Regrounding headunit to reduce noise

[kizzo 10+ year member]

Im having noise from my components that are amped from the rear. Im thinking i may need to reground my Pioneer deh3800 headunit because im still using the current stock ground from the wiring hardness behind the deck. How would i go about doing this? Should i just ground the metal case surrounding the unit to one of my batteries?

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[adam71 5,000+ posts]

I usually ground my headunits in the trunk in the same place I ground all my amps. I ran a twisted pair of 14 gauge wires back to the trunk and viola the noise was GONE.

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

the stock ground is no good. i usually ground my HU right where my amps are grounded. never had noise.

 

[jmanpc 5,000+ posts]

if possibl, extend the ground wire to the negative post of your battery.

 

[kizzo 10+ year member]

When you mean change the ground to the same spot as my component amp?

It would be much easier for me to run the wire to the neg post on my battery, would this also help me?

O yea, should i just connect the ground wire to one of the screws on the casing of my head unit?

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

I don't think you can ground the deck to itself. Either the neg on the battery or in the same place your amp is grounded.

 

[slikrider20 10+ year member]

I've never grounded a HU other than the factory place and neva had problems.

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

I've never grounded a HU other than the factory place and neva had problems.

You're lucky.

 

[kizzo 10+ year member]

I don't think you can ground the deck to itself. Either the neg on the battery or in the same place your amp is grounded.

What i meant is, can i just not use the ground wire coming out of the back of the unit and just create a completely new ground by attaching a wire to the metal casing and then grounding it to the battery or to one of my amp grounds?

I've heard that pioneer decks have a tendency to have a bad internal ground that you cant get to from the outside of the unit.

 

[Orion Man 10+ year member]

I have always grounded mine behind the dash. I have also always run my constant power straight to the battery. I thought you should keep the ground as close to the unit as possible? Am I mistaken?

 

[ItalynStylion 10+ year member]

What i meant is, can i just not use the ground wire coming out of the back of the unit and just create a completely new ground by attaching a wire to the metal casing and then grounding it to the battery or to one of my amp grounds?
I've heard that pioneer decks have a tendency to have a bad internal ground that you cant get to from the outside of the unit.

Curious about this statement, is that true? If so I might have to do that since I just have mine grounded to a bolt behind the dash

When you guys talk about "noise" in this instance do you mean the faint constant hiss sound that you notice when there is silence in a song or something else?

 

[DBfan187 5,000+ posts]

if possibl, extend the ground wire to the negative post of your battery.

x2

 

[kizzo 10+ year member]

Yes thats the noise im talking about. I have the noise pretty bad i dont know what else to do. My RCA's are running on the left side of my car and my power on the right. My optima in the back is grounded to bare chasis under the trunk by the axle. My modded mtx 1501d is grounded to bare trunk metal along with my Profile CA600(seperate grounding points). The noise in my components is so loud and irritating i cant stand it. All i did with the profile amp is add a new ground wire which is about 10inches longer then the previous one so about 3.5ft total and now im getting noise so loud i cant turn on my stereo.

 

[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

This is the first time I've heard of running grounds all the way back to where the amps are grounded in the trunk. It kind of makes sense, eliminating the chance for isolation, but at the same time, thinking of the principal '3 feet or less from amp' for grounds, I am confused.

Is the fact that we are taking about very little power the reason why this is easy? And it sounds like it would make more sense to just run to the negative terminal.

 

[Frankensuby 10+ year member]

When you guys talk about "noise" in this instance do you mean the faint constant hiss sound that you notice when there is silence in a song or something else?

Yes thats the noise im talking about. I have the noise pretty bad i dont know what else to do. My RCA's are running on the left side of my car and my power on the right. My optima in the back is grounded to bare chasis under the trunk by the axle. My modded mtx 1501d is grounded to bare trunk metal along with my Profile CA600(seperate grounding points). The noise in my components is so loud and irritating i cant stand it. All i did with the profile amp is add a new ground wire which is about 10inches longer then the previous one so about 3.5ft total and now im getting noise so loud i cant turn on my stereo.

That would be floor noise. It is not normal for that amount though. Some decks have less, some have more. If I'm not mistaken, this is the noise ratio displayed on unit specs that decides this.

Such as, my deck has a 96 S/N ratio vs a Kenwood, which has a 110 S/n Ratio, so in the absence of music with the volume turned far up, I would hear less to no hissing in the Kenwood compared to a chance for more hissing in my current deck with a lower S/N ratio.

If I interpret that correctly //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Anyways, try running a foot shorter ground for you rear component amp, and see if it changes anything. If the noise increased with the ground size, maybe reversing the steps will reduce it again.