Stereo experts take a look!
 

Typically, I've always been good with stereo installs and troubleshooting but I'm stumped at the moment with this issue.

I just installed a new system in my boat and I'm getting static coming from all the speakers when turned on, I even think I heard a little bit of pulsing in the static. The speakers are run on separate amps with separate power and grounds to each amp (amps are on opposite sides of the boat) but they tie in at the battery posts. This static occurs even WITHOUT the RCA's being hooked up. The larger amp is run with 1/0 awg power and ground, the smaller with 4 awg. They connect to a battery bank that is grounded to the original starting battery which grounds to the block. I thought it could have been a bad stereo ground so I bypassed the current ground and ran a line straight to the battery with no luck. I even bypassed the starting battery and ran the battery bank to the block. The only common factor between both amps is the remote turn on and I bypassed that and had no luck as well.


Speaker wires are not run next to any power or ground wires and this is all with the boat turned off. In boat speakers are new and one amp brand new and the other is used.

Ideas?

The static occurs even if the volume is turned all the way down on the HU and stays constant (does not go up and down as you turn the volume knob).

Have you moved the boat to a different location and it does the same thing ? It sounds like interferance from something, My neighbor has a welding rig and whenever he starts it up i get interferance in my garage radio. Really weird but It happens. I have no clue if this is your problem but maybe worth a shot, For some reason when you put the new system in maybe it picks up a signal your old one didnt?

Oh and I am deffinately no stereo expert so I should not have even looked at your post , lol

Yeah, it did it at my house and on the water.

Ryan,
You are going to have to break the system down into a more basic configuration.
One amp only. No RCAs on the input.
Jumper the remote turn-on from the main power.
No boat speakers or speaker wiring...just a test speaker laying on the sole.
The only connection to the boat will be via a power and ground to a single well-charged battery.
If you still have noise then try the other amplifier instead and disconnect the battery from the boat.
If you still have noise on one amplifier only then the noise is probably coming from a bad switching power supply in that amplifier which can potentially radiate into both amplifiers.
If you have noise with either amplifier and the battery is disconnected from the boat then the noise is being radiated via RF from a problematic component in the boat. A noise sniffer will then help localize the source. That noise source may have lost a crucial gound connection on that module, component or supporting filter.
Once you break it down to its most basic form then you can add in one element at a time until the noise reappears and at that point you will have an excellent clue as to the cause.

David
Earmark Marine

Are you connected by chance in both locations to a cheap, non-filtered automotive battery charger? Many of the big booster/jump start chargers will havde a step down transforner and a rectifier, but no filtering, and many stereos will be suspect to the noise on the power supply wiring.


It is just a thought, since it is one possible situation that would create the noise you describe.

Proceed ONE STEP AT A TIME with the testing procedure David outlines above. Take your time and be patient. With a systematic approach, the offendig noise will make itself apparent.

Phil
Kicker

Phil, I made sure to disconnect the charger before doing anything else just in case it caused a disturbance. David, I think your right on with braking things down to figure out the source. I tore a bunch a part last night and haven't really made a diagnosis completly. At the moment I have two ideas of what it could be but I have to go home tonight and test it out.

Could combining the 12v lead and the accessory lead together on the cd player induce a disturbance in the cd player or output remote lead that powers the amps on? (I combined the two so I dont need the key to be on when playing the radio). I'll put a jumper on the circuit tonight to test that theory.

Could I possibly have some sort of ground loop issue causing noise when grounding the system? From what I can see, everything is grounded to the block or the main battery and the battery I added is grounded through the main battery.

I did notice that the noise increases with amplification power, meaning that the larger amp puts out more noise through the speakers than the smaller amp. When I bought the boat about a month ago, the stock speakers were ran through the HU power and the sound is barely detectable upon re-hooking in that setup. Maybe it had been there the whole time and just wasn't noticed until I added amplification?