Noob Installer, PLZ Help

[nVRuckus 5,000+ posts]

I'd have the RCAs tested didnt fatryan have a similar problem with a fried RCA?

 

[MadAudio 10+ year member]

I'd have the RCAs tested didnt fatryan have a similar problem with a fried RCA?

thats where i would start if you have a mp3 player or portable cd player of any kind get your self a headphone to rca adapter and connect that to the amp see if you get sound try it with the rca's you have now if you get sound then you know its the deck . if not then try different rca.if it still doesnt work then its the amp. umm what hu are you using? are you sure the subwoofer output isnt turned off? or very low?

 

[AcidicDreams 10+ year member]

yah the best thing to do at this point is trouble shoot.... start eliminating variables.. like the above suggestion with the stereo mini jack to RCA and use some other input....

in any case I call some sort of short or bad equipment as my predicition... but I'm out of ideas....

also drag out some speaker from your house and hook them up....

in any case you should be able to test each peice of equipment individually in some sort of way....

 

[SteveKB 10+ year member]

Wow, thanks for the quick replies guys.
"well when you turned it on you didnt have your gains turned all the way up did you? If so you might have fried your first amp. make sure your gains are all the way down and make sure your wiring is solid on both ends positive and negative in the amp and on the battery or chassis."

Gains were all the way down, tried them there and at the 12oclock positions no luck. I have the + of the powerwire on the + or the battery nice and snug. I'm grounded to the chassis nice and snug as well.

"also get out the DMM (multi meter)...

 

+12v should be ~13.8v

the remote wire should have some power (I think mine was ~9.8v)

double check the ground.....

 

but beyond that you may have fried something... when you FIRST turned it on did you get any music at all, a loud popping sound?

 

hmmmm that's a strange one... try to give us a better description..."

I have a meter somewhere I'll have to find it. When I first turned it on I heard nothing at all, power light on the amp was steady on, no popping no music, except the random short, extremely low volume sputters of music.

And sorry about my description hehe, still new at this.

Ok this is interesting, With the car idle, I get about 12.7V on the DMM, when I turn the key to get power to the radio, it drops to about 7.6V!?!?!?, the reading on the REM wire is very simular to the 7.6V as well. I then started the car, the readings remained unchanged from about the 7.6V mark. WIERD.. whats up.

 

[SteveKB 10+ year member]

Any comments on my DMM results? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Do I need a new Battery/Alternator combo or somethin? I'm confused.

 

[dkguitarist 5,000+ posts]

did you do the big 3 upgrade? maybe a bad alternator or dying battery.

 

[SteveKB 10+ year member]

did you do the big 3 upgrade? maybe a bad alternator or dying battery.

Please elaborate on "the big 3" upgrade

 

[dkguitarist 5,000+ posts]

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152355

 

[SteveKB 10+ year member]

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=152355

Ok, gotcha. do you think that will solve the voltage drop issue? And is the voltage drop the reason I get nothing out of the speakers?

 

[dkguitarist 5,000+ posts]

that'll usually solve alot of voltage issues.

 

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

that'll usually solve alot of voltage issues.

I was just reading over this. I'm not sure if this will actually work, but to test to see if it's a bad battery you *might* be able to just pull another car up next to your vehicle and connect the power wire from your battery to the positive terminal on the other car's battery. You shouldn't need to change anything else theoretically to try this, since your grounds are already in place in your car.

 

[SteveKB 10+ year member]

I was just reading over this. I'm not sure if this will actually work, but to test to see if it's a bad battery you *might* be able to just pull another car up next to your vehicle and connect the power wire from your battery to the positive terminal on the other car's battery. You shouldn't need to change anything else theoretically to try this, since your grounds are already in place in your car.

A good idea, which I tried to do and rule out the equip as the prob, but when I do this I get no power to the amp using the other car's battery.

Also the batteries on both cars are only a few months old.

So fustrating.

 

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

A good idea, which I tried to do and rule out the equip as the prob, but when I do this I get no power to the amp using the other car's battery.
Also the batteries on both cars are only a few months old.

So fustrating.

Do you have a battery charger at your house? If so, you could charge the battery up for a couple hours and try again later.

Have you tried to take additional readings of your battery? At the 7.6v did you check to see if your amplifiers still power up? Some amps have a cut-off where if they drop below a certain voltage they'll shut down, so if it really is dipping that low, that could be your problem.

 

[SteveKB 10+ year member]

Do you have a battery charger at your house? If so, you could charge the battery up for a couple hours and try again later.
Have you tried to take additional readings of your battery? At the 7.6v did you check to see if your amplifiers still power up? Some amps have a cut-off where if they drop below a certain voltage they'll shut down, so if it really is dipping that low, that could be your problem.

I've got a charger yes, the Amp was powered up at the 7.6V level, light on and all.

 

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

I've got a charger yes, the Amp was powered up at the 7.6V level, light on and all.

If the battery is truly very low in voltage the only thing I can think of is to charge the battery while you're eating or taking a break from the headache of car audio. Come back later, reconnect, and see what happens.