not enough power to support video?

Any and all opinions and advice are welcome! I posted in mobile video&navigaton first, but only got one reply. They must be as stumped as me. My friend had a pioneer avh-p5700dvd installed in his 80's chevy caprice classic with a 1000 watt amp powering a sub in the trunk, but couldn't understand why his battery kept draining so fast(within minutes) and he couldn't turn it up past 14 without his sound bottoming out and speakers cutting out. I re-wired the amp whose ground was much smaller than the power lead, pulled the system and re-wired it nice and tight and complete, triple checked everything, discovered the amp was bad, and replaced it with a good one. The system sounds awesome, the sub thumps enough to make you wanna puke, but the video has a dark, distorted look with split frames and a rolling picture and occasional blips of red and green around the edges. I know the hu is a power hog all on it's own, and the amp is no slouch itself, but his battery is shot and needs replaced and I honestly believe that's the problem. I don't think the car has enough juice to support proper video playback because I've exausted all picture control options after resetting the unit back to factory settings. This is my first video unit installation, so I'm not exactly sure if I'm right, but it's all I can come up with unless the unit is damaged. It worked fine in the car it came out of before it went into the caprice. Any suggestions?the amateur expert :)

That's easy enough to do- I don't think I actually checked a movie while the amp was unhooked. The guy that did the installation before I got involved had a relay wired in, which I've never seen before, but I've come to understand through some research that it involves bypassing the car's e-brake so they can have visual anytime. I eliminated the relay and wired everything according to the manual I downloaded from pioneer, even downloaded the 115 page user guide to make all possible adjustments(and hopefully find what I might be missing)... I just find it funny that the only thing that's screwy is the video display. Bad amp, poor installation, skimpy grounding, cutting corners, dead, old battery, you know, it's truly amazing the things you find when you start poking and prodding around in people's vehicles. I swear every time I ask myself why in the world I get myself into these situations... It's a shame 'cause it's a nice unit and it seems to have already taken a beating, and I'd really hate to have to break the bad news to it's owner, but that's exactly the reason why I learned how to do this stuff myself and try to continue learning more and more as I go. I see what he got for his $150 installation fee, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still dying to figure out this one...last...issue...the amateur expert :)

I've been in your shoes before. Had a customer bring in a pioneer avn unit that another shop removed and tried to re-install in his new car. Somehow from the time it was removed until they re-installed it, the brain was fried and the data cable end was ripped off. They told him to buy a new one the one he had was junk......This was all within the same day--removeal and re-install.........He was not a happy camper:) By the time the whole affair was done it cost over 500 bucks to have it repaired and re-installed properly.......Good Luck..

he didnt buy the deck on ebay did he?

how many watts is the new amp and what brand?  if it is truely 1000 watts and the battery is bad, all kinds of things might happen.  i've seen some pretty bizzare things happen from just a bad battery post clamp or connection somewhere.  what size wire for power/ground are you using as well? and what ohm load is the woofer(s) wired at?  anyways, the best way to test the unit would be to bench test it if you have a power supply to use or try hooking it up temp in another car to see if it all works.  this eleminates his car as a factor from the problem.  if it works in the other car then his car is the problem, if not then the unit is messed up more than likely.  if the amp is drawing a lot of current then you may need an high output alternator, another battery, etc.  stay away from capacitors as they really don't do much at all for high power systems.  a H.O. alt is the best way to go but usually quite expensive.  a second battery is more affordable and works very very well.  a caprice should have a strong enough alternator to charge two batteries.  be sure to use a fuse at each battery positive and isolate them if possible with a heavy duty relay (150/200 amp relay, not the little 30 amp ones you usually see)."If a man made it, another can modify it...it just takes some thinking."

"If you ask questions, you're a fool for 5 minutes; if you don't, you're a fool for a lifetime."

that H.U. shouldn't pull more than about 15 amps of current.  try also checking the units ground.  contrary to belief, the factory ground is not a good ground for a H.U.  it shares the same ground path with many other electical components in the car (i.e. power windows, locks, etc.) and can cause noise, weak ground, etc.  try grounding to the firewall.bulkhead.  thats usually one of the better places to make a ground connection for a H.U."If a man made it, another can modify it...it just takes some thinking."

"If you ask questions, you're a fool for 5 minutes; if you don't, you're a fool for a lifetime."

It's a sony xplod amp (which I personally disapprove of) with 4 gauge power and ground wires. I tested the system again w/o the amp hooked up, but saw no change at all. I added the second ground to the HU when I pulled it (I'm never comfortable with the factory ground alone). I agree with the two batteries and the HO alt, and the capacitor subject was also considered but decidedly unnecessary if a second battery goes in. I'd say the smartest thing to do would be a bench test, which means pulling the stereo out again :( but would give a positive ID on whether or not it's damaged. Thanks for the info on the two battery setup and everything else- this is truly turning out to be one heck of learning experience for me... thank God my fiancee is an auto mechanic! Oh yeah, I'm pretty sure it didn't come from ebay The sad fact is, based on what I found throughout this conquest, this poor, defenseless HU seems to not have gotten the TLC it deserved. It came to me too late I think... oh well, I'll give it my best shot anyway.the amateur expert :)

I just stumbled upon "how to upgrade the big three" -thanks for mentioning it. Great referencethe amateur expert :)