Road Noise/ Alternator Feedback

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travis n

Member - Posts: 29

Joined: October 14, 2005

Location: Canada

Posted: December 31, 2005 at 6:20 PM / IP Logged

I noticed with a couple of my recent installs i get a lot of Road noise and/or Alternator Feedback. what exactlly causes this, and how can a guy rectify it. I noticed on some systems adding more gound helped to a point. In others using wire magnents also helps out a little. Signal procesors help a bit. and turning the Gain on the amp tends to help a lot. is there any other methods a guy should try, and know about. thanks for all your help.

Trav

travis n

Member - Posts: 29

Joined: October 14, 2005

Location: Canada

Posted: January 02, 2006 at 2:04 PM / IP Logged

any help on this topic would be muchly appricated. Thanks for all your help.

Trav

haemphyst

Platinum - Posts: 5,054

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Joined: January 19, 2003

Location: Michigan, Bouvet Island

Posted: January 02, 2006 at 2:59 PM / IP Logged

OK, first, is it "road noise" or "alternator feedback" (which doesn't exist). I am guessing that you are actually meaning "Alternator Noise". Road noise has nothing to do with the alternator, and really has little to do WITH the entire system in general, and is generally rectified with damping material, such as "Dynamat", "FatMat", or "Brown Bread". What road noise does TO the system is a complete thread all on it's own...

To help us fix your alternator noise, (if this is indeed what you are referring to, and I think it probably is) we need to know about your install(s)... Amps (make and model), car (make and model), deck (make and model), additional accessories... things like that. Give a COMPLETE rundown of your system(s), as well as all steps you have taken to install it (them) so far. It is hard enough to read someone's mind when you are sitting right next to them, let alone over the internet... Road Noise/ Alternator Feedback -- posted image.

Road Noise/ Alternator Feedback -- posted image.

It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

travis n

Member - Posts: 29

Joined: October 14, 2005

Location: Canada

Posted: January 02, 2006 at 8:01 PM / IP Logged

yes it is alternator noise, and you are right it is hard to read someones mind. the latest was (if i remember corectly) a 1997 jimmy, pioneer deck, kenwood 4 chanel amp. the deck had a chevy wire harness. 4 channel RCA's to the rear, 18 AGW speaker wire running to the 4 satalite speakers. the deck i cant remember which model it is. the amp is the 700 watt peak amp, i also cant remember the model numb. the guy supplied all the stuff, and i put it in, and its all good stuff. but the altinator can still be herd through the speakers. oh ya it was also 4 AGW amp wire. the reason i called is road noise, is because i know a lot of people call the altinator noise, road noise. and i added a second ground on the deck, amp, and grounded the outer shield of the RCA plug and i still had a lot of altinator noise. at crusin speed it was unbarable. i turned the gain almost all the way down and it cured it. but i feel that is only a patch to the problem. and i want to fix it. i added a noice supresor and it didnt help at all. so i added a nother one. (one to hook up the the deck and another for the RCA to amp hook up) and it helped a little.

Trav

sparkie

Platinum - Posts: 2,061

Joined: November 06, 2003

Location: Canada

Posted: January 03, 2006 at 3:13 PM / IP Logged

There are many causes of noise on audio systems. Most can be prevented when good installation methods are used. Most noise problems occur due to poor grounds. If the various components in a system have a different ground path, then noise can enter the system. Some equipment is prone to noise because it is cheaply made. "You get what you pay for". Run the appropriate size power cable from the amp to the battery. Use proper connectors to terminate the wires and install a fuse inline on the power feed within 18 inches of the battery. Use the same size cable to ground the amp and ground it to a clean, paint free section of the vehicle's body, preferably one which doesn't penetrate to the outside of the vehicle. Use your own screw, not one from the factory. Never run your RCA cables with your power lines or the factory's and use quality cables. Check the vehicle's battery cables that they are clean and tight and that the factory ground cable from the battery to the body is clean and tight. The factory radio ground wire isn't always good, so you may want to install a better one, using the same tips for the amp. It isn't always a good idea to ground the RCA shielding. Most good equipment when properly installed will not have any noise. The only way to eliminate noise problems is by insuring that all the basic install techniques are already done. The system will only work as good as the weakest link.

sparky

travis n

Member - Posts: 29

Joined: October 14, 2005

Location: Canada

Posted: January 18, 2006 at 10:54 PM / IP Logged

okay i know exactlly what i did. and didnt do on the Jimmy. the guy caught crap from his father and i was forced to pull it out. starting from the front. 4AWG power wire running to the rear. factory power and acc wires on the pioneer deck, seperate ground point on the deck. RCA's running to the rear for the 4chs and subs. grounded sheilds on RCA's using existing ground point. remote and RCA's running down drivers side of veichel, while power runs down passanger. once at the rear 4 AWG splits to 2 seperate 8 AWG wires, one for Kenwood 4ch amp for pioneer speakers in doors. RF 2ch amp for 2 12" pioneer subs. taped the RCA and remote wires to elimaniate static transfer. 6.5" in front doors. and 5 1/4" in rear doors. used existing wires for conections on satalite speakers. why was there still altinator noise???? what did i do wrong??? please any help on this topic would be greatly appricated. thanks.

P.S. - if my spelling is a little bad sorry. i have not stopped working for 3 days. thanks.

Trav

downstarinc

Copper - Posts: 119

Joined: October 22, 2005

Location: United States

Posted: January 18, 2006 at 11:07 PM / IP Logged

well what i do everytime i do an amp is run power wire separate from rca and speaker wire..and also run speaker wire far from stock wire (usually 16+ in. from factory harness), and when i do my ground i make sure its a genuine chassis ground and i grind away any paint until its all metal. if i then still get engine noise, i blame it on the amp and call it a day! haha nah not really but i have had bad amps that cause alt. whine. hope that helps.

jl audio..nuff said

geepherder

Platinum - Posts: 3,668

This member consistently provides reliable information

Joined: October 27, 2003

Posted: January 19, 2006 at 9:56 AM / IP Logged

You wrote that you already grounded the rca shields on the deck side (stupid Pioneers)- did you test to make sure the shields were grounded at the amps as well? Did you measure your ground resistance? You can also try linking the deck ground to the amps' ground.

This is all assuming that the charging system/battery are up to snuff. If the fluid in the battery is low, for example, that can cause the problem.

My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

travis n

Member - Posts: 29

Joined: October 14, 2005

Location: Canada

Posted: January 20, 2006 at 9:24 AM / IP Logged

i always run the power down one side of the car, and RCA's, remote, etc down the other side. the ground on the deck side was the only one that i was woried about. the others were ground points i made. (meaning i ground away the paint, and used a self-tapping screw to mound the ground) and as for resistance on the ground. i used larger wire for the ground then the power. so that is a non issue. and i always thought that if everything had its own ground point, its better then using one ground point for everything. perhaps i'm wrong. oh before i forget, does it matter if the ground shield is grounded on the deck side or the amp side or both? i would like to blaim in on the amp. but i realy think it was the deck. cuz after i switched out decks just for sh!ts and giggles, the altinator noise was REDUICED, but not elimanitaded.

Trav

geepherder

Platinum - Posts: 3,668

Joined: October 27, 2003

Posted: January 20, 2006 at 12:16 PM / IP Logged

Your post basically supported my above post. When you switched decks, the noise was reduced, but not eliminated. That means that part of the problem was indeed do to the poor build quality of the Pioneer, but that you still have grounding issues. If your confident in your amp grounds, then you need to link your head unit ground to it as well. And it can't hurt to ground the RCA shields at the amp as well (usually not an issue, but it's not a bad idea, either). You want your signal grounds to be the same to eliminate the noise, and that's the idea behind linking your grounds together.

My ex once told me I have a perfect face for radio.

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