Got my cd player & changer back..but have problems

[rock883]

Ok, I sent my cd player and changer in to get them fixed (the changer wouldn't get power) and I sent in both to make sure it wasn't the player instead of the changer. But, the player comes on and will play a cd but no sound. The LED lights on my amps are not on. So, I already checked my remote lead where it connects at the end of the cd player wire and where the amps wires come in. Checked my circut breaker under the hood, reset it and still nothing. It couldn't be the fuses in the amps, wwll it could be the fuse on the sub amp, but the 4-channel rockford fosgate amp I have doens't have a built in fuse. I need suggestions. I would love to know by tonight to get it fixed, but I doubt I will get it working. I may run down to the local sound shop to have the guy I know up there try to find the problem. Thats a good idea. I will go up there now, and you guys still give me some sugestions, please, lol. Thanks a lot.

 

[rock883]

Ok, I got back a while ago, but I just got on now. Anyways, the guy up there told me that I may have a short in the remote lead. We searched and searched, but couldn't find out what the problem was. But he gave me some wire, and some connectors and I am going to re wire all my remote leads to the amps and to the cd player. I am also going ot put a relay in there, so I can hook up multiple amps safely. But, if you guys don't think this'll work, and know what the problem may be, please let me know. Or what you think it could be. Thanks for your help.

 

[Exploder99]

you should use a relay on the remote wire while using multiple amps but most people dont. i never did. what you should try is taking a piece of wire and jumping it from the power connection on the amp to the remote turn on, if this works then try running a new remote turn on. if you burnt out the turn on wire from the radio, run a lead from the fuse panel (acc current/you could use a switch) and use that as your turn on. im actually doing this tomorrow, cause i was screwing down my power cable and the remote wire touched the screw drive and fired the remote. try this and let me know if you need any more suggestions.

good luck man, James

 

[JTang]

EDITED! Please read the relay info at the end...

This is the best solution so far, and by far the cheapest before you really have to start delving, so by all means, try this first.

Circuit breakers are not really the best thing to use for car audio applications. Please visit the following site for an in depth review:

Dead Link Removed

Perhaps you should just test to see if the amps respond to the remote first before you really dive into some work. Just take the remote line and connect it individually to each amp just to see if they'll even turn on.

Rock, I remember you asking about how to wire up a relay. Just for a reminder, you can use a normal relay from Radio Shack, the boxy one with four pins on it. It's your basic 30 amp automotive relay.

Pin 85: Goes to your radio's remote lead. In between the relay and the radio, put your .5 amp fuse.

Pin 86: Ground it

Pin 30: Connect to a hot power source, fuse this as well, close to the battery if that's where you're connecting it.

Pin 87: Goes to the components. It's easy enough to run all the remote lines and crimp them together with a connector that will connect to the remote relay pins. You can also, do it down the line if you wish.

If you want a switch to control your relay as well, you can put it between the relay and head unit, or relay and ground.

Lastly, you need to go to Radio Shack and buy a "rectifier" or "switching diode", it's tiny. You can get any of these part numbers: 276-1101, 276-1102, 276-1103, 276-1104. In a normal electronics store you're looking for type "1N4001".
Solder this in between pins 85 and 86 *with the anode side pointing to the positive connection, pin 85. The anode side is the side with the grey line on it.

That's about it. If i missed it, I hope someone catches it.

Jon

Extra stuff: to fuse the main power wire, most components will pull less than .1 amps per component, fans from .5 to 3, depending on size. However, you don'g have to add up all the fuse sizes if you don't want to. You just have to put a fuse size smaller than the total wire capacity. So for like 14g wire, 15 amp should be fine. The fuse is there so that if it grounds out, it won't catch on fire, by transferring more power than it can handle. When it does, it melts and catches on fire, though with a relay wire, maybe not. The above information kindly sent to me by Perry Babin of http://go.to/bcae


[Edited by JTang on 11-10-2000 at 05:44 PM]

 

[rock883]

Alright guys, I got it all figured out. It turns out, I ran my remote wire right over the split section in the back seats where it folds down. Well, I guess I folded the seat down, and it pinched the wire, and shorted it on something. I almost had a fire in there, . You don't know how nice it is to have music in your car, you really take that for granted when you have it, but when its gone for 4 1/2 weeks, you will have a huge smile on your face when you get everyhting going, kinda like I did. I got the amps going, and man I could have been the happiest man alive. But, I am going to do the relay on Sat. when I have time. Thanks for your guys' help.

 

[Alec]

so what's the first rule of wiring (besides safety)? keep it away from moving or hot parts! Some of my wires get close to moving seat parts. I try to hide them all under body panels. If I can't, I put them in a wiring tube. That'll protect them from being pinched.