AMP trouble

So I took the boat out of storage today and my stereo isnt working at all. I'm getting power to my amp, but nothing is working. None of the lights to the amp are even on and my head unit isnt working. My guess is that the Amp has gone bad. Any help ????

If the head unit isn't working you definitely want to start there. The remote wire from the head unit is what actually turns the amp on when the head unit turns on. The amp is always getting power it is just not always on.

As far as troubleshooting the head unit idk too much advice there unfortunately. But that is where you need to start.

Hope this helps

Start at the source. Check for power at the head unit with a multi-meter, check fuses, check circuit breakers. The amp won't work until the head unit does.

Also check the batteries. If they're dead, the stereo won't work either.

As a test to see whether your amp will turn on you could run a new temporary remote turn on lead and touch it to your positive battery terminal. That would cause your amp to light up for sure assuming your batteries are charged.

Assumng your bats are charged and your amp lights up with a temp jumper, then it's definitely a problem with your headunit.

"Also check the batteries. If they're dead, the stereo won't work either."

Very true. If you have just pulled the boat out of storage the battery probably needs a good charge. I would charge the battery and then see what happens before doing anything else.

battery is fullly charged and everything else is working fine. I have checked all of the fuses and everything else but I cant find the problem. I doublechecked all of the wiring and nothing is loose. So if the head unit is bad, the amp will not power on at all? I have the main power for the amp running directly off of the battery and I use a toggle switch.

Test your HU. Run a power /ground/constant directly back to the battery. It sounds like your HU is bad. And yes if no power at the HU, your amps will nto turn on.

Every one has suggested testing for power, but DC electrical devices need a ground also! What ever means you used to determine it had "power" can be used to check for a ground. Also, when you say "I'm getting power to the amp" what are you getting, a voltage reading to be specific? Same with the battery, what do you believe a fully charged battery is? A 12V car battery is fully charged when it has a static voltage level of 12.8V.

Testing power with a multimeter requires grounding. Your testing the ground, by testing for 12v+.

Hey Guys-

I will chime in here with respect to ground.

While one can measure voltage at the amp with reference to ground, that ground can often be through any number of tiny wires, or circuit traces back to the engine block and/or the battery. You can have a fully wired stereo, remove the ground powre wire for the amp, and still measure +12v at the amp's power terminal. The ground in that instance is usually though the RCA cables, and then through the electronic circuitry inside the head unit; certainly not enough current capacity there to run an amp or even get it turned on.

While we can check every power connection and every fuse to make sure that there is a solid path for high-current power from the battery, we similarly need a solid high-current ground path back to the battery. Make sure your ground wire from the amp to the battery is solid, without bad connections.

Now, you still share that your head unit is not working. This and the fact that the amp is not working points to problems elsewhere. What is the one thing that you might have done prior to winter layup that you have not undone yet? Battery switch? Do you have dual batteries? Did you conect grounds for both? Where does the head unit get its power?

Do some more checking.... Check the complete circuit path, powre and ground for both the H/U and the amp, then get back with us...

You'll figure it out!

Phil
Kicker