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View Full Version : Bad RCA'S???????????



cdog
12-15-2004, 05:45 PM
Would a bad RCA cable cause distortion on only one channel of your speakers? Why does the stereo pop when I turn on the blower switch or bildge pump or buzz when I turn on a cabin light? I switched rca's from left to right and the problem seems to switch sides. So I was planning on going to buy a new rca cable. But why am I getting interfearence from the switches?
The ignition turns on the stereo. Should I by pass that and run the stereo by it's self?

Havasu Hangin'
12-15-2004, 07:10 PM
Would a bad RCA cable cause distortion on only one channel of your speakers?
Possible, but not likely. If the wire is broken...it usually cuts in and out.
Why does the stereo pop when I turn on the blower switch or bildge pump or buzz when I turn on a cabin light? I switched rca's from left to right and the problem seems to switch sides. So I was planning on going to buy a new rca cable. But why am I getting interfearence from the switches?
The ignition turns on the stereo. Should I by pass that and run the stereo by it's self?
I'd first try running a separate ground back to the battery...those grounds at the dash suck.

ROZ
12-15-2004, 10:12 PM
Would a bad RCA cable cause distortion on only one channel of your speakers? Why does the stereo pop when I turn on the blower switch or bildge pump or buzz when I turn on a cabin light? I switched rca's from left to right and the problem seems to switch sides. So I was planning on going to buy a new rca cable. But why am I getting interfearence from the switches?
The ignition turns on the stereo. Should I by pass that and run the stereo by it's self?
Did you swap the left and right rca's at both ends? meaning at the headunit and at the amp?
I'm with HH, it's most likely a ground issue at the headunit.

cdog
12-15-2004, 11:00 PM
Did you swap the left and right rca's at both ends? meaning at the headunit and at the amp?
I'm with HH, it's most likely a ground issue at the headunit.
Thanks for your input. I swaped the rca's at the amp input and the distorted side switched. I guess I'll tear apart the side panel and run a new ground to the stereo from the 4 gauge ground that feeds the amps. How does that sound? To me it sound's like a grounding issue since i'm getting the interfearence from the switch panel.
Are you suppost to run battery isolators on boats? For some reason I got to thinking about how I have one and used to use them on my older systems that I had on one of my trucks when I had multipul batteries.

ROZ
12-16-2004, 12:19 AM
Thanks for your input. I swaped the rca's at the amp input and the distorted side switched. I guess I'll tear apart the side panel and run a new ground to the stereo from the 4 gauge ground that feeds the amps. How does that sound? To me it sound's like a grounding issue since i'm getting the interfearence from the switch panel.
Are you suppost to run battery isolators on boats? For some reason I got to thinking about how I have one and used to use them on my older systems that I had on one of my trucks when I had multipul batteries.
What I was getting at was if you didn't switch the cable at both ends(amp and the headunit), the problem could be that channel in the h/u.... I agree with HH...
You run a perko switch ?

cdog
12-16-2004, 10:19 AM
What I was getting at was if you didn't switch the cable at both ends(amp and the headunit), the problem could be that channel in the h/u.... I agree with HH...
You run a perko switch ?
I don't have easy access to the back of the stereo because it's in the side wall of the boat, So I have'nt swaped rca's there yet. I guess when I pick up the boat tommarow i'm gonna get access to the stereo and run a new ground to the stereo and see if that works. If I get no dice on that then i'll switch rca's at the stereo.
Yes, I do run a perko. Channel 1 runs the two starting blue optimas and channel 2 runs the two deep cycle blue tops. The batteries are hooked directly to eachother then into the perko. The amp leads are 4 gauge and run directly to the deep cycle's. Should each cahnnel on the perko have it's own battery?

ROZ
12-16-2004, 10:33 AM
Not necessarily, but When wiring the batteries parallel I'd run power from the perko to battery 1 then to battery 2 Then run the ground from it's grounding point to battery 2, then to battery one. Having the wires come from different batteries should help with keeping the charge equal vs the first battery getting hit with more charge than the 2nd battery...provided they are both have the same time on them...

cdog
12-16-2004, 12:16 PM
Not necessarily, but When wiring the batteries parallel I'd run power from the perko to battery 1 then to battery 2 Then run the ground from it's grounding point to battery 2, then to battery one. Having the wires come from different batteries should help with keeping the charge equal vs the first battery getting hit with more charge than the 2nd battery...provided they are both have the same time on them...
I'm going to look into that tommarow when I get it home. Thanks for your help.

cdog
12-27-2004, 11:51 PM
So I ran a seperate ground from the batt. to the stereo ground in the harness. Still get the buzzing sound when I turn on or flip any switches on the dash. I also tried switching around the rca's and the buzz just changes sides. Then I removed the side that buzzes and ran a jumper rca just for that side and it still buzzes. Tommarow i'm returning the head unit. If that don't fix it, I GIVE UP! I guess i'm going to have to give shockwave some kind of alltimatum to fix this. They have been trying to say it's my supplied equipment. So far i've replaced just about every F'in thing. Any idea's? What should I do???? I tend to think it's a wiring problem with the boat/stereo and the way the batts are hooked up. Can you run 4 batts off of 1 perko switch? They keep going dead. :squiggle:

Havasu Hangin'
12-28-2004, 05:19 AM
Any idea's? What should I do???? I tend to think it's a wiring problem with the boat/stereo and the way the batts are hooked up. Can you run 4 batts off of 1 perko switch? They keep going dead. :squiggle:
Probably the last test (before replacing the head unit) I'd try is running a power jumper wire to completely isolate the head unit. However, if it's buzzing only on one side (noise), chances are it's a bad head unit.
When I wire my stuff, I usually keep the power and ground separate from the boat wiring, then I know that it's not the crappy wiring in the boat if there's problems.
You can run four batteries off one Perko (parallel), but the chances are that they didn't do it right if the batteries are going dead. Amps will draw small current even when turned off. Make sure the stereo power wires are hooked to the common on the Perko, and not the batteries, so when you turn off the Perko, the stereo gets completely disconnected.

ROZ
12-28-2004, 09:41 AM
What I was getting at was if you didn't switch the cable at both ends(amp and the headunit), the problem could be that channel in the h/u...
Did you try this?

cdog
12-28-2004, 10:25 AM
Did you try this?
Yes I did. When I change sides with the rca's from the head unit the buzz changes sides too. I even removed the side that buzzs and ran a jumper rca from the port ,thru the door into the cabin and into the amp. So it can't be getting resistance noise from the wiring that goes from the stereo to the amps (they run in the same bundle for about 2 feet untill they get to the amps). The stereo shop will swap out the back of the head unit, so i'm going today to pick it up. My only other concearn is that the ignition turns on the ing. hot to the stereo. To me it only makes sense that the switch panel may be making the noise that then travels down that wire and gives a buzz. The buzz is only on one side but I get a big thump on the subs when i hit any switches too.

cdog
12-28-2004, 10:40 AM
Probably the last test (before replacing the head unit) I'd try is running a power jumper wire to completely isolate the head unit. However, if it's buzzing only on one side (noise), chances are it's a bad head unit.
When I wire my stuff, I usually keep the power and ground separate from the boat wiring, then I know that it's not the crappy wiring in the boat if there's problems.
You can run four batteries off one Perko (parallel), but the chances are that they didn't do it right if the batteries are going dead. Amps will draw small current even when turned off. Make sure the stereo power wires are hooked to the common on the Perko, and not the batteries, so when you turn off the Perko, the stereo gets completely disconnected.
They told me that they run the wiring this way on every boat and have never had any problems. I mentioned about running the power wire's seperate from the rest on the loom but I did'nt get anywhere with it.
I've got two batts side by side on each side of the engine. On all of the batts the pos connected to the pos and the neg are connected to the neg. Then each side has a positive lead that goes directly to the perko. Channel one is suppost to be the starting Batts and channel two should only be the stereo batts. I put in a switch to turn off the lead that goes to the amps, they did not install any such devise so the amps got power all the time. I was thinking about making that switch the main power to the stereo and the ing. hot to the stereo if I still have the buzz and thumps from the switch's after I get the new head unit in.

cdog
12-28-2004, 10:43 AM
Thanks for your help so far guy's. I just want to make sure that I exhaust every option before I put the blame on shockwave.

ROZ
12-28-2004, 11:47 AM
Yes I did. When I change sides with the rca's from the head unit the buzz changes sides too.
This confirms your headunit is bad... Once the exchange is done, you shouldn't have any problems :)

cdog
12-29-2004, 01:49 PM
I got the new head unit and it sounds alot better. Still there's a thump when I hit any of the switches. What could it be now?