Stereo shutting off?

Last I year I put in 2 pairs of samson S7hds with the 1K harpoon amp. They worked great all last summer and the first month of this year with no problems. Now the speakers, amp and head unit will shut off right when I turn the stereo on. It started out where they would just shut off when I turned them up loud like they were not getting enough power. Now whenever I turn on the stereo, the display lights up on the head unit and immediately shuts off. Even when I turn the volume all the way down on the tower speakers and it is just the cabin speakers, the stereo will still turn off. I also have another amp and subwoofer that was stock in the boat and everything shuts off when I turn on the stereo. I have charged the battery's and checked the connections on the battery and neither have fixed the problem. Anyone have any suggestions on what to try next?

It is almost certainly a voltage issue. The most important place to measure the voltage is at the primary supply terminals of the audio equipment versus at the battery. Then move one termination and component at a time towards the battery supply. It's important to include the most local ground in the measurement rather than than referencing the battery ground because it frequently is a ground connection problem. Measuring a static voltage may not reveal a problem that is otherwise exposed when the supply is under load. Also, check the turn-on voltage coming out of the source unit. That's a good start.

David
Earmark Marine

Kramer, try these simple test in the order below.

Check the fuse on the back of the head unit and make sure it's properly seated.

Make sure none of the wires on the wiring harness attached to the back of the head unit are exposed.

Disconnect the remote turn on from the head unit to the amps and turn on the head unit. (It's the blue wire with a white line) You may need a resistor if your head unit is trying to turn on too many amps.

Run 10ga or 12ga wire from the head unit power/ground (red/black) directly to the battery. (You'll want to put a little 10a inline fuse from autozone, etc on the power wire)

Thanks I will give those a try. This may be a stupid question, but should be the volts at the amp and at the head unit? Should it be 12v at each?

Kramer - Whats next is you should shoot me a quick pm with a contact number for yourself. I'd be happy to walk you thru the steps on solving this problem. I often field samson tech calls for them as they resell a lot of our exile gear. I think we can resolve this pretty quick. Are you local to Samson? If so maybe you can run your boat by our offices too. either way, we'll get you sorted.

-Brian
Exile Audio

Kramer,
The 'shutdown' voltage for the source unit and amplifiers will be below 12 volts but because voltage tends to sag when under load you need to measure at least 12 volts for testing purposes. A standard, fully charged, good/new condition, flooded battery will rest around 12.7 volts. You just want to maintain a voltage at your amplifier and source unit inputs of within a tenth or so of the battery terminals. If you a have a one volt or more drop for example, then you know you have a cable and/or connector issue do deal with. You should not be rewiring anything until you have taken measurements. A simple multimeter put to task will expose the problem and replace hours of trial and error.

David
Earmark Marine