Hey guys, my wife said that this is happening in our truck - naturally since I am deployed and can't do anything about it.
She said that there are 'thumps' when the truck turns on AND the subs shut down when she hits the breaks or hits bumps. It wasn't doing this prior to me deploying so...hmmmmmmmm
Replies (14)
ttocs on 07/22/2009 08:35:41
could be a number of issues. Can you give us a better idea of what is in the car(other then the wife)?
swez on 07/22/2009 13:30:11
I'd look at the grounds for HU and amp initially and tight RCA connections on both ends too. Most newer amps have a "soft start" feature that delays the amp a few seconds before the power supply gets full power.
I'd tend to think grounds here as it was OK before and the bumps give added credance to that scenario.
Swez
FuBaR on 07/24/2009 23:42:55
thanks guys, even the wifey got a laugh outta that one. let me see, the set up is this:
kenwood 2-din dvd player - model # escapes me. All connections are overlayed and twisted, with shrinkwrap.
4 ga RF amplifier installation kit
Memphis 16 st-1000 subwoofer amplifer
1.0 farad Lightning Audio Capacitor
2 MTX 12" thunder 4500 subs (single 4 ohm coil)- I know the ain't the best but she likes them for now.
the ground on the amp/cap is bolted to the frame - yes bolted. wait, would length have anything to do with it? i never got to shortening the ground wire.
swez on 07/25/2009 00:10:12
Yep, my first thought is grounding may be the issue here. A lot of guys forget to ground the HU to a dedicated ground wire to floor pan or firewall. They just use the factory harness ground and sometimes that will work for a while and then crop up problems like you mentioned later.
A short ground to the body/Cap and amps is desirable and best kept to about 2-3 feet at most. This bolt also needs to be attached to a paint free, metal surface for best contact.
A joke:
Daughter... Mamma, it's been two years in college now and I ain't doing too bad in school. But, I got pregnant this semester and need your advice. What should I do?
Mamma: Girl... I spent good money to educate ya the past two years and you's still sayin' ain't ??? What they teachin' ya in them college classes anywho?
Moral of the story... Momma's arn't always the wisest, but they have their priorities well fixed. (The daughter was born when Momma was only 15 years old and not married either) LOL
Heads we win... tails you lose kinda logic huh?
Swez SMILE
FuBaR on 07/25/2009 11:13:59
Swez, OH YES - always to a non paint source for the ground. I learned that about 12 years ago, kind of like one of the main staples of car audio or any basic electronics - GROUND, GROUND GROUND.......I'll have to wait to check the deck....not trusting anyone to just take apart the dash.
swez on 07/25/2009 12:07:07
Hehe, a true DIY'er to the core huh?
Back to HU grounding for a moment, factory HU's are designed to be grounded via the main harness. It works in most cases with more powerful aftermarket HU's too. But the longer I hang out on this forum, the more I have learned that grounding the HU with a dedicated ground, and not to the dash cluster, usually cures most noise issues.
When do you think you'll be coming back home again?
Swez
Victor on 07/25/2009 14:16:15
change the RCA's to that sub-amp and see....
Victor...
FuBaR on 07/26/2009 18:29:08
Swez,
sorry to say, but I'm on a 6 month rotation so....After Christmas sometime. I'll keep that in mind for the winter months. Yeah, I live by the sword on that one, DIY. I want to go to school for it but my military career comes first, not my passion.lol
Victor,
the rca's are top of the line RF right out of the box, do you think that they could still be bad? I'll surely be pissed if that's the issue man....for real. But, like everything else, I'll chock that up and take care of it when i return. thanks again for the heads up. take care
take care all......just a little heads up, here, it's 122 degrees with 95% humidity......even the shade sucks...lol.... peace out people...
ttocs on 07/26/2009 22:40:22
I have seen cables bad out of the box or that were not pulled off correctly. Alot of high end cables have a super SUPER tight fit on the female connector to ensure a tight fit and a good connection. I have seen people grab these by the cable, not the end connector and yank. The conductors inside even the thickest of these cables is made up of bunch of super tiny stands of wire, and not alot of them and then can break easily.
If they have metal ends on them see if you can unscrew them and check the soldering inside. Soldering rca's is not so simple....
swez on 07/27/2009 03:20:28
FuBar,
Thank you for serving American as a military man. Those temperatures and humidity must be brutal with a full pack.
It is possible that one RCA connection has gone bad and these connectors can be bought separately and installed on your own. The better plugs have a built in strain relief tab on the ground side of the jack. Soldering the center pin is delicate work and fine gage solder is the trick along with a miniture vice and a 25 watt soldering pencil. A good quality jack will cost about $2.50 each for the metal outer sleeve types. (More durable than plastic)
Swez
FuBaR on 07/27/2009 07:16:12
No worries guys...I'll be replacing everything but the HU when I return, wifey wants headrest monitors for the boy, he's 5 and gets better toys than dad.....how is this possible? lol. I really don't want one of my friends tearin' into my SUV, so...It will just have to wait until Christmas - well, lets just hope I return by then. It's funny how those end dates are never what they seem to be, lol. Back in my younger days - I recall a 3 month TDY get turned into, we'll just let you know when to pack, 4 months later.....but, that is what I get the big bucks for right? hmmm, I still qualify for food stamps....lol. thanks again and so ya'll know, I am really happy I found this site - VERY GOOD INFO FROM EVERY ONE .......
swez on 07/27/2009 23:03:47
Welcome to a little slice of home while you are deployed. We try our best to serve those who come to CK for help and especially our military vets.
We'll be here when ya get home and ready to dive in.
Swez
FuBaR on 07/28/2009 01:04:47
Thanks Swez, appreciate it. I got a question - pics on here, are they always from 'photobucket'? I can't open that portion from where I am at? It really sucks to be me on that aspect....
swez on 07/28/2009 09:17:38
Most guys user photobucket or cardomain.com for photos. If you wanted to post them here using a special feature, contact Walt Hargrave about how to post pics and get his OK.
myclubck@gmail.com
Swez
She said that there are 'thumps' when the truck turns on AND the subs shut down when she hits the breaks or hits bumps. It wasn't doing this prior to me deploying so...hmmmmmmmm
Replies (14)
ttocs on 07/22/2009 08:35:41
could be a number of issues. Can you give us a better idea of what is in the car(other then the wife)?
swez on 07/22/2009 13:30:11
I'd look at the grounds for HU and amp initially and tight RCA connections on both ends too. Most newer amps have a "soft start" feature that delays the amp a few seconds before the power supply gets full power.
I'd tend to think grounds here as it was OK before and the bumps give added credance to that scenario.
Swez
FuBaR on 07/24/2009 23:42:55
thanks guys, even the wifey got a laugh outta that one. let me see, the set up is this:
kenwood 2-din dvd player - model # escapes me. All connections are overlayed and twisted, with shrinkwrap.
4 ga RF amplifier installation kit
Memphis 16 st-1000 subwoofer amplifer
1.0 farad Lightning Audio Capacitor
2 MTX 12" thunder 4500 subs (single 4 ohm coil)- I know the ain't the best but she likes them for now.
the ground on the amp/cap is bolted to the frame - yes bolted. wait, would length have anything to do with it? i never got to shortening the ground wire.
swez on 07/25/2009 00:10:12
Yep, my first thought is grounding may be the issue here. A lot of guys forget to ground the HU to a dedicated ground wire to floor pan or firewall. They just use the factory harness ground and sometimes that will work for a while and then crop up problems like you mentioned later.
A short ground to the body/Cap and amps is desirable and best kept to about 2-3 feet at most. This bolt also needs to be attached to a paint free, metal surface for best contact.
A joke:
Daughter... Mamma, it's been two years in college now and I ain't doing too bad in school. But, I got pregnant this semester and need your advice. What should I do?
Mamma: Girl... I spent good money to educate ya the past two years and you's still sayin' ain't ??? What they teachin' ya in them college classes anywho?
Moral of the story... Momma's arn't always the wisest, but they have their priorities well fixed. (The daughter was born when Momma was only 15 years old and not married either) LOL
Heads we win... tails you lose kinda logic huh?
Swez SMILE
FuBaR on 07/25/2009 11:13:59
Swez, OH YES - always to a non paint source for the ground. I learned that about 12 years ago, kind of like one of the main staples of car audio or any basic electronics - GROUND, GROUND GROUND.......I'll have to wait to check the deck....not trusting anyone to just take apart the dash.
swez on 07/25/2009 12:07:07
Hehe, a true DIY'er to the core huh?
Back to HU grounding for a moment, factory HU's are designed to be grounded via the main harness. It works in most cases with more powerful aftermarket HU's too. But the longer I hang out on this forum, the more I have learned that grounding the HU with a dedicated ground, and not to the dash cluster, usually cures most noise issues.
When do you think you'll be coming back home again?
Swez
Victor on 07/25/2009 14:16:15
change the RCA's to that sub-amp and see....
Victor...
FuBaR on 07/26/2009 18:29:08
Swez,
sorry to say, but I'm on a 6 month rotation so....After Christmas sometime. I'll keep that in mind for the winter months. Yeah, I live by the sword on that one, DIY. I want to go to school for it but my military career comes first, not my passion.lol
Victor,
the rca's are top of the line RF right out of the box, do you think that they could still be bad? I'll surely be pissed if that's the issue man....for real. But, like everything else, I'll chock that up and take care of it when i return. thanks again for the heads up. take care
take care all......just a little heads up, here, it's 122 degrees with 95% humidity......even the shade sucks...lol.... peace out people...
ttocs on 07/26/2009 22:40:22
I have seen cables bad out of the box or that were not pulled off correctly. Alot of high end cables have a super SUPER tight fit on the female connector to ensure a tight fit and a good connection. I have seen people grab these by the cable, not the end connector and yank. The conductors inside even the thickest of these cables is made up of bunch of super tiny stands of wire, and not alot of them and then can break easily.
If they have metal ends on them see if you can unscrew them and check the soldering inside. Soldering rca's is not so simple....
swez on 07/27/2009 03:20:28
FuBar,
Thank you for serving American as a military man. Those temperatures and humidity must be brutal with a full pack.
It is possible that one RCA connection has gone bad and these connectors can be bought separately and installed on your own. The better plugs have a built in strain relief tab on the ground side of the jack. Soldering the center pin is delicate work and fine gage solder is the trick along with a miniture vice and a 25 watt soldering pencil. A good quality jack will cost about $2.50 each for the metal outer sleeve types. (More durable than plastic)
Swez
FuBaR on 07/27/2009 07:16:12
No worries guys...I'll be replacing everything but the HU when I return, wifey wants headrest monitors for the boy, he's 5 and gets better toys than dad.....how is this possible? lol. I really don't want one of my friends tearin' into my SUV, so...It will just have to wait until Christmas - well, lets just hope I return by then. It's funny how those end dates are never what they seem to be, lol. Back in my younger days - I recall a 3 month TDY get turned into, we'll just let you know when to pack, 4 months later.....but, that is what I get the big bucks for right? hmmm, I still qualify for food stamps....lol. thanks again and so ya'll know, I am really happy I found this site - VERY GOOD INFO FROM EVERY ONE .......
swez on 07/27/2009 23:03:47
Welcome to a little slice of home while you are deployed. We try our best to serve those who come to CK for help and especially our military vets.
We'll be here when ya get home and ready to dive in.
Swez
FuBaR on 07/28/2009 01:04:47
Thanks Swez, appreciate it. I got a question - pics on here, are they always from 'photobucket'? I can't open that portion from where I am at? It really sucks to be me on that aspect....
swez on 07/28/2009 09:17:38
Most guys user photobucket or cardomain.com for photos. If you wanted to post them here using a special feature, contact Walt Hargrave about how to post pics and get his OK.
myclubck@gmail.com
Swez
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