Hey Gang!
I think I am going insane trying to solve this problem. One day, out of the blue, I started getting alternator whine out of my system. I went through the standard alternator whine troubleshooting flowchart and determined that it was originating in my head-unit, an Alpine 7863. This determination was made largely because I connected my Alpine directly to my home stereo (through a long RCA) and the whine was still there. Also, I connected a Sony Discman to my system, instead of the Alpine, and there was no whine (so I am quite sure it is not my amps or my EQ). I tried regrounding the Alpine to the amplifier grounds but this did not help, I also tried running a power wire directly from the battery to the Alpine and this did not help either. Since I had not done anything to my car or the system to cause this (that I know of), I assumed something snapped in my car's electrical system so I got a new alternator and to my extreme frustration that did not solve the problem. One thing I should mention about the noise is that it does not get louder with the volume control, it is constant and corrosponds to the RPM of the car. At this point, I am afraid my only options are to try an isolated power supply (any advice on this?) or to get a new head-unit. Does anybody have any ideas as far as what might be going on or is there something else I can try? I am really desperate. Here are the relevant components of my system:
Head: Alpine 7863 Amps: 2 RF Power 360, Soundstream Ref. 700sx Front Speaks: MB Quart PSD 216 Subs: 2 JL 12W3's EQ: LA Sound 13 band Electrical: Optima Yellow Top, two 1/2 farad caps and one 1 farad cap
Thank you all in advance,
50Farad
One thing I might try is to swap in another deck just to see if the whine is still there. Maybe you can borrow a friends alpine or go to a good shop and explain your situation, they will most likely be willing to give you a hand and letting you use a deck to test your system. I would do this in order to eliminate the deck as the source of the problem. There are other ways of going at this problem, but I would start there.
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Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I don't know anybody who has a deck I can swap out. But like I said in my original post, I used a Sony Discman as a head-unit in my car and with the engine running, and the whine was gone. Isn't that bascially the same test? Doesn't that mean without question that it is the Alpine at fault? If I am mistaken, please let me know. Thanks.
50Farad