 10+ year member]

I have the alpine 9833 and I started out wiring it to the factory harness and it sounded okay. So I just decided to wire it to the battery with 10 guage wire and let me tell you there's a huge difference in the power output.

If your running your speakers off the headunit you need to wire it to the battery it makes a big difference. If your going to be using a 4 channel amp to power your speakers then it will be fine to wire it to the stock harness.

If you want to see the difference wire it to the harness first and then wire it straight to the battery. If you can't tell the difference in the power output I'll kiss your ***.

 

[thai_creeper 10+ year member]

I have the alpine 9833 and I started out wiring it to the factory harness and it sounded okay. So I just decided to wire it to the battery with 10 guage wire and let me tell you there's a huge difference in the power output.
If your running your speakers off the headunit you need to wire it to the battery it makes a big difference. If your going to be using a 4 channel amp to power your speakers then it will be fine to wire it to the stock harness.

If you want to see the difference wire it to the harness first and then wire it straight to the battery. If you can't tell the difference in the power output I'll kiss your ***.

LOL right when I was gonna say oh well i'll just leave it(no dimming probs). i would try both ways out but i don't have the tools/wiring/knowledge to do so, so right now its either get it done if it doesnt cost too much or wait til I have time to research to make sure i know exactly what im doing and do it myself