Help troubleshooting wet sounds sd4 and 410s
 

So I had my brand new rev 410s and sd4 in my axis and all working 2 weeks ago. I removed batteries and put them back on the charger and today went back and hooked everything back up. Today channels 1 and 2 which are bridged started making an occasional popping and static noise every now and then, sometimes every few seconds some times a couple minutes. The other channels and speakers were completely fine however. I checked all connection and swapped the speaker wires to make sure the problem wasn't in wire from amp to tower it seems all connections are tight and correct not sure what or where else to look. Speakers still sound fine otherwise and the sound does not increase with volume or different input. Any ideas? No warning lights on the amp or low voltage. Also would I be safe to use the speakers when riding today?

Also checked aux inputs and removed them. The sounds stiff happened even with aux inputs removed

How old is the SD4? I just replaced one of the very early, hand built SD6's because it had turn on and off pop that I could not get rid of. The other SD2 and SD6 in my system did not have this issue.

I'd contact your dealer.

It's unlikely to be a speaker issue because if the noise was timed with the music material content and/or connected to higher amplitude you would have identified that.
If it was a supply issue then I would think that the noise would be heard on both channels. But I would check all physical grounds and measure the voltage with a multimeter at the amplifier primary terminals when under load to eliminate that possibility.
That leaves the signal path before the amplifier, inside the amplifier or after the amplifier.
As you already have, you would switch the outputs to isolate the problem within or before the amplifier from after the amplifier.
Then, switch the inputs to isolate the problem from before the amplifier to within the amplifier.
From there you can do the same to isolate an RCA cable or a component farther upstream in the signal path.
At some point, moving backwards in the signal path, you will reach a cable or component that is common to the other zones so you don't have to check any farther.
Also, check all the small amplifier configuration switches to make sure that they are all positively locked into the correct position.

David
Earmark Marine

What do you mean you removed the auxillary inputs?

It sounds to me like you have a loose or bad connection or wire somewhere..
Start troubleshooting by working from upstream to downstream.
First switch the RCA outputs at the back of the deck right to left and left to right. If the sound changes to the other side now, there may be a bad output on the head unit. if no change then reconnect the RCA's to the correct sides and move on to troubleshooting the RCA cables.

At the amp again switch the RCA connections. If the sound changes to the other side its probably a bad RCA cable, if no change, re-connect the RCA's to the correct sides and move on to troubleshoot the amp.

on the back of the amp, switch the speaker wire outputs. if the sound changes to the other side, it is probably something bad in the amp. if no change then there is probably a short in the speaker wire or inside the speaker. to check this unhook the speakers swap sides.. if you still get a sound in the same side, then replace the speaker wire on that side. if the sounds switches to the other side, then there is probably something shorting or loose in the speaker itself.

there may be an easier way to troubleshoot this problem but that is how I would do it.

good luck :cool:

I guess when I first read your post I was thinking you were only getting noise out of one side, but now that I re-read it sounds like you have multiple amps and that the noise is comming through both tower speakers that are bridged on the SD4.. so in that case it sounds like its either a loose ground / power connection either at the amp or at the distribution block or wherever your ground and power are coming from or something internal within the amp.

I meant the RCA inputs. Am I going to be safe playing it today? The amp is brand new from wetsounds just received it 2 weeks ago. Had no problem with it when originally installed

No the noise is only coming out of one tower speaker. The other plays completely fine. This is what makes me think its the amp.

That's where they were telling you to
1) swap the rca's on the amps leaving the speaker wire connected to it as is. If the trouble sound moves to the other speaker, then the problem is before the amp. If trouble stays on the same speaker go to next test
2) swap the speaker wires on the amp. If the trouble moves to the other speaker then the problem is the amp, if the trouble stays then the problem is either the speaker wire or the speaker. Troubleshoot with new wire to determine which.

Seems like the problem is the amp... Sigh

Well I swapped the wires going to the tower speakers and the noise did move to the other speaker. I also unplugged rca inputs and the sound was still there. I went riding saturday so I unplugged the wires from bridged channels 1-2 which was where the noise was coming from and left channels 3-4 hooked up. After about 30 minutes of riding channels 3-4 stopped playing but I got no warning lights or anything strange from the amp. I hooked everything back up like normal and now there is no sound coming from either of the speakers. So now I guess the amp isnt working at all?? IS there anything else I could be missing??