No Sound after audio install when boat runs?????

I feel like i have tried everything, and iam about to rip it all out and start over unless someone can help me out here. The problems i am having are when i move the wakeplate up or down the speakers pop. I can not get sound to come out while the boat is running. Everything is powered on but no sound unless you turn everything to max valoume and you can hear it slightly. Then today sometimes there will be no sound if the boat is not running. When that did happen today i took my volt meter and touched the remote screw on the amp and it popped and sound started working. Most of the time i turn the rocker switch on with boat not running it works. I really dont know what else to do i pretty upset after all the long nights of hard work ripping it all apart to find out this problem.

Setup
05 moomba mobius lsv
1 Battery Set up

HU- Kenwood from 07 LSV
EQ- Clarion 7 band
Amp- Kicker zx300.4
Speakers-6 Polk audio db651

4 gauge power wire coming from battery to a two port dist block down to 8 gauge wire.

4 Gauge Ground wire from battery to a two port dist block down to 8 guage wire.

Tower speaker amp is not installed all wires laying off to side none touching each other.

8 Guage power and ground for kicker zx300.4 that is mounted under drivers side. Has very long ground and power wires. I ran out of wire and bought some connectors from lowes and had to add more wire to reach the amp.

Hu constant and ground ran to the dist block. EQ constant and ground ran straight to the dist block.

Remote wires all 3 16 gauge wire ran to the head units blue/white wire. Eq and kicker zx300.4 remote wires also very long.

Power,Ground,and remote all ran next to each other by ski locker.Rcas- HU to Eq and EQ to Tower speaker amp ran around from of bow right ontop of each other.

Last night i cut the wires to anything else that i installed into the boat wiring depth finder,Leds,and ipod charger.

Also the 8 gauge power and ground wire running to the kicker are ran right on top of the boats 0 gauge power and ground if that matters.Just went out there 2 min ago, turned rocker switch on everything powered up, no sound. 20 seconds later a pop and then sound plays and stays playing

I’m almost leaning towards something wrong with your HU, specifically you remote turn on?? Have you tried another HU? My 07 Kenwood HU was a POS ( 07 22SSV) it had some of the strangest problems that no one could explain. I’m assuming yrou battery is fully charged?

You speaker pop when the wake plate is an easy fix…call skier’s choice or your dealer. You’ll need to put a cap inline and the pop will go away. They will have the size you need, it’s very easy to install. This was a common problem.

it could be your eq i just installed a clarion eq and had the same problem. when the boat is in acc mode everything worked fine but as soon as i powered up the boat everything was still on but no sound. go to a stereo shop and get 2 female rca plugs and bypass the eq. that was my problem

UPDATE: I unhooked the amp and moved it to where my tower speaker amp will go, power and ground wires very short. Same problem 10-20 to come on when i turn rocker switch on. It pops and then plays, wakeplate still makes noise. I cant start boat to find anything out since i dont have fake-a-lake.

Since i have 22 ft of rcas from HU to EQ. Is it just taking a while to power everything on and get sound to the speakers?

Also head unit is brand new never used before. I did notice if the head unit is not grounded the amp stays on. Is that normal?

Bypassing the Eq is not going to solve my problem though. I have to have a Eq. I will go out and try running the rca's straight from the HU to the amp and see what happens

UPDATE: I had 2 female ends laying around. So i have 22 ft rca from HU to female conectors plugged into rca's the go 22 ft more back around boat to amp. Bypassed Eq, Sound still takes 10-20 sec to come on, but no loud pop and wakeplate makes no noise when moving up and down. So what now??

Like Adam said this sounds like a Remote turn on problem. Try wiring the remote wires for the EQ and the Amps directly to your Rocker switch. If this fixes the problem, then there is most likely a problem with your HU's remote turn on output.

Seth, I don't know anything about stereos but fake a lake is so easy to make. Think about the peace of mind you'll have if you can get it all figured out before your next lake trip.

Go to the hardware store, get a cheap regular toilet plunger, a replacement hose connecting piece, a dowel about as thick as as the handle on the toilet plunger, and a screw clamp (I can't remember what this is called but it's shaped like a ring and as you screw it it gets smaller). Then take a utility knife, cut a hole just big enough for the hose piece to fit through, attach the screw clamp to the other side, cut the dowel so it will be the right size under your boat, and there's your fake a lake.

Mine cost me less than $5.00.

Good luck with your stereo!

i wouldnt say my battery is fully charged. It was when i did go out on the lake and discovered this disaster. Not sure why you thinking its a remote turn on problem. Since Eq and Amp powering up both when boat is off and running. If the weather holds up i am putting it in the water and going to try and figure out the problem. I dont understand why the Eq is making the speakers pop when i use the wakeplate. I have power and ground right to battery and remote to HU. My rca's do run close to the boats Power and Ground Dist, but not close enough to where it may be a problem. What about a ground loop isolator will this do anything for me? If so where do i install it?

Also i only get 11 volts from the remote wire when boat is not running. I get 12 everywhere else

Do the LED's on your Amps and EQ light up right when you turn the stereo on, or do they come on 10-20 seconds later when you hear the pop? The remote turn on from the headunit is almost independent of whether or not the boat is running. If the headunit has power, then the remote turn on from the head unit should be at +12VDC.

The EQ is most likely not making your speakers pop when you use your wakeplate. The most likely cause is that the wakeplate draws a lot of current from your batteries when you move it. This sudden draw of current can cause the pop you are hearing. As Adam also mentioned this is a known problem with a known fix.

A ground loop isolator will not do anything for you in the situation you have described.

How many batteries do you have?

The HU comes on right away Eq and amp 2 seconds later. Then about 10 seconds later i will hear music. I hear no pop at all when the music comes on if i bypass the EQ. I am running 1 battery. I called skiers choice and reed was not in and got some guy not mentioning name but was real cocky and told me take it to the dealer they need to install a relay and then the wakeplate wont pop. The HU constant power is ran to battery and acc. power is hooked up to boats factory harrness. Ground is also to the battery. I get 12 volts at HU, but 11 at remote.

Seth,

You could just have a bad amp. Sounds like you could have a short in it somewhere.

Hook up your tower speaker amp either to the tower or to a pair of your cockpit speakers. See what that does and get back to us.

Also when you have the money and ability re-run the wire your spliced together. Not knocking your ability to splice wires, but it is always better to have one continuous run of wire. Splices are notorius to get loose and cause major problems.

(Message edited by thesack on May 01, 2008)

I dont have the amp for the tower speakers yet, so i cant do anything there. Hopefully i will find something out on the water today. I fi can get it to work while the boat is running ill be happy. I wish i didnt have to run the Eq but with the cd player only having 1 preout, and with me running two amps and want to use my ipod the eq was my only solution. Dr apt right now so ill be back later if anyone replys

"Also i only get 11 volts from the remote wire when boat is not running. I get 12 everywhere else
"

It's your remote turn on like mentioned earlier. It shoudl be at 12, if it's really at 11 your gonna have the problems describe. Try using a relay inline on the remote turn on.

The guy from the dealer is probably right about the need for a relay. You have the EQ and AMP remote wires connected to the remote turn-on line from the HU. The HU remote turn-on typically has very low output. You definitely need a relay to boost the voltage to supply the needed voltage for the AMP and EQ. It's an easy add-on, may be 15-20 minutes.

The pop is probably caused by your EQ or AMP turning off when voltage dropped and back on when voltage is back to an aceptable level.

Just got in from the lake and this is what i figured out. I get no sound with boat running or not running. If i turn headunit to max and EQ to max i get music but very quite and distorted. So i thought maybe a bad rca, switched rcas and still same thing.

So i bypassed Eq and no noise through wakeplate and with boat running it works perfect. Checked voltage at EQ and was getting 12 at power and remote. This Eq is brand new my guess is it was sent to me bad and worked for a short time and now nothing at all. So my conclusion is the EQ is bad. Does this sound right? Since i bought on ebay over 4 months ago i just going to have to eat the 60 i spent on it. Going to go buy another EQ tomarrow and see if that fixes the problem

Seth,

Let me get your wiring straight. You have the RCA's going from the HU to your EQ main in. Your EQ front out going to the Kicker Amp. The Kicker Amp is wired to run your cockpit speakers.

When installed is your tower going to be set as the Rear Out on the EQ?

Are you running a sub?

And why not just purchase a deck that has 3 Preamp Outputs instead of a new EQ? Granted they are more then the cose of the EQ but it would give you a cleaner setup. Take a look at sonicelectronix.com they have some pretty good pricing.

Oh and on your HU how are your adjustments? Are you sending all the power to the rear? Your preamp output is for the rear.