C5 Sub Install Help Needed!!!!
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Feb 1999
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From: I hate you and I dont even know you
C5 Sub Install Help Needed!!!!
I built a stealth box setup and installed a JL10W0. I wired up the amp using 99HT's instructions but am having sound problems. It worked fine for about 30 minutes and then started giving me a constant pulsing bass sound. Then it will start working again. I cut the ends off of an RCA cable and hooked the inner wire to the rear outputs, believe it was the brown and dark blue wires. 1st question, should I ground out the outer shield wire? A friend told me that was not needed. I got the amp turn on from the dark green wire that 99HT suggests. I grounded out to one of the bolts in the center console tunnel and got my constant hot from a large guage wire leading to the fuse panel under the passenger foot board.
I'm not sure if I have a wiring problem or if my amp is screwed up. It worked last night for about 30 minutes and then started doing the constant thumping sound again. When I checked the power at the amp, both the constant and the switched power had dropped to around 9 volts.
I am totally confused. Any help would be appreciated.
I'm not sure if I have a wiring problem or if my amp is screwed up. It worked last night for about 30 minutes and then started doing the constant thumping sound again. When I checked the power at the amp, both the constant and the switched power had dropped to around 9 volts.
I am totally confused. Any help would be appreciated.
Racer
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 449
Likes: 157
From: Newark, DE
Re: C5 Sub Install Help Needed!!!! (Al '92)
Ok, first thing is to try to pinpoint the noise source. There's a bunch of questions you need to answer.
Does the thumping get louder when you turn the head unit up, or is it a constant noise level?
It the thumping regular or random?
How are your power wires to the amp run?
How exactly did you hook up the RCA wire? Is it a shielded RCA?
Do you have a capacitor across the battery?
With your battery voltage reading 9 volts, I would be extremely careful. You've got a short somewhere, and its pulling a ton of current from your alternator. I wouldn't turn the amp on until you've found it. You can ruin an alternator really quickly that way.
Does the thumping get louder when you turn the head unit up, or is it a constant noise level?
It the thumping regular or random?
How are your power wires to the amp run?
How exactly did you hook up the RCA wire? Is it a shielded RCA?
Do you have a capacitor across the battery?
With your battery voltage reading 9 volts, I would be extremely careful. You've got a short somewhere, and its pulling a ton of current from your alternator. I wouldn't turn the amp on until you've found it. You can ruin an alternator really quickly that way.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 1,926
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From: I hate you and I dont even know you
Re: C5 Sub Install Help Needed!!!! (GTLocke13)
Answered your questions below. I've hooked up stereo's and subs in several cars before and never had a problem until this one and it's got me stumped.
Ok, first thing is to try to pinpoint the noise source. There's a bunch of questions you need to answer.
Does the thumping get louder when you turn the head unit up, or is it a constant noise level?
If I remember, it doesn't get louder.
It the thumping regular or random?
It is a regular sound, not random.
How are your power wires to the amp run?
I hooked the remote turn on to the deck as outlined by 99HT, I believe it was the dark green wire #8 on C1. I grabbed the hot lead from the fuse box area under the passenger foot well. Found a big guage wire that had constant hot.
How exactly did you hook up the RCA wire? Is it a shielded RCA?
It is a shielded RCA, and I only used the inner wire, Do I need to ground the outer shielding to the chassis?
Do you have a capacitor across the battery?
No capacitor.
With your battery voltage reading 9 volts, I would be extremely careful. You've got a short somewhere, and its pulling a ton of current from your alternator. I wouldn't turn the amp on until you've found it. You can ruin an alternator really quickly that way.
Does the thumping get louder when you turn the head unit up, or is it a constant noise level?
If I remember, it doesn't get louder.
It the thumping regular or random?
It is a regular sound, not random.
How are your power wires to the amp run?
I hooked the remote turn on to the deck as outlined by 99HT, I believe it was the dark green wire #8 on C1. I grabbed the hot lead from the fuse box area under the passenger foot well. Found a big guage wire that had constant hot.
How exactly did you hook up the RCA wire? Is it a shielded RCA?
It is a shielded RCA, and I only used the inner wire, Do I need to ground the outer shielding to the chassis?
Do you have a capacitor across the battery?
No capacitor.
With your battery voltage reading 9 volts, I would be extremely careful. You've got a short somewhere, and its pulling a ton of current from your alternator. I wouldn't turn the amp on until you've found it. You can ruin an alternator really quickly that way.
Racer
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 449
Likes: 157
From: Newark, DE
Re: C5 Sub Install Help Needed!!!! (Al '92)
Ok, first I want to clear something up. You said:
Do you mean inner wire or inner wires? RCA's are two conductor connectors. If you've only got one conductor hooked up, that could be the problem. Most RCAs are coax, which means that the "shield" is actually the second conductor. A shielded RCA either has a central wire and two conductor sheaths or a twisted pair in the center with a shield around it. Car audio systems use balanced signals, which means that there's no ground conductor. When one conductor is at +1V, the other is at -1V, so you have to have both conductors hooked up.
Another possibility is where you've got the power run from. The noise could be coupling in through the power line. What else is on the power lead you've got the amp on? The best way to fix this is to run the power to the amp right from the + battery terminal. Just make sure you fuse the line next to the battery.
It is a shielded RCA, and I only used the inner wire, Do I need to ground the outer shielding to the chassis?
Another possibility is where you've got the power run from. The noise could be coupling in through the power line. What else is on the power lead you've got the amp on? The best way to fix this is to run the power to the amp right from the + battery terminal. Just make sure you fuse the line next to the battery.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 1,926
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From: I hate you and I dont even know you
Re: C5 Sub Install Help Needed!!!! (GTLocke13)
Ok, first I want to clear something up. You said:
It is a shielded RCA, and I only used the inner wire, Do I need to ground the outer shielding to the chassis?
Do you mean inner wire or inner wires? RCA's are two conductor connectors. If you've only got one conductor hooked up, that could be the problem. Most RCAs are coax, which means that the "shield" is actually the second conductor. A shielded RCA either has a central wire and two conductor sheaths or a twisted pair in the center with a shield around it. Car audio systems use balanced signals, which means that there's no ground conductor. When one conductor is at +1V, the other is at -1V, so you have to have both conductors hooked up.
Another possibility is where you've got the power run from. The noise could be coupling in through the power line. What else is on the power lead you've got the amp on? The best way to fix this is to run the power to the amp right from the + battery terminal. Just make sure you fuse the line next to the battery.
It is a shielded RCA, and I only used the inner wire, Do I need to ground the outer shielding to the chassis?
Do you mean inner wire or inner wires? RCA's are two conductor connectors. If you've only got one conductor hooked up, that could be the problem. Most RCAs are coax, which means that the "shield" is actually the second conductor. A shielded RCA either has a central wire and two conductor sheaths or a twisted pair in the center with a shield around it. Car audio systems use balanced signals, which means that there's no ground conductor. When one conductor is at +1V, the other is at -1V, so you have to have both conductors hooked up.
Another possibility is where you've got the power run from. The noise could be coupling in through the power line. What else is on the power lead you've got the amp on? The best way to fix this is to run the power to the amp right from the + battery terminal. Just make sure you fuse the line next to the battery.
I'm not sure what else is on the power wire that I tapped into. I tried running a wire straight to the battery yesterday and I still had an intermittent problem. I already have a fuse on the constant power to make sure that it doesn't fry anything.
The noise will also stop when you pull the RCA's from the amp since it kills the input signal. Not sure if that matters or not.
Racer
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 449
Likes: 157
From: Newark, DE
Re: C5 Sub Install Help Needed!!!! (Al '92)
Since the noise stops when you pull the RCAs and it doesn't get any louder when you turn up the head unit, its got to be a problem with the RCA connectors.
I'm still not exactly sure what you're doing with these RCA cables. Are there one or two wires in the middle of each cable?
One thing I might suggest is going to Radioshack and getting a couple female RCA connectors. These have two wires coming out the back that you can splice into the wires on the back of your head unit. Then you don't have to cut open a real RCA cable to make the connection, you can just plug it in.
Basically, the pin at the end of the RCA cable (where it plugs into the amp) needs to be connected to one wire, and the sheath needs to be connected to the other wire. Use an ohmmeter to make sure its wired this way. If you've got the wiring right, then start looking for short circuits.
If you could post a link to 99HT's wiring instructions that would help.
I'm still not exactly sure what you're doing with these RCA cables. Are there one or two wires in the middle of each cable?
One thing I might suggest is going to Radioshack and getting a couple female RCA connectors. These have two wires coming out the back that you can splice into the wires on the back of your head unit. Then you don't have to cut open a real RCA cable to make the connection, you can just plug it in.
Basically, the pin at the end of the RCA cable (where it plugs into the amp) needs to be connected to one wire, and the sheath needs to be connected to the other wire. Use an ohmmeter to make sure its wired this way. If you've got the wiring right, then start looking for short circuits.
If you could post a link to 99HT's wiring instructions that would help.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 1,926
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From: I hate you and I dont even know you
Re: C5 Sub Install Help Needed!!!! (GTLocke13)
Here's the link to the wiring instructions. These are for the stock head unit, not an aftermarket setup, that's the reason for cutting the RCA's.
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=231406
I'll double check the volume thing tonight and then try to figure out where I need to connect the other part of the RCA.
And thanks for the help! :cheers:
[Modified by Al '92, 3:51 PM 11/25/2002]
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=231406
I'll double check the volume thing tonight and then try to figure out where I need to connect the other part of the RCA.
And thanks for the help! :cheers:
[Modified by Al '92, 3:51 PM 11/25/2002]
Racer
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 449
Likes: 157
From: Newark, DE
Re: C5 Sub Install Help Needed!!!! (Al '92)
Ok, this makes things crystal clear. You have to ground the outer conductor of the RCA's. Connect both outer conductors to C4(15), the black wire. This is the return signal from the amp. I'm actually amazed the amp worked the way you had it wired. You basically had a floating connection on the other half of the RCAs. You could also use a chassis connection since there is very little current flow in these lines, but that would be asking for noise trouble.
In terms of noise prevention, this setup completely SUCKS. There's not much you can do about it short of replacing the head unit. Whoever designed this head unit should be dragged out in the street and shot. What kind of morons can't fit some signal processors inside a 2-din case? Its like, 4 DSP chips. And any car thats been made in the last 3 years and costs upwards of 50K should have a head unit that has a decent set of RCA pre-outs on it. This is what you get when you let a complete-system company like Bose design components for you. "Bose: audio systems for people who just can't be bothered."
In terms of noise prevention, this setup completely SUCKS. There's not much you can do about it short of replacing the head unit. Whoever designed this head unit should be dragged out in the street and shot. What kind of morons can't fit some signal processors inside a 2-din case? Its like, 4 DSP chips. And any car thats been made in the last 3 years and costs upwards of 50K should have a head unit that has a decent set of RCA pre-outs on it. This is what you get when you let a complete-system company like Bose design components for you. "Bose: audio systems for people who just can't be bothered."
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Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Feb 1999
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From: I hate you and I dont even know you
Re: C5 Sub Install Help Needed!!!! (GTLocke13)
I'll give that a shot tonight and let you know how it turns out. Hopefully that will fix the problem because this was driving me crazy yesterday. And thanks again for the help.
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 1,926
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From: I hate you and I dont even know you
Re: C5 Sub Install Help Needed!!!! (GTLocke13)
Unless something decides to go wrong today, I think the sub is fixed. Hooked the outer RCA wiring to the black ground wire and ran it for about 30 minutes last night and everything sounded normal. Voltage at the amp was good and no weird noises.
:D :D :D :D :D
:D :D :D :D :D
