Ground Q/A sticky

Read the grounding sticky and it will tell you how to ground this battery. Find the resistance on the return line first, that will tell you what you need to do next.

Question:

i have 3 amps, 3caps, 4gauge, 2x8gauge

so i would need 6 places to gound them.......can i gound them together, how far apart from each of them....., can i use the distribution block...?

hi guys, i've just recently upgraded my stereo myself and have run into problems and now i'm stumped.  here's my situation:

• 1998 chevy extended cab pickup
• kenwood excelon kdc-x859
• sony mobile es 6.5 comps
• polk momo 4x6 plates
• ppi 5440 amp
• two diamond audio d310d4 subs
• soundstream vga800.2 amp
• petras blt1 balanced line driver
• two monster audio 1 farrad capacitors
• optima red top battery (under hood)
• 140 amp circuit breaker
• phoenix gold fused distribution block
• phoenix gold nonfused distribution block
• monster cable xln pro two channel and four channel rca cables
• eight 40mm x 40mm x 20mm fans silconed to the top of the soundstream
• one stdp to turn everything on            

when i turn on my stereo i get a little tump through just my comps and when i turn the stereo off i get it through my subs.  i might be getting it from the comps but i can't hear it because the subs are louder.  i've tried running a set of spare set of rca cables over my seats, with the head unit out of the dash, to the balanced line driver, with no luck.  i haven't ran them to the soundstream amp directly because of the balanced input.  i didn't know if i could or not.  i forgot to mention that i've got four guage power wire running from the optima to the fused distribution block and then only to the soundstream.  from the distribution block to the ppi, i am running eight guage wire.  i've ran a four gauge ground wire from the soundstream directly to the optima under my hood.  the ground wires for the ppi, line driver, both capacitors (that are wired in line with the soundstream), all the fans, and the relay are all ran to the nonfused distribution block and then from there with a four guage wire to the floor.  i drilled my own hole to bolt to and sanded away the paint.  i've also got everything mounted on plexiglass on my back wall behind the rear seat.  i have read about grounding the rca cables but didn't really understand them enough to try it.  any and all help would be greatly appreciated.  thank you

Did you use the Civic'c grounding wire at the back of the HU ? If so, change the grounding point to somewhere else. You can measure absolute grounding points on the vehicle with a DMM in relation to the battery ground. A good DMM will show resistance to ground if there's poor grounding locations.

Turn on thump can vary from a slight pop to a mind shattering, teeth rattling BOOM! This thump is caused by the audio circuitry stabilizing when power is applied. Most amplifiers and source units have muting circuitry that lasts a couple of seconds to allow these fluctuations to subside before passing a signal. However, if the amplifier un-mutes before the source unit or any other accessory, you better watch out. Here are some things to try if you have turn on thump.

• Verify that the amp has a good audio ground reference. Read note below:
• Don't install the system so the amplifiers can be switched on when the source unit is turned off.
• If you still have thump, add a turn on delay module in line with the remote turn on wire to the amp.

Note: In order for the amps to function properly, the audio ground must be referenced to chassis ground at the source unit. If it is not, the amplifier could oscillate. To check for a good ground reference, take a volt-ohm meter (VOM) and measure the resistance between the chassis of the radio and the shield of the RCA line level outputs of the radio. This reading should indicate a direct short. If this is not the case, grounding the shield of the RCA line level outputs to the chassis of the radio will probably be necessary.

Here's another post that might help you: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=52033&KW=termpro