ok so i just got a new deck and im wondering how come the stereo light dims in and out like im sure this has happended to a lot off ppl wat can i do to fix this problem?
Replies (18)
swez on 07/7/2007 10:37:45
There are 3 possible issues at work here.
1. Inadequate grounding of the HU
2. Ground loop/power losses
3. Wire gage used is insufficient
New HU's have more power and require a dedicated ground circuit. The harness grounds that connect to the dash system are not often adequate. We can get that ground from the floor pan, internal dash metal or firewall.
Cars of this vintage used the car body as a ground plane for the audio system and all other parts of the electrical system. There is only 1 speaker line to each speaker and the speaker was grounded to the car body. New HU's cannot tolerate this. They require 2 wires from each HU channel to each speaker in order to work properly.
If you read the manual for your new HU, it usually shows 2 wires to each speaker. One is a positive polarity feed. The other is the return path Neg from the HU to speaker. If we try to use the car body as the return path for speakers, it may work but newer HU's are not designed to handle this method.
A third possiblility here, may relate to the wire gage used to connect the ACC/IGN and Constant wires on the HU. Most HU's will do fine on #14 gage wire for power feeds. There are a few Alpine HU's that require a larger Constant line to feed the internal amplifiers properly. That is clearly stated in their install manuals.
Hope that helps... comments?
Swez
ShootuhMcBustaCap on 07/7/2007 12:07:39
Funny that this is brought up. I accidently discovered that a speaker will play when just grounded out to something, and not connected to the ground wire. Kinda tripped me out.
I always wondered why instruction manuals for amps, decks and the like always had such a stern warning to not ground out the ground wire on the speaker. I always thought it was an issue of a lack of common sense, not that things where built that way, was the reason they included that warning.
My Alpines's constant and ground wires are both a bit bigger than my ignition wire. I assume the ignition wire is much like a remote wire?
swez on 07/7/2007 15:27:27
Today's amps and HU's are self grounded units. The power and ground wires serve their purpose to complete a circuit path for each unit to operate.
However, signal and speaker lines are use isolated power systems that have their own grounding mechanisms. These grounds are unique and must be used independently from other car electrical grounds or we get ground loops and/or power drops.
Swez
snappy on 07/7/2007 22:26:01
so in short and easy terms how do i fix this problem?
swez on 07/7/2007 23:20:15
Good question...
1. Ground the HU properly to the body/chassis
2. For each speaker used off the HU amps, use both Pos & Neg wires to each speaker
It is normal to see minor dimmimg on the HU lighting when the HU amps are pushed hard. If you used the ILLumination wire feature on this install, disconnect that and use the manual display dimming feature if the HU has that feature.
Try these methods first. If this does not correct the problem, I don't know what else to offer you.
Swez
snappy on 07/7/2007 23:34:35
what does HU mean?
swez on 07/8/2007 13:15:28
HU = Head Unit = Audio source = Radio.
Sorry, I forgot you are a bit new to our techie jargon.
Keep us posted OK?
Swez
SQLThump on 07/8/2007 13:37:20
Dude, sometimes I still hjave trouble with H/u. I still reach for the word "deck"
swez on 07/8/2007 14:03:25
Same idea... Deck, HU, player ect. After being around a while, the specs and jargon do change, but the results are getting better too.
CD, DVD and High Def Audio/Vidio are new technologies with lots of wonderful capability. But what do I know... was raised on 45's/LP's, AM radio and 8-track "decks". Wow, am I old or what?
Swez
SQLThump on 07/8/2007 14:09:24
45's/LP's? are those those frisbee like things my momma say be worth money?
GRIN
swez on 07/8/2007 14:31:31
Yep... they make poor frisbees to be sure. But if mama has a clean collection of well preserved LP's and 45's, to the right collector, they are indeed worth considerable money.
I have a limited edition LP of Supertramp, "Crime of the Century" It is in excellent shape and was worth about $100.00, some 15 years ago. I wonder what it would be worth to the right collector now?
Best guess, I must have 150-200 LP's in the collection by now. Am sure there are a few LP's that can fetch over $50.00 too. Hum, this might be interesting to dig them out and scan the trading rags.
Swez
snappy on 07/8/2007 20:36:07
ok Swez thanks for al the help i finally got everything all set up the way i wanted and it sounds great thanks a lot for your help and everybody that helped me out
swez on 07/8/2007 20:42:38
That's a relief as I tend to take coaching here a personal passion to do it well by our readers.
What was the issue you had to resolve?
Swez
snappy on 07/8/2007 20:58:10
i resolved why my subs when i turned it up they didnt work apperently it was the deck i upgraded and they work now. and also my stereo light doesnt dim no more im all set
swez on 07/8/2007 22:14:18
Hum, that's an odd one, but at least everything is AOK now.
Good practice huh?
Swez
SQLThump on 07/10/2007 05:12:49
My mom has a bunch of old records from the dawn of time such as Engelbert Humperdink, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and stuff like that, also, lots of old skool jazz stuff. My grandmother was an AVID music fan, and could even get down with some rap before she passed in 1996. She left my mother quite an extensive record collection.
We got big old boxes of these records, but I dont think their worth is too much concern. The "heirloom value" alone makes them priceless.
snappy on 07/10/2007 23:42:35
yae Swez it was a great practice now i know a lot like how to hook up and amp and a bunch of other wiring.
its funny how this forum went from the deck light dimming in and out to old records haha good stuff
swez on 07/11/2007 08:37:29
"Tangent alerts" are common here. When the forum gets slow, we often get off track and go off topic, just to stay in touch with the community at large. But if you have a need, we'll be here to assist as needed.
Glad you resolved the light dimming issues. Was it a faulty HU?
Swez
Replies (18)
swez on 07/7/2007 10:37:45
There are 3 possible issues at work here.
1. Inadequate grounding of the HU
2. Ground loop/power losses
3. Wire gage used is insufficient
New HU's have more power and require a dedicated ground circuit. The harness grounds that connect to the dash system are not often adequate. We can get that ground from the floor pan, internal dash metal or firewall.
Cars of this vintage used the car body as a ground plane for the audio system and all other parts of the electrical system. There is only 1 speaker line to each speaker and the speaker was grounded to the car body. New HU's cannot tolerate this. They require 2 wires from each HU channel to each speaker in order to work properly.
If you read the manual for your new HU, it usually shows 2 wires to each speaker. One is a positive polarity feed. The other is the return path Neg from the HU to speaker. If we try to use the car body as the return path for speakers, it may work but newer HU's are not designed to handle this method.
A third possiblility here, may relate to the wire gage used to connect the ACC/IGN and Constant wires on the HU. Most HU's will do fine on #14 gage wire for power feeds. There are a few Alpine HU's that require a larger Constant line to feed the internal amplifiers properly. That is clearly stated in their install manuals.
Hope that helps... comments?
Swez
ShootuhMcBustaCap on 07/7/2007 12:07:39
Funny that this is brought up. I accidently discovered that a speaker will play when just grounded out to something, and not connected to the ground wire. Kinda tripped me out.
I always wondered why instruction manuals for amps, decks and the like always had such a stern warning to not ground out the ground wire on the speaker. I always thought it was an issue of a lack of common sense, not that things where built that way, was the reason they included that warning.
My Alpines's constant and ground wires are both a bit bigger than my ignition wire. I assume the ignition wire is much like a remote wire?
swez on 07/7/2007 15:27:27
Today's amps and HU's are self grounded units. The power and ground wires serve their purpose to complete a circuit path for each unit to operate.
However, signal and speaker lines are use isolated power systems that have their own grounding mechanisms. These grounds are unique and must be used independently from other car electrical grounds or we get ground loops and/or power drops.
Swez
snappy on 07/7/2007 22:26:01
so in short and easy terms how do i fix this problem?
swez on 07/7/2007 23:20:15
Good question...
1. Ground the HU properly to the body/chassis
2. For each speaker used off the HU amps, use both Pos & Neg wires to each speaker
It is normal to see minor dimmimg on the HU lighting when the HU amps are pushed hard. If you used the ILLumination wire feature on this install, disconnect that and use the manual display dimming feature if the HU has that feature.
Try these methods first. If this does not correct the problem, I don't know what else to offer you.
Swez
snappy on 07/7/2007 23:34:35
what does HU mean?
swez on 07/8/2007 13:15:28
HU = Head Unit = Audio source = Radio.
Sorry, I forgot you are a bit new to our techie jargon.
Keep us posted OK?
Swez
SQLThump on 07/8/2007 13:37:20
Dude, sometimes I still hjave trouble with H/u. I still reach for the word "deck"
swez on 07/8/2007 14:03:25
Same idea... Deck, HU, player ect. After being around a while, the specs and jargon do change, but the results are getting better too.
CD, DVD and High Def Audio/Vidio are new technologies with lots of wonderful capability. But what do I know... was raised on 45's/LP's, AM radio and 8-track "decks". Wow, am I old or what?
Swez
SQLThump on 07/8/2007 14:09:24
45's/LP's? are those those frisbee like things my momma say be worth money?
GRIN
swez on 07/8/2007 14:31:31
Yep... they make poor frisbees to be sure. But if mama has a clean collection of well preserved LP's and 45's, to the right collector, they are indeed worth considerable money.
I have a limited edition LP of Supertramp, "Crime of the Century" It is in excellent shape and was worth about $100.00, some 15 years ago. I wonder what it would be worth to the right collector now?
Best guess, I must have 150-200 LP's in the collection by now. Am sure there are a few LP's that can fetch over $50.00 too. Hum, this might be interesting to dig them out and scan the trading rags.
Swez
snappy on 07/8/2007 20:36:07
ok Swez thanks for al the help i finally got everything all set up the way i wanted and it sounds great thanks a lot for your help and everybody that helped me out
swez on 07/8/2007 20:42:38
That's a relief as I tend to take coaching here a personal passion to do it well by our readers.
What was the issue you had to resolve?
Swez
snappy on 07/8/2007 20:58:10
i resolved why my subs when i turned it up they didnt work apperently it was the deck i upgraded and they work now. and also my stereo light doesnt dim no more im all set
swez on 07/8/2007 22:14:18
Hum, that's an odd one, but at least everything is AOK now.
Good practice huh?
Swez
SQLThump on 07/10/2007 05:12:49
My mom has a bunch of old records from the dawn of time such as Engelbert Humperdink, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole and stuff like that, also, lots of old skool jazz stuff. My grandmother was an AVID music fan, and could even get down with some rap before she passed in 1996. She left my mother quite an extensive record collection.
We got big old boxes of these records, but I dont think their worth is too much concern. The "heirloom value" alone makes them priceless.
snappy on 07/10/2007 23:42:35
yae Swez it was a great practice now i know a lot like how to hook up and amp and a bunch of other wiring.
its funny how this forum went from the deck light dimming in and out to old records haha good stuff
swez on 07/11/2007 08:37:29
"Tangent alerts" are common here. When the forum gets slow, we often get off track and go off topic, just to stay in touch with the community at large. But if you have a need, we'll be here to assist as needed.
Glad you resolved the light dimming issues. Was it a faulty HU?
Swez
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