Hey guys, love the forums and all the advice you guys give. Used to be a long time lurker, now I'm asking for some guidance. I have a 2004 Pontiac Grand Am Sedan that does not have the Bose system or Onstar. I'm wanting to install in it my Sony CDX-F7700 head unit and a Rockford Fosgate Omnifi DMP1 media player. I have the head unit installed and working now after buying a Scosche GM2000 adapter so I could keep my chimes.
I now wish to hook up the Omnifi system to my head unit. The Omnifi requires a ground , constant power and switched power. I tried hooking up these wires from the Omnifi and the wires from the head unit to the corresponding ones from the GM2000 harness at the same time, but neither the head unit or the Omnifi would power up. Connected alone, the head unit works fine. I read in the wiring harnesses manual that the switched power from the wiring harness is only rated at a value that gives enough current to power one device, and that hooking up more than one device at a time could cause damage to the wiring harness. I figured that this was the reason neither device would turn on. Luckily no damage was caused to the harness and it still functions properly.
What's the easiest/best way to get another switched power source to hook up to the Omnifi system, or am I just doing something wrong and could this be solved in an easier manner? I don't plan on adding an amp or subwoofer system to this car, if that helps any. Thanks!
Replies (8)
ShootuhMcBustaCap on 06/7/2007 19:33:19
Hmmm, interesting. You could run a small wire from your battery to the interior, and do that for the constant, and run another one from the ignition or a switched fuse in the fuse box for the siwtched power, and ground it to metal in the dash floor board ect.
Also, this could be an issue of the ground from the wiring harness being to small. Factory harness grounds are usually not sufficient to power an aftermarket H/U, let aloneany add ons to it. Try running a new ground for your head unit.
The Omnifi is a music storage device I assume? Got any links so we can see it for ourself??
meatypuffs on 06/7/2007 19:57:15
Thanks for the reply Shootuh. For the switched fuse in the fuse box, do I need to have a special adaptor to connect to one of the fuses in there? I've never done much in the fuse box, or anything with the ignition for that matter, so it's a whole new area for me, so if you could provide me some basic steps for connecting a wire to a switched fuse in the fuse box I'd definitely appreciate it.
The manual for the Omnifi system says the red cable's current is a negligible amount, so do you think I could get away with connecting the harness' red cable to the head unit and to the Omnifi system? Ripping apart the dash in my '04 Grand Am is much more of a hassle than it was in my '93 Dodge Intrepid, so I probably won't be able to try anything until this weekend when I can dedicate a couple hours of having my dash apart, but I'd like to have a great game plan on what I'm going to do.
You are correct that the Omnifi is a media storage device. I apologize for not providing a link to it in my original post, I didn't figure it would be a very widely used device. Looks like a neat little device. Really looking forward to being able to sync my media library wirelessly to my laptop. Picked it up for $100 off of woot.com a couple years ago and am just now getting around to installing it. Here is a link to the product page on the manufacturer's website, which includes the installation and owner's manuals: http://www.omnifimedia.com/products/omnifi_details.asp?productId=12541&productNum=87055
Thanks.
trunkisloud on 06/8/2007 00:37:02
ive never had an issue connecting 2 components to the same power wire....in doing so you may have to upgrade the fuse to a size or two bigger...but it should work...these items dont seem to pose a serious strain on the system...
meatypuffs on 06/16/2007 21:41:53
After reading trunkisloud's post I decided I'd try hooking it all up together again, and it worked this time! I don't know what I did wrong the first time I tried it, but it works great now, so I'm happy. Thanks so much for the help guys.
swez on 06/17/2007 00:48:59
Since these are very low power consumption devices, using a larger fuse on a given tapped line is ill-advised.
The stock fuse value is based on wire gage size used in a given circuit. If we have a 10A fuse and tap off of that and everything works fine, good to go.
However, if we tap a feed wire and blow fuses with the new device in use, it's better and safer to run a new "dedicated line" and fuse for that add on device. If you want it switched via ACC/IGN, most fuse boxes have a spare location for this.
If you don't have such a spare location, run a Constant +12 volt line and just unplug of shut off the device when not in use so it will not drain your battery.
Swez
ShootuhMcBustaCap on 06/17/2007 09:36:37
Glad to see everything worked out for you Meat. Sometimes, I swear audio gear likes to mess with us in funny, cheeky little ways.
So you can sync your laptop's music collection right into this thing? Sounds pretty cool. How does it interface with the H/U, with rca's or a cd changer plug adapter??
meatypuffs on 07/7/2007 19:02:03
Everything has been working great since I got it installed properly. Thanks for your help guys. If I run into any problems with it not receiving enough power I'll try out your suggestions Swez.
This really is a neat little unit. I have about 2500 songs loaded up on it now, and while I wish it had a remote to control navigation, it's pretty easy to get to the music I want to listen to. It connects to the H/U through rca's into the H/U's aux. Sounds great. I haven't been able to get it to sync wirelessly to my laptop (the SimpleCenter software used to do it is crap), but the hard drive portion connects to my laptop through USB, so that works for me. I'll probably only need to sync once every couple months, so it's really not that big of a deal. There's an open source version of the firmware that runs on the unit available, but I like the stock firmware a little bit better, so I'll continue using it until I have some time to dig into the open source and customize it a little bit to my liking.
Thanks again for the help guys.
swez on 07/7/2007 21:45:03
Glad to hear this one is working out as wired. If you have not blown any fuses yet, chances are good that you are fine right where you are.
Well done Meaty and a good follow up,
Swez
PS If you value this site and it's info, help us to help you and others with a "modest" donation. Summer months are the hardest time for this site for donations. CK went down a few years ago due to lack of funds and it takes about $60.00/mo to keep the site financed.
If just a few people pitched a few bucks in a month, we are in good shape. We don't ask any to break their piggy bank and several forms of payment options are available to our users. USFLAG
I now wish to hook up the Omnifi system to my head unit. The Omnifi requires a ground , constant power and switched power. I tried hooking up these wires from the Omnifi and the wires from the head unit to the corresponding ones from the GM2000 harness at the same time, but neither the head unit or the Omnifi would power up. Connected alone, the head unit works fine. I read in the wiring harnesses manual that the switched power from the wiring harness is only rated at a value that gives enough current to power one device, and that hooking up more than one device at a time could cause damage to the wiring harness. I figured that this was the reason neither device would turn on. Luckily no damage was caused to the harness and it still functions properly.
What's the easiest/best way to get another switched power source to hook up to the Omnifi system, or am I just doing something wrong and could this be solved in an easier manner? I don't plan on adding an amp or subwoofer system to this car, if that helps any. Thanks!
Replies (8)
ShootuhMcBustaCap on 06/7/2007 19:33:19
Hmmm, interesting. You could run a small wire from your battery to the interior, and do that for the constant, and run another one from the ignition or a switched fuse in the fuse box for the siwtched power, and ground it to metal in the dash floor board ect.
Also, this could be an issue of the ground from the wiring harness being to small. Factory harness grounds are usually not sufficient to power an aftermarket H/U, let aloneany add ons to it. Try running a new ground for your head unit.
The Omnifi is a music storage device I assume? Got any links so we can see it for ourself??
meatypuffs on 06/7/2007 19:57:15
Thanks for the reply Shootuh. For the switched fuse in the fuse box, do I need to have a special adaptor to connect to one of the fuses in there? I've never done much in the fuse box, or anything with the ignition for that matter, so it's a whole new area for me, so if you could provide me some basic steps for connecting a wire to a switched fuse in the fuse box I'd definitely appreciate it.
The manual for the Omnifi system says the red cable's current is a negligible amount, so do you think I could get away with connecting the harness' red cable to the head unit and to the Omnifi system? Ripping apart the dash in my '04 Grand Am is much more of a hassle than it was in my '93 Dodge Intrepid, so I probably won't be able to try anything until this weekend when I can dedicate a couple hours of having my dash apart, but I'd like to have a great game plan on what I'm going to do.
You are correct that the Omnifi is a media storage device. I apologize for not providing a link to it in my original post, I didn't figure it would be a very widely used device. Looks like a neat little device. Really looking forward to being able to sync my media library wirelessly to my laptop. Picked it up for $100 off of woot.com a couple years ago and am just now getting around to installing it. Here is a link to the product page on the manufacturer's website, which includes the installation and owner's manuals: http://www.omnifimedia.com/products/omnifi_details.asp?productId=12541&productNum=87055
Thanks.
trunkisloud on 06/8/2007 00:37:02
ive never had an issue connecting 2 components to the same power wire....in doing so you may have to upgrade the fuse to a size or two bigger...but it should work...these items dont seem to pose a serious strain on the system...
meatypuffs on 06/16/2007 21:41:53
After reading trunkisloud's post I decided I'd try hooking it all up together again, and it worked this time! I don't know what I did wrong the first time I tried it, but it works great now, so I'm happy. Thanks so much for the help guys.
swez on 06/17/2007 00:48:59
Since these are very low power consumption devices, using a larger fuse on a given tapped line is ill-advised.
The stock fuse value is based on wire gage size used in a given circuit. If we have a 10A fuse and tap off of that and everything works fine, good to go.
However, if we tap a feed wire and blow fuses with the new device in use, it's better and safer to run a new "dedicated line" and fuse for that add on device. If you want it switched via ACC/IGN, most fuse boxes have a spare location for this.
If you don't have such a spare location, run a Constant +12 volt line and just unplug of shut off the device when not in use so it will not drain your battery.
Swez
ShootuhMcBustaCap on 06/17/2007 09:36:37
Glad to see everything worked out for you Meat. Sometimes, I swear audio gear likes to mess with us in funny, cheeky little ways.
So you can sync your laptop's music collection right into this thing? Sounds pretty cool. How does it interface with the H/U, with rca's or a cd changer plug adapter??
meatypuffs on 07/7/2007 19:02:03
Everything has been working great since I got it installed properly. Thanks for your help guys. If I run into any problems with it not receiving enough power I'll try out your suggestions Swez.
This really is a neat little unit. I have about 2500 songs loaded up on it now, and while I wish it had a remote to control navigation, it's pretty easy to get to the music I want to listen to. It connects to the H/U through rca's into the H/U's aux. Sounds great. I haven't been able to get it to sync wirelessly to my laptop (the SimpleCenter software used to do it is crap), but the hard drive portion connects to my laptop through USB, so that works for me. I'll probably only need to sync once every couple months, so it's really not that big of a deal. There's an open source version of the firmware that runs on the unit available, but I like the stock firmware a little bit better, so I'll continue using it until I have some time to dig into the open source and customize it a little bit to my liking.
Thanks again for the help guys.
swez on 07/7/2007 21:45:03
Glad to hear this one is working out as wired. If you have not blown any fuses yet, chances are good that you are fine right where you are.
Well done Meaty and a good follow up,
Swez
PS If you value this site and it's info, help us to help you and others with a "modest" donation. Summer months are the hardest time for this site for donations. CK went down a few years ago due to lack of funds and it takes about $60.00/mo to keep the site financed.
If just a few people pitched a few bucks in a month, we are in good shape. We don't ask any to break their piggy bank and several forms of payment options are available to our users. USFLAG
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