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Head Unit cutting out ...

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=9695
Printed Date: March 29, 2024 at 8:09 AM


Topic: Head Unit cutting out ...

Posted By: glinx1
Subject: Head Unit cutting out ...
Date Posted: February 18, 2003 at 2:53 PM

Thank God I found this site. O.k., I been having this problem that's driving me crazy. I have an Alpine 7893 that I installed in my car. I also have one amp running to my box. The problem is that whenever I turn the stereo to a high volume, it cuts out for a split second and then cuts back on. Sometimes it dos it at vol. 18 and sometimes as high as 25. I have noticed that it cuts off at the higher volumes if I'm driving at regular or high speeds. But if I'm stuck in traffic is when it cuts off at the lower numbered volume. After asking around, I first was told that it might not be grounded good. So I checked my ground and sure enough, I didn't have a good ground. So I gave it one. After that, it played better but it still cuts out. Oh yeah, forgot to tell you something that's really going to make it more confusing. I only have this problem while I'm playing a cd. The next thing I was told was to add a capacitor. Now I haven't done this yet cuz I don't want to spend all that money and have the same problem. Now I know it's not my equipment because the last head unit (Sony) I had did the same thing. The only difference was that the power didn't cut out on me, just the music. Then the music would come back on after a second and will continue to do so untill I turned the volume down. I also want to pooint out that I used to have an old amplified Bazooka tube in there and now I have a box. The tube had a very weak amp that wouldn't wake up an ant. So I don't think that it's the amp's fault. I do notice the Alpine draws more power then the sony did, due to my dimming lights. Has anyone had this problem and if so, what did you do? Thanks ahead of time for all your help.



Replies:

Posted By: Velocity Motors
Date Posted: February 18, 2003 at 3:06 PM
Where do you have the power coming from for the deck ? I suggest going straight to the battery instead of using the power from the back of the deck. Try this and post your results.

-------------
Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA




Posted By: bberman1
Date Posted: February 18, 2003 at 3:18 PM
So let me better understand you have your alpine head. Now off that are you powering your mids and highs then you have an amp for you subs? now how are you getting your signal to the amp? Also when you say it cuts out is it just the mids and highs, or is it the bass, or is everything cutting out? Also how are you getting power for the head unit? And where are you getting your grounds from?




Posted By: esmith69
Date Posted: February 18, 2003 at 3:54 PM
What kind of vehicle is it?




Posted By: glinx1
Date Posted: February 18, 2003 at 5:57 PM
O.K. as far as my power, I have that connected to the aftermarket wiring harness. The ground is also connected to the wiring harness and then grounded right behind the stereo to the firewall. My deck is powering my door and back deck speakers. The amp is getting the signal from the sub outputs on the deck with rca's running all the way to the amp from the deck. As far as whats cutting out......everything...meaning, no music at all. So I would say the problem is somewhere at the head rather then the amp because then just my bass would cut out. When it cuts out, it just does it for a half a second. As soon as it cuts out, it turns back on and will keep doing this until I turn the volume down. Now I read a few posts on this site with people saying that a cap does nothing..Is this true? So would it not be a good idea for me to get a cap? With this Alpine, i do notice all my lights dimming when the bass hits. This includes dash lights, dome lights, and headlights...Oh and for the last question, I drive a 2000 Mitsubishi Galant. So it's not like it's an old car for me to be dealing with this. Uhm, Velocity Motors, you said to hook my power straight to the battery. I allready have a power wire going from my battery to my amp in the trunk. Would it be ok to splice into that wire or should I run a new wire to the battery for the head unit?




Posted By: lalur
Date Posted: February 18, 2003 at 6:17 PM
hey bro on the alpine deck u have to hook up 10to12g sriaght from the baterry it tells u this in the nstallation manual




Posted By: lagatbezan
Date Posted: February 18, 2003 at 11:23 PM

see if grounding the radio to a different ground helps!





Posted By: mspiris
Date Posted: February 19, 2003 at 1:28 AM
Read your instruction manual it says connect power straight from the battery!   Duhhhh............
10 gauge should do it also i'd fuse it to be safe


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MSPIRIS




Posted By: Velocity Motors
Date Posted: February 19, 2003 at 8:40 AM

You can splice into the power wire from the battery to the power wire going to the amp. Make sure you solder & tape up the connection well. Also, make sure that there is an inline fuse for the head unit. About the ground that you had moved it to ( by the firewall ), is this a paint free area ? Make sure that it is and if you extend any wire make sure you take into consideration the resistance that it causes. The higher the resistance the lower the power you get and the less absolute ground you have.

One more, what is the gauge wire from the battery to the sub amp ? BTW: a 10 gauge from the HU to the battery is a waste of money and time . If Alpine required a 10 gauge wire from the HU to a power source, they would have used a 10 gauge power & ground wire . I would stick to a 12 gauge and it will more than suffice for this HU.

If your getting the disco light effect, then make sure that you get your battery & alternator checked next time your in someones shop for an electrical/charging system check.



-------------
Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA




Posted By: glinx1
Date Posted: February 19, 2003 at 12:20 PM
the surface to my ground is unpainted. As far as what the manual says, I saw it. But in my past experiences of hooking head units up, the manuals usually said that. But I still connected it to the harness and had no problems. Not to mention that I asked a few different installers if that could be my problem and they all said that they usually connect to the harness and have had no problem. But I will still try going straight to the battery and see if it helps. Now what is everyones opinion on a cap. I kind of think that might solve the problem because of the fact that I don't have this problem as much when I'm driving regular to high speeds. Which is making me think that at higher speeds the alternator is keeping the battery at full charge rather then at low speeds when it isn't charging as fast. Do you think the cap will help the disco lights?




Posted By: glinx1
Date Posted: February 28, 2003 at 5:03 PM
I've been having this one problem that i posted before. My head unit was cutting out when I turned up the volume. I added a 1 farad cap to it thinking that would fix it but it turned out to be that I had to wire the stereo power wire straight to the battery instead of the harness. Anyways, that's all fixed now, but the new problem is, when I turn up my volume and let it play for a while, the inline fuse(20a) connected to the power wire going to my cap/amp keeps blowing. And if I want to put a new fuse in, I have to charge the cap first.  Why is it doing this now that I have the headunit working right but never did it b4. I do have two seperate power wires running straight from the battery. One to my cap/amp and the other to my head unit.





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