W205 Video going out

[AppleBonker 10+ year member]

I just installed my Alpine IVA-W205 and have been playing around a bit with it. When I'm driving, I've noticed that the video kicks out occasionally and then comes back. When it turns back on, it displays the source as if I had just changed it (only I haven't). I know the unit isn't completely kicking out, because the audio will keep playing. Is there something that I'm missing, or is it possible that the unit is slightly defective? Has anyone had this problem before? I am coming from an Alpine IVA-D105, and the video never kicked out on that thing. It's not a huge problem, but it is annoying, and with how much this unit costs, there's no reason this should be happening. Any input would be appreciated.

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[jdc753 10+ year member]

my first thoughts on that would be your bypass. Maybe its cutting out causing the video to go out but the audio will remain playing while your in drive. I would double check all the wiring on the bypass first before thinking the unit is defective, least then it would be an easy/cheap fix compared to a bad HU

 

[AppleBonker 10+ year member]

my first thoughts on that would be your bypass. Maybe its cutting out causing the video to go out but the audio will remain playing while your in drive. I would double check all the wiring on the bypass first before thinking the unit is defective, least then it would be an easy/cheap fix compared to a bad HU

Maybe, but would this happen even when it is controlling the ipod? When I say the video goes out, I mean the whole screen goes black momentarily. It will do this on any input. So it's not doing it only on inputs that require the bypass while in motion. I have never used one of the Alpine HU's without a bypass, so I'm not sure if the screen momentarily goes out when you park the car, but I would think that it wouldn't. I haven't tried running it with the blackbird not attached, so maybe I'll try this just to rule it out. Any other thoughts?

 

[jdc753 10+ year member]

Hmm, well I only owned a W205 for a couple of months and never actually got around to bypassing it, and I only played around with the video playback for a few minutes. When I did though I poped in a DVD and you could hear all the sound of it started up just never got any video. This is why I would think its the bypass. The screen would be totally black but you could hear the audio portion of the dvd. Is there any chance you have the display setting to where it goes to a blank screen after a little while?

Sadly I can't really think of much more maybe a bad ground on the unit or the bypass, otherwise my next guess would maybe be that the connection between the screen and the actual unit could be loose or something. Your saying it will cut out even if your straight up listening to an audio cd on the unit? or is it cutting out on video content only?

 

[AppleBonker 10+ year member]

Hmm, well I only owned a W205 for a couple of months and never actually got around to bypassing it, and I only played around with the video playback for a few minutes. When I did though I poped in a DVD and you could hear all the sound of it started up just never got any video. This is why I would think its the bypass. The screen would be totally black but you could hear the audio portion of the dvd. Is there any chance you have the display setting to where it goes to a blank screen after a little while?
Sadly I can't really think of much more maybe a bad ground on the unit or the bypass, otherwise my next guess would maybe be that the connection between the screen and the actual unit could be loose or something. Your saying it will cut out even if your straight up listening to an audio cd on the unit? or is it cutting out on video content only?

It cuts out briefly on everything (iPod, nav, radio, etc.). The ground has to be ok, if it weren't I would assume the audio would drop out too (and the unit would basically reboot everytime the connection was good). This isn't happening. In fact, I have yet to test the unit with a video source (I'll grab a DVD tonight and check that tomorrow). Unfortunately I didn't put a switch on the bypass, but I may try that to eliminate that as a source of error if I need to.

 

[AppleBonker 10+ year member]

Ok, small update. I've realized that the video kicks out (I guess to explain better, it's not video kicking out but the whole screen - like I said on any source, even just the iPod) more often when I'm hitting the brakes or using my turn signal. Not sure why this would be doing this. I know I tapped into the reverse lights correctly, because the camera comes on when I throw it in reverse. This is making me think it's not the unit, because an external stimulus is causing the screen to go black. What else could I have messed up to cause this? Everything else functions perfectly (including the video bypass and the steering wheel controls). Any thoughts?

I guess I'll mess with it more tomorrow and try to figure it out. Maybe I'll cut the reverse light wire running to the head unit to see if this fixes it (although this will temporarily kill the automatic switch to the camera when I'm in reverse). But it will at least let me know if this could be the source of the problem.