[Raine]

In my buddy's car, in which he recently had an amp and pair of subs installed, when he turns on the stereo, the subs give a hum, like an improperly grounded turntable would. I checked all the wiring for him today and it's primo.. no issues with it at all, short of the fact that whoever installed it put the fuse near the amp rather than near the battery (neither here nor there, it doesn't matter where the fuse is). Depending on the settings on the amp, the hum either grows or diminishes. Could it just need a resistor on the power line? Where the fuse is installed, they joined the wire with one of those crimp-on connectors.. I'll see if I can get pics tomorrow, but does anyone have any insight into this/had this problem?

[Raine]

Should mention that I tired his amp and subs in my car to see if the problem persisted (in which case I would know it'd be an amp issue...) but to no avail. it worked perfectly for me, just in his car it's humming... the subs work great despite the hum.. pound good and hard, but the hum is getting to him.

[Blackzx3]

It most likly has to deal with the way the wires were routed within the car. if the speaker wire or rca wire was placed near any other power wires, etc then there is a good chance you are getting interferance from that. You can also purchase noise filters from most stereo shops, and radio shack type places.



This idea of putting a resistor inline I don't know where you got that from , but if you put a resistor into the power line, the size of it has to be pretty insane(wattage rating) (will end up just being a heater) Plus depending how you would hook up the resistor would cause either a large voltage or current drop. (therefore this is not the idea you are looking for) If it is because you saw a resistor in some form in an audio set up, please let me know the specifics and I can explain why it is were you saw it.

[Mason]

May be feed back from his alternator. If you cant clean it up moving the wire's away from other power wires then consider having the alternator checked.

[ANTHONYD]

I'm with Ben on this one.

He might have run the RCA'S next to the speaker wire. Sounds like interference.

[scoobasteve]

redo the ground :)

[Raine]

I checked the ground point for him and it was on an area that wasn't sanded down, so I sanded it down and that didn't help. The remote wire and the RCA's were both running down the same side. Could that be the problem? Cause the remote carries a current right?

[scoobasteve]

remote doesnt carry enough current to cause interference. as much of a PITA it will be, you might have to rewire the car. making sure all the connections are solid. perhaps there is a pinched wire somewhere.

what is he using as a grounding point.

what gage power/ground?

[Raine]

Grounding point is just a bolt in the boot that's right against the metal, and I sanded it down so it's right on the bare metal. I checked all the connections and it looks like ti was done properly..

On a side note, he called me and said the amp was heating up today... wtf is that all about?

[Phantom]

Raine,Jun 23 2005, 12:57 PM Wrote:Grounding point is just a bolt in the boot that's right against the metal, and I sanded it down so it's right on the bare metal. I checked all the connections and it looks like ti was done properly..

On a side note, he called me and said the amp was heating up today... wtf is that all about?
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wat does he consider heating up.. All amps when being used will heat up. but u know u have a problem when flames come shooting out. As to the noise depends on the cheapness of the RCA's they could just be badly shielded and picking up interference. Then again it could be the deck maybe not properly grounded up there. bad connection somewhere.

[Raine]

RCA's are higher quality than the ones in my car... and the deck Ben installed so I'm sure it's not bad. :P

I dunno how hot it's getting, I didn't touch it, but it's an all metal housing so I'm sure the heat gets sucked up pretty quick

[Phantom]

maybe bad ground at the battery.. poor connections between battery alternator, and ground. or possible alternator. But the alternator being the last thing I'd blame.

[Raine]

Took the car for a drive tonite, and the hum reduces when the headlights are turned on...

[scoobasteve]

definatley sounds like a grounding problem

[Raine]

scoobasteve,Jun 24 2005, 09:35 AM Wrote:definatley sounds like a grounding problem
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Are you at work today steve? Can you come take a look at buddy's car with me when you're done? It's down at Warden & Ellesmere.

[scoobasteve]

I'm at work but getting a ride home. since the focus is in the shop still

[ZTS_DJ]

i had the same problem...like you said all the wires were perfect but you couldnt figure it out...my problem was the car deck it self...what kind of deck does he have?

[ZTS_DJ]

ok well i thought it was the deck but guess what guys, i went to rewire my sub cuz it came loose and while i did that something went wrong and when i went to go plug everything back i heard the rev from my car inside my subs. i think thats now 2 ppl that have the same problem. i also called audio repair centres and they never heard of that ever happening, i dunno i guess ill just have to wait until tsome one knows about this


p.s sorry if this was a little long

[Raine]

I'm thinking it could be as simple as the grouding of the car itself...

the only thing that troubles me is why does it do it with that amp/subs, yet when I hook up mine in that car, it's fine???

And when I hook up the other amp/subs in my car, they work fine!

[Blackzx3]

When you hook up your what? deck it is fine?
Or are you talking about when you hook up your amp in the car it works fine?

Remember what I said, it is a process of elimination, you can always swap out the amp from his car into yours, and verify its function, and then check on the speakers.

If all your stuff works fine in his car, then it is likely an amp/sub failure, and nothing else. I might have a spare couple of hours this weekend let me know how things go.