lots and lots of alternator noise

[DogBo]

i had a cheap 4 channel amp powering my speakers and i was getting lots of alternator noise when the car was on. half the car audio places around here said iw was because i wired the power and RCA's on the same side and half said it was just because it was a cheap piece or garbage amp. i upgraded to an audiobahn amp and i get even more alternator noise. should i run the power on the other side or is there something else i could try first?

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[travisx01 10+ year member]

Yes, power wire and rca's should never run side by side. The hiss of the alternator carrys along the power wire, when RCA's are placed next to it, depending on the amount of hiss the alt is producing the RCA's will pick up these "hiss" waves and reproduce them. If the RCA's and power wire have to cross paths do so in a 90 degree angle.

However some amplifiers are so poorly constructed that the hiss is unavoidable. What kind of amp is it?

Edit: The seperation of the rca's from the power wire might not completely fix your problem, it's only a start that should be done anyway. If that didn't take care of the noise let us know.

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

try doing this....first of make a new ground for your amp....2nd make a new ground for your h/u generally this will take care of most alt whine situations

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

Yes, power wire and rca's should never run side by side. The hiss of the alternator carrys along the power wire, when RCA's are placed next to it, depending on the amount of hiss the alt is producing the RCA's will pick up these "hiss" waves and reproduce them. If the RCA's and power wire have to cross paths do so in a 90 degree angle.
However some amplifiers are so poorly constructed that the hiss is unavoidable. What kind of amp is it?

Edit: The seperation of the rca's from the power wire might not completely fix your problem, it's only a start that should be done anyway. If that didn't take care of the noise let us know.

yea um... thats not true.

check your grounds. make sure all your grounds for the amps are in a COMMON location. make sure they are BARE OF ANY PAINT\GREASE\RUST and are VERY TIGHT\SECURE. if this does not work, try taking the ground from the HU, and wire it through your car (temporary, dosnt ahve to be hidden, this is just a test) and ground it where the amps are grounded.

none of that works?

then try unplugging the RCA's from your amp. does it go away?

try a different amp (you did, so its not the amp)

theres a few more things, but it happened to me, and none of that worked.. ended up that my amp was fried... it was an old POS anyway... but just FYI //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/thumbsdown.gif.d22f25895e9b40f2300c953691dacfa2.gif

so it dont matter if your RCAs are wrapped around your power wire, you aint gonna hear an AUDIBLE noise outta it.

 

[skeptikal Premium Member]

the power and RCA myth was "busted" by squeak in his last sig. but he changed it. my buddy had the same noise it was a really high pitched hissing noise that sounded like it was coming from his speakrs. he regrounded the comp amp, and it went away... also, look into a new pair of RCA's, like StreetWires Zero Noise or something like that

 

[jleecong 10+ year member]

The wine is caused by different resistance at your ground points. As the last two posters said check/rerun your grounds.

 

[graffix989 10+ year member]

what ur hearing is RFI, remember theres electric feild around every wire that has anything running through it. so never have "pushers" an "pullers" from opposite systems next to each other, or ull get RFI... exspecialy under stressfull conditions like heat, which is prominate around ur amp an engine...

 

[DogBo]

ive regrounded the amp to bare, clean metal (i think it was the first time but i did it again anyways. the amp is a brand spankin new audiobahn 4004t that is replacing a far inferior rampage 4 channel but the noise from the rampage was nothing compared to this. ill rerun the power as soon as i get a chance and post back.