i know this is a topic that i have brought up a few times but the problem still goes unsolved and i think i might have found a reason. i have been toying with different aspects of my stereo to test and see if they are the cause of my problem. even though i don't think that my tracker can support as big of system as i have in it i don't think that is the main reason for the cutting out of my amps. so i thought that i would test my deck by hooking up my rca's and my remote to my freinds amp sub setup and see if it would cut out. he has a smaller stereo with a way bigger battery, he did have a massive stereo but then sold most of his gear, so i knew that it wouldn't be his battery causing the cutting out of the amp if it did cut out. and as i had suspected once we had the rca's and the remote from my deck to his amp which had the power coming from his battery it worked for a while then cut out just like it does in my tracker.
has anyone ever heard of the deck causing the amp to cut out? i still have it under warranty so should i go and have them fix it right away? or is there something else that i could be missing in my experiment that would cause things to cut out?
this is my deck - alpine cda 7893
Replies (13)
lessismorespl on 07/4/2005 19:53:39
If it is still under warranty, I would go get it taken care of. There is a good chance there is a short or loose wire. It could also be the preouts. whatever the reason, if it is still under warranty I would go get it checked out. If you want to be positive about the problem, go have it checked out at an audio shop, then you know for sure that is the problem.
less
ttocs on 07/4/2005 21:54:09
are you sure the deck isn't shutting off the output? If a speaker wire shorts the amp will often turn off to keep the magik smoke in.
oldmazda on 07/5/2005 03:07:38
could you elaborate a little bit more i'm not sure that i understand what you think could be going on? what speaker wire do you think could be shorting? the speaker wire from the amp to the subs or the ones from the deck to the actual speakers? and what would be causing the short and how would i fix it?
ttocs on 07/5/2005 09:28:44
the speaker outputs on your radio. If they short out the amp in the deck will shut off to protect itself, until the impedence returns to normal when it will come on. The wires could be balled up in the dash and shorting out, or you could have a rear speaker that is starting to go bad. It could be any speaker and you will get the same result. Pull the deck and check and insulate connections, check speaker mounting to ensure the signal isn't shorting at the speaker, in short, check ALL connections...
swez on 07/5/2005 10:55:11
Knowing you have replaced a few items from previous posts, it does seem logical to have your HU bench tested. The hard part is dupicating the conditions whereby the system shuts down and no audio signals to your amps.
A quick ohmmeter check of all speakers and line connected to the HU speaker outs only, may be very helpful. If there is 1 speaker going bad or a wire shorting, the meter should help pinpoint that.
Question: When the amps go off, does the HU shut off or the HU speakers stop working as well?
Swez
oldmazda on 07/5/2005 14:18:32
just the amps shut off but they both turn off at exactly the same time, i would expect that my alpine which i was told would be able to run in lower voltage conditions would stay on slightly longer than my clarion if there was a voltage drop. this is what made me think that i might be getting a bad signal from my head unit that would be causing the amps to turn off. the deck and the speakers which are run off the deck keep working fine. do you think i should do even more experimenting, i could take hook up one of my older decks to see if that will stop the cutting out?
swez on 07/6/2005 09:29:09
When the amps cut out, do the power lights on the amps go out too? If yes, try disconnecting the REM lead from the HU and install a set of "TEMPORARY" jumper wires between each amp B+ and REM's.
If the amps don't cut out now, it's the REM voltage supply line is failing. If the amps are still on and no music, your RCA's are losing signal. (HU repair or replacement) With this TEMP wiring, the amps should remain on as long as voltage to main B+ is above 11 volts.
DO NOT USE THE JUMPERS FOR LONG TERM USE AS THE AMPS WILL ALWAYS BE ON AND WILL DRAIN YOUR BAT OVER NIGHT !!!
Am not shouting/yelling with CAPS... emphasis on what not to do is all.
Swez
oldmazda on 07/6/2005 20:22:45
what do you mean jumper wires? do you mean simply disconnecting the remote wires from the HU to the amp and placing a wire between the remote terminal and the battery terminal? what size of wire would i use for that would i have to use 8 gauge or can i just use regular 16 gauge remote wire?
swez on 07/6/2005 21:46:19
Yes, remove the REM line (from HU) to each amp. Then, a short piece of #16 wire from BAT + on each amp to REM on each amp. Now, we have a continous supply of power to each amp, without REM voltage off the HU.
If the amps continue to play and not shut down as they do now, the only variable is the HU's REM may be acting up. If the amps play and then shut off as usual, go back and look at the power and protection lights. If power light is on and no protects, HU RCA circuits are having problems. Amps may be losing audio signal from HU via RCA issues or HU preamps that drive the RCA's are suspect.
Hope that helps,
Swez
PS When done testing, remove the jumpers. It would be a good idea to pull the main power fuse (at BAT) when installing and removing jumpers. No accidents that way OK?
ttocs on 07/7/2005 10:16:38
this is all done, if the power lights on the amps ARE shutting off...
oldmazda on 07/12/2005 21:28:59
well i'm glad thats over with i did the test that you suggested swez and it proved that my HU needed some repairs. i uninstalled it yesterday and shipped it's on its way back to alpine headquarters as we speak. just as if for further confirmation the old HU that i installed in its place as a temp is making my amp (it only has 1 rca out so i can only have one amp running now untill i get my other HU back) work perfectly.
thank you for all of your help through this whole problem and i am certainly glad i figured out what was wrong with it before the warranty is up in september. the only thing i am worried about is that they will test it and it will work and they decide that there is nothing wrong with it just because the problems i've had with it were quite intermitent.
thanks again
ttocs on 07/13/2005 11:26:57
you can split that rca with some y adaptors.....
swez on 07/13/2005 13:07:45
Or install a line driver that takes one set of RCA's input and several pairs of outputs for F, R & subs.
Glad we nailed it down.... finally!!! Intermittent circuits are the hardest to troubleshoot as they work for a given time and then, mysteriously cut out. With luck, they may send you a new or refurb HU and that issue will be gone forever.
Swez HAPPY
has anyone ever heard of the deck causing the amp to cut out? i still have it under warranty so should i go and have them fix it right away? or is there something else that i could be missing in my experiment that would cause things to cut out?
this is my deck - alpine cda 7893
Replies (13)
lessismorespl on 07/4/2005 19:53:39
If it is still under warranty, I would go get it taken care of. There is a good chance there is a short or loose wire. It could also be the preouts. whatever the reason, if it is still under warranty I would go get it checked out. If you want to be positive about the problem, go have it checked out at an audio shop, then you know for sure that is the problem.
less
ttocs on 07/4/2005 21:54:09
are you sure the deck isn't shutting off the output? If a speaker wire shorts the amp will often turn off to keep the magik smoke in.
oldmazda on 07/5/2005 03:07:38
could you elaborate a little bit more i'm not sure that i understand what you think could be going on? what speaker wire do you think could be shorting? the speaker wire from the amp to the subs or the ones from the deck to the actual speakers? and what would be causing the short and how would i fix it?
ttocs on 07/5/2005 09:28:44
the speaker outputs on your radio. If they short out the amp in the deck will shut off to protect itself, until the impedence returns to normal when it will come on. The wires could be balled up in the dash and shorting out, or you could have a rear speaker that is starting to go bad. It could be any speaker and you will get the same result. Pull the deck and check and insulate connections, check speaker mounting to ensure the signal isn't shorting at the speaker, in short, check ALL connections...
swez on 07/5/2005 10:55:11
Knowing you have replaced a few items from previous posts, it does seem logical to have your HU bench tested. The hard part is dupicating the conditions whereby the system shuts down and no audio signals to your amps.
A quick ohmmeter check of all speakers and line connected to the HU speaker outs only, may be very helpful. If there is 1 speaker going bad or a wire shorting, the meter should help pinpoint that.
Question: When the amps go off, does the HU shut off or the HU speakers stop working as well?
Swez
oldmazda on 07/5/2005 14:18:32
just the amps shut off but they both turn off at exactly the same time, i would expect that my alpine which i was told would be able to run in lower voltage conditions would stay on slightly longer than my clarion if there was a voltage drop. this is what made me think that i might be getting a bad signal from my head unit that would be causing the amps to turn off. the deck and the speakers which are run off the deck keep working fine. do you think i should do even more experimenting, i could take hook up one of my older decks to see if that will stop the cutting out?
swez on 07/6/2005 09:29:09
When the amps cut out, do the power lights on the amps go out too? If yes, try disconnecting the REM lead from the HU and install a set of "TEMPORARY" jumper wires between each amp B+ and REM's.
If the amps don't cut out now, it's the REM voltage supply line is failing. If the amps are still on and no music, your RCA's are losing signal. (HU repair or replacement) With this TEMP wiring, the amps should remain on as long as voltage to main B+ is above 11 volts.
DO NOT USE THE JUMPERS FOR LONG TERM USE AS THE AMPS WILL ALWAYS BE ON AND WILL DRAIN YOUR BAT OVER NIGHT !!!
Am not shouting/yelling with CAPS... emphasis on what not to do is all.
Swez
oldmazda on 07/6/2005 20:22:45
what do you mean jumper wires? do you mean simply disconnecting the remote wires from the HU to the amp and placing a wire between the remote terminal and the battery terminal? what size of wire would i use for that would i have to use 8 gauge or can i just use regular 16 gauge remote wire?
swez on 07/6/2005 21:46:19
Yes, remove the REM line (from HU) to each amp. Then, a short piece of #16 wire from BAT + on each amp to REM on each amp. Now, we have a continous supply of power to each amp, without REM voltage off the HU.
If the amps continue to play and not shut down as they do now, the only variable is the HU's REM may be acting up. If the amps play and then shut off as usual, go back and look at the power and protection lights. If power light is on and no protects, HU RCA circuits are having problems. Amps may be losing audio signal from HU via RCA issues or HU preamps that drive the RCA's are suspect.
Hope that helps,
Swez
PS When done testing, remove the jumpers. It would be a good idea to pull the main power fuse (at BAT) when installing and removing jumpers. No accidents that way OK?
ttocs on 07/7/2005 10:16:38
this is all done, if the power lights on the amps ARE shutting off...
oldmazda on 07/12/2005 21:28:59
well i'm glad thats over with i did the test that you suggested swez and it proved that my HU needed some repairs. i uninstalled it yesterday and shipped it's on its way back to alpine headquarters as we speak. just as if for further confirmation the old HU that i installed in its place as a temp is making my amp (it only has 1 rca out so i can only have one amp running now untill i get my other HU back) work perfectly.
thank you for all of your help through this whole problem and i am certainly glad i figured out what was wrong with it before the warranty is up in september. the only thing i am worried about is that they will test it and it will work and they decide that there is nothing wrong with it just because the problems i've had with it were quite intermitent.
thanks again
ttocs on 07/13/2005 11:26:57
you can split that rca with some y adaptors.....
swez on 07/13/2005 13:07:45
Or install a line driver that takes one set of RCA's input and several pairs of outputs for F, R & subs.
Glad we nailed it down.... finally!!! Intermittent circuits are the hardest to troubleshoot as they work for a given time and then, mysteriously cut out. With luck, they may send you a new or refurb HU and that issue will be gone forever.
Swez HAPPY
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