Keep Blowing Stereo Fuse

Out of nowhere, this weekend my Clarion said "Good-Bye"...The display says this everytime I shut it off - but this time I didn't shut it off. I tried to turn it back on and...nothing. It still illuminated fine and ejected CDs, so I assumed I had either a bad connection or a blown fuse. Checked it out and I had blown the 15Amp fuse in my Jeep's fuse box... (the one for the radio) So I snagged the 15Amp fuse for my horn, threw it in the cavity for the Stereo and it worked just fine. For about 10 seconds. Then it blew again. Where do I start looking/troubleshooting???

I would run new constant and switched power directly to the ignition harness.  Just be sure you fuse both of those new wires too.  Now if you blow those fuses, you know that your problem is in the head unit and not with the factory wiring.Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while; you could miss it.

Thanks, I'll try that out tonight after work. I was going to just run a dedicated (fused) power to the battery and see if that worked - but I'll try your suggestion first. One other thing maybe worth mentioning: I noticed that during the 10 seconds my stereo was working, my sub amp did not power up as usual when the head unit turns on. I'll have to rewire the remote amp wire anyway when I run new wiring to the ignition harness - so whatever it was should be remedied. I'll let you know what I find out. Thanks, again.

Sounds like your HU is frying.  It may be blowing the fuse because it is going bad and if so, running a new power lead is a bad idea.  What is the model and how much current does it draw?Support the12volt.com

i would suspect a shorted O/P stage or shorted speaker lead.... disconnect your speaker wires, power it up and see if the fuse still blows... if it does, you've got a problem in the HU itself, if it doesnt, you've got a wiring issue.... meter all the speaker wiring for a short to ground...Kevin Gerry

Certified Electronics Technician

MECP First Class Installer

Owner/Installer

Classic Car Audio

since 1979

DYohn - The head unit is only five months old and has been functioning perfectly until now. The Model is a Clarion DXZ-745mp and off the top of my head I dunno what the current draw is - I'll have to check it out later..but it may have been more than the stock fuse in the fusebox could handle which was 15Amps. kgerry - I'm not a professional installer, so forgive my ignorance, but I have no idea what an O/P stage is... I will certainly try disconnecting all of the speakers before rewiring a thing to see if maybe there is, in fact, a short amongst all the speaker wiring. Thanks guys.

That's a bummer. I got it cheap on ebay as a refurb with a 90 day warranty. First, I'll check the max current draw and ensure I am using the right fuse. The 15Amp fuse worked for months so I can't imagine that would be the problem, but I'll check anyway. Next, I'll check to see if it functions with all the speakers disconnected. If so, then I'm in luck. I figure I can just connect one speaker at a time to eliminate which one has the faulty wiring. (I'm not a pro at using the multi-meter either). Let me know if this is a bad idea - I'm sure there is a RIGHT way to do it. I have a m-meter, so I could do it correctly if I knew how. If it still fries the fuse with all of the speakers disconnected, DYohn, do you recommend I DO NOT run a new switched power wire??? At this point would it be best to just take it in and have it tested?

That's why I don't care for refurbs, I think you may need a new deck as well, but check all the ideas that have been said out first.2003 Chevrolet Silverado Standard Cab ~ Alpine CDA-9851

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