hooked up battery cables backwards

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=109271
Printed Date: May 13, 2025 at 8:10 PM

Topic: hooked up battery cables backwards

Posted By: iwanttobang
Subject: hooked up battery cables backwards
Date Posted: November 26, 2008 at 10:07 PM

Hi all good evening.

My brother mad a mistake

He has a Dodge Durango, (cant remember year) its a 1998 -2000 Durango..

But he has a large kicker amp and 1 cerwin Vega in his truck and a flip out tv..

Now, he was installing a new battery and accidentally hooked up the battery connectors backwards..! posted_image

Yep he vlew alot of stuff. Well he dashboard lights, radio and amp will not cut on.. He replaced a fuse for the dashboard and his dash board lights work now.. I believe he said the radio fuse was not blown but his radio will not cut on..

He amp battery fuse was blown as well.

Do anybody know what kind of damage he did and why his cd deck will not cut on? Does flip outs have fuses built in??

And is it possible that he killed his Kicker Amp? I told him probably not since the battery amp fuse was blown...

Replies:

Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: November 26, 2008 at 10:41 PM

That can be an expendy mistake. If the fuses didn't blow fast enough, it is possible he fried components. If all the fuses have been replaced correctly, and the devices don't TURN on, it is entirely possible they are smoked.

The easiest way to tell for sure is pull the device, and try to power them from a 12v power supply. If they dont power up outside the car, from a known good power source, they're wasted.

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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."

Posted By: iwanttobang
Date Posted: November 26, 2008 at 11:29 PM

humm whats a good 12v power source to test it with?

Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: November 27, 2008 at 12:48 AM

There is a blown fuse on the memory wire of his radio. It may be the fuse in the vehicle or an inline fuse on the yellow wire of the deck. It may be mounted to the back of the radio, or in the box with a noise filter. We have no idea what kind of radio you have. All manufacturers expect this to happen, that is why they put a reverse polarity protection diode. This causes the fuse to blow if connected backwards. As long as the unit was properly fused, there is no damage to the unit. If it was overfused, there may be a shorted reverse polarity protection diode and possibly a burnt trace between power point of entry and the diode. Once again, if it was properly fused, there is no damage to the deck.

Posted By: iwanttobang
Date Posted: November 27, 2008 at 1:14 AM

Ok the type of radio he have is a
Dual XDVD8182

Posted By: iwanttobang
Date Posted: November 27, 2008 at 1:20 AM

Yes it does have a fuse in the back.. Lucky him.. His amp turned back on after he changed the battery amp wire fuse.. So now he just have to take the radio out and change the fuse in the wire and he is back in business..

Thanks guys