NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

[Sixmark]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

Have you tested anything at this point?

 

[Silverbullet555]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

i rewired all the speakers myself, they are all in parallel, with new speaker wire
the old radio i had in did the same thing. it was an old car radio i had laying around
so i dont see it being a problem with a faulty radio
and i dont see it drawing too much power due to wiring in series

By wiring the speakers in parallel you lowered the impedance on each channel. If you are running 3 way speakers, they impedance may be 3.65 ohms as opposed to the 4 ohms you are thinking. Two speakers wired in parallel at 3.65 ohms will equal a load of 1.825 ohms which is too low of an impedance for most decks and many amps.

 

[Silverbullet555]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

How many speakers are you using? Two four ohm (typical for car speakers) speakers in paralle results in two ohms impedance.

NOTE: Impedance is NOT the same thing as resistance that you measure with a volt/ohm meter.

And keep in mind that most 4 ohm car speakers are not 4 ohms since they are either 2 way or 3 way.

 

[ratking20]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

speakers are alpine m600 6.5 2-way coaxials. im using 4 of them. they are 4 ohms

 

[ratking20]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

i just got my hands on a multitester again and this time did it right. it ook me a while cause its been raining alot lately. so when the radio is on the red and yellow wire is getting about 13.5 volts. and when the radio shuts off its still getting the same. i noticed that it stays on for the most part when the volume is down? so i guess its not the power source? correct? what could it be?

 

[mrchev]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

you should have meter set to the 20 volt dc (20vdc) (can puts leads a cross battery to see what the battery is at) and to make sure the meter is on the right scale. should read 12-14 volts
blk test lead - to known good ground
other lead to red on radio
should have around 12-14 volts depending on battery charge
when radio shuts off should still have 12volts or better?
next take lead off red and put on orange ,with radio on do you have 12v?
shut radio off do you still have 12 volts on orange wire?
un hook test leads and now take black test lead and place it on battery positive and take other lead and place it on black wire of radio should have 12v even when radio quits working. if you can answer yes or no to these with the voltage at each question then we can better help you figure it out. thanks

did you check the black wire. and is the yellow wire hooked up. have you tried unhooking all the speakers and see if it still does it?

 

[Sixmark]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

i just got my hands on a multitester again and this time did it right. it ook me a while cause its been raining alot lately. so when the radio is on the red and yellow wire is getting about 13.5 volts. and when the radio shuts off its still getting the same. i noticed that it stays on for the most part when the volume is down? so i guess its not the power source? correct? what could it be?

When the radio is off then you should only be getting power to the yellow wire, the red should be run to the switched accessory point at the ignition.

Is the stereo wired into a circuit that other things are wired into as well? Is this circuit on a breaker?, and is that circuit being overloaded?

Once you have gone that far and verified you are not overloading a breaker and there are no shorts in the power circuit then proceed

I would suggest tracing the speaker wires, check them for crimps, exposed wires, shorts, etc.

Once you have done that and verified all connections and wires are free from defect, you can try isolating the speakers from the stereo by simply unplugging them one at a time and seeing if the problem persists, if when you remove a speaker from the circuit the problem goes away, then you may have a speaker that has shorted within itself which would trigger the protection circuit in the stereo.

 

[ratking20]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

alot of people seem to think it could be the ground wire.so ill check that first. so is there a way to check it or would i have to rerun a new wire and see if it works.

im guessing everything is run through a breaker box or something like that. im not too familiar with that but ill check that next

i dont think the speakers or the radio is the problem. aside from them both being new. before installing new speakers and a radio. i was having the same problem with the old speakers and radio. but i will look into this next?

anyone have any additional help on the ground wire for now?

 

[Sixmark]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

You have a multimeter, do you know how to use one? If you do then read everything in my last post again.

 

[ratking20]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

okay. i tested it today. i turned the radio on. and then i tested the red and yellow wires. when the radio seemed to be shutting off and then coming back on the power on both was the same . about 13.5 give or take. i did NOT test the wires before turning the radio on. i can if you think that could help. does it sound like the the radio has a safety feature and is shutting down by itself. what could cause that if its not improper speaker wiring. or could it still be the ground wire? i plan on investigating more tomorow before i go away for the weekend

 

[mrchev]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

in my other post i wrote how to check the ground. another way to check it is to go blk from battery with test lead to blk on radio. with the meter set on 1 or 2 volt dc setting or 500 milivolts dc. it should read zero. when the radio shuts off it should read less then 100 milivolts. if the reading is higher say a couple of volts then you have a bad ground. the voltage is going through the meter back to ground instead of the wire. it not a power feed problem if your always 13 volts when the radio shuts off.if you preset a raio station does it come back on to that station or does it loose the station.

 

[pheasanthunter]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

You said you are reading 28-30 volts on red wire and 25 volts on the yellow wire... You don't by chance have 2 batteries in the boat that are hooked up in series do you. That would give you a reading in that area. Series being... the - side of one battery hooked to the + side of the other.

 

[ratking20]

Re: NEED HELP! just put in a new radio

no i just had the multi-tester on the wrong setting. i re-ran a new power and ground wire and the problem is gone. my guess is it was the ground. thanks everyone for your help