Printer Friendly Forum Posts - Air Ride, Popping Noise in Speakers

So for some reason whenever I hit a switch for my air ride, I hear a popping noise from my speakers. Now I have all my power wires ran on the opposite side of the car an of the RCA wires. I have my grounds all separate from each other all at least 2 feet apart also. I am running a yellow top and all 0 gauge wiring and the big 3. This is the 2nd 4ch amp for the speakers and its doing the same thing as the previous one with the popping noise so I know it is not the amp. This is also the 2nd headunit and the same thing so I know it isnt that also. Someone said something about the magnetic field from the airride because of the valves and they have such a strong magnetic field that it will make that noise unless I filter it or something. What does he mean by that? I was thinking a noise filter for the RCA's do you think that will help or no? BTW this only started happening after the airride was installed.

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BP

Do you get any noise when the compressor comes on?

Where are your solenoids getting their power and ground from?

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Kevin Pierson

Nope, only when I hit the switches I will get a noise. The power is coming from the battery and the ground is a chassis ground separate from any and all audio equipment, but it is a relay I am using, not a solenoid.

I don't know if it still does it, because I took the subs out of it, but I know at one point when I would shut the doors or shut down the system, the subs and only the subs would make a hum noise that would dull down to nothing but it would take 1 or 2 seconds to die out. However, again I do not know if it still does that but it didn't do it with the speakers, only subs. So maybe we wont even keep that in mind as there are no subs in there any longer.

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BP

So the relay drives the solenoid?

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Kevin Pierson

No, I dont have a solenoid period. You can either use a solenoid or relay to wire it up, the solenoid I got a few years back when I first put the air on it was defective so I used a relay instead.

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BP

No solenoid? I'm confused. I've never seen a relay control air flow.

Either way, both a relay and a solenoid have a coil on them. When they energize and deenergize they are prone to making inducing noise. I would try running a ground directly to the battery from the coil.

Does the pop happen when you first push the button, when you release the button, or the entire time the button is pushed?

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Kevin Pierson

hi,
disconnect the solenoid valves electrically from the rest of the control circuitry. test for the noise. do relays click when the controls are operated? if yes, identify the positive and negative sides of the relays, wire a diode, (1N400x)type, band to the positive side. retest for noise. reconnect the solenoid valves, test for noise again. if yes, identify the positive and negative sides of the solenoid, wire a diode, (1N400x)type, band to the positive side.
mark

the relay is just for the power for the compressor. I have valves for the control of the air which the switch box controls the valves. But I get a pop only when I hit the switch and release it, it doesn't do it for the duration of me holding it down.

i have the relay ran like so:
30 to battery +
86 to chassis ground
85 to pressure switch
87 to compressor
87a not used

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BP

try the diodes across the coils of the solenoid valves. one diode for each solenoid valve.

The compressor should not kick on and off every time you press the button. The compressor should only come on when air pressure is low. Therefore, it most likely isn't a problem with the relay - it is a problem with the solenoid valve(s) that actuate when you push the buttons.

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Kevin Pierson

KPierson wrote:

The compressor should not kick on and off every time you press the button. The compressor should only come on when air pressure is low. Therefore, it most likely isn't a problem with the relay - it is a problem with the solenoid valve(s) that actuate when you push the buttons.

The compressor only kicks on when the tank is at 120psi and turns off at 140psi thats why its ran to the pressure switch and the pressure switch is ran to the ignition wire.
The compressor is run by the relay rather than a solenoid running it.
The valves are powered by the switchbox, the switchbox gets its power from the battery.

I just put new valves and switchbox wiring in the car a few weeks back and it does the same thing as the old setup which is what is still happening...

Honestly, I have no clue what it is, but I will try with the diodes this weekend because I truly am dumbfounded on this.

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BP

Ween's suggestion of diodes across the coil of the relays sounds like the plan to me too.

Where is the switchbox grounded at? The problem is interference caused by the energization and deenergization of the (solenoid) valves. Simply swapping them out won't fix the problems.

Making sure they have a good ground and diodes across their coils should help suppress any noise.

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Kevin Pierson

For my valves, I have an air engine kit and can't gain access to the coils. Since I can only get to my wires, but not to the internals of the valves, should I just put a diode on the positive side of my wires for the valves, or would that not do anything?

I know it sounds like I'm just b.s'ing, but with this kit, it is just one steel block with everything built in and all you can access is just the wires, but not the wire ends for the valve side and where to plug the lines in at and absolutely no access to the solenoids for the valves, relays etc...

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BP

KPierson wrote:

Where is the switchbox grounded at? The problem is interference caused by the energization and deenergization of the (solenoid) valves. Simply swapping them out won't fix the problems.

Making sure they have a good ground and diodes across their coils should help suppress any noise.

The switchbox is grounded to the chassis. And I only swapped the valves because I wanted smaller ones and sold my old ones for more than what I paid for my new ones.(Gotta love dealer pricing) posted_image

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BP

I would consider running a temp ground right to the battery and see if that helps at all.

The diodes can be installed anywhere, they just need to go across the + and - of the solenoid.

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Kevin Pierson

Now, I am going to sound stupid here, but why am I putting a diode with the cathode side on the positive wire between the positive and negative wires on each solenoid? Just so I understand, what is it actually doing that is going to prevent the noise? Thanks.

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BP

When the coil is energized the current running through the coiled wires of the coil create a magnetic field. It's this magnetic field that causes the relay to "switch" or the solenoid to "open". However, when you cut the voltage off the magnetic field collapses rapidly. This collapse creates a voltage in the opposite polarity and sometimes a much higher voltage. In your current setup this power has no where to go. By installing a diode "backwards" across the coil it will allow the voltage to be absorbed by the battery of the car, which acts as a large capacitor to suppress the voltage spike. It is this voltage spike that is most likely causing the "pop" to begin with.

I can see the diode helping with turn off "pop" but I don't think it will help with turn on "pop". It's definitely an easy thing to try though.

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Kevin Pierson

Okay, thank you very much for the explanation! Also, if I remember correctly, it does NOT pop when I turn anything on, only when I hit the switches, so hopefully this will work. I will try and do it this weekend and see what happens, but my fingers are crossed.

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BP

Will a 1N4001 work? What would you recommend?

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BP

Yes a 1n4001 will work fine. Any thing between and including 4001 and 4007.

Thank you!

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BP

I also have another question for the same car, its a 96 eclipse. I did a taillight conversion which doesn't require all the taillight bulbs, I have heard you can stick a resistor in the bulb socket to prevent the rapid light flash that a bulb is out. Is this true? If so, what resistor would I need per side? Thanks.

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BP

6 ohm 50 watt. you could go slightly less wattage (35?) if the signals and hazards are used infrequently. mounting the resistors to metal..aluminum? for a heat sink wouldn't hurt either. if the flasher is a two wire type, you could also get a flasher that isn't load dependent, may require an additional ground wire.

Okay, thanks for the help and I just ordered the diodes online from HongKong... $0.99 for 25 pieces but it takes like a month to get here. Good thing I am not in a hurry. Going to start the fiberglassing of everything.

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BP