Head unit wired into stereo battery bank? Other stereo issues, please help.

I am working on wiring up my system on my boat which is the following

-2 exide deep cycle marine batteries
-JVC headunit
-1 Memphis 600w amp (sub amp)
-1 apline 4 channel (in boats)
-1 MB quart 4 channel (towers)

I am having all sorts of issues with my amps going into protect mode and now working on re-wiring everything and there is something weird going on with the head unit.

Wiring setup

-Power and ground wires from the batteries are wired into distribution blocks which are then wired into each amp with their own 8 or 4 gauge wire.

As far as the remote wires go, i was having some issues with the amps going into protect when the remote was wired into the head unit so i put them on a switch which is tapped into the battery power off on of the amps. With this it is all coming off the same battery power.

The head unit is also tapped into the power and ground terminals on one of the amps.

Now what is going on whenever i first turn on the head unit, then flip the switch to turn on the amps the head unit will instantly turn off and not come back on.

If anyone has a simple diagram or can explain the best way to wire in a multiple amp system on its own battery bank that would be awesome. I have wired up multiple stereos before in cars and have had no issues, but for some odd reason this stereo is throwing me for a complete loop and looking for any help possible.

Thanks in advance!

Here is what I would suggest.

Sounds like your amps are wired properly.
I would run a dedicated power and ground say 12gauge from your amp distribution block over to the switch that powers your stereo. Then tap both the yellow and red wire into that switch as well as the black ground wire. the switch should only provide power to your head unit. Next I would run the blue remote turn on wire from your head unti into the input side of a relay, run a power and ground line from the upstream side of the switch to the relays + and - terminals, and then another blue wire from the relays output terminal back over to your amps (again 12 gauge). finally run the remote turn on wire over at the amp side into a small distribution block or buss terminal that allows you to run seperate remote turn on wires to each amp.

Thanks for the suggestions Russ! I went and got all the supplies to set everything up as you suggested but after doing a little troubleshooting it seems like both my headunit and my EQ (didn't it wired in at first) both are shot and will not turn on, have tested both the power and ground being fed and neither will turn on at all.

The EQ should still be under warranty so I'll have to look into that but the headunit was bought from a store that went out of business so I think I'm screwed on that one.

Until i get replacements there is not much else I can do, so once again Russ thanks for the suggestions and I will be sure to give that a shot whenever i get some replacement stuff in!

Joe,

Theres not much info provided that would help to diagnose/pinpoint the problem. Here are some things that I would want to know:
1) What is the static (at rest) battery voltage at the battery terminals, head-unit, EQ and at the amp terminals. Use both the B+ wire and components GND wires for this test. Putting the voltmeter's GND lead on the battery ground doesnt include that ground circuit and connection at the component.
2) By what means did you determine the amps are in protect-mode, rather then just not powering on
3) If you jump the amp's remote turn-on wire directly to the B+ lug, does the amp power up and stay on. If its indeed going into protect mode and the battery voltage is sufficient, then disconnect all speaker loads from the amp and power it back up. If it comes up without going into protect mode, then there is a short in a speaker circuit.
4) If the amp will power up like it should, then connect an MP3 player right to the amp using a 3.5mm x RCA cable and see if it plays music.
5) I would try to bench test the head-unit connected to a known good battery source and connect a test speaker to each output and see if it plays. Next, test the voltage on the blue remote turn-on output. Should be 12V+. If all look good there, then take it back to the boat to retest, but leave the EQ out for know. Also, you should be able to use the EQ as the source unit with your MP3 connected to its input using the same cable you went directly to the amp. Just keep in mind that your EQ may need to be signaled on its turn-on circuit as if the head-unit was there, and if it doesn't have its own turn-on output, you will need to jump the turn-on at the amp again.

Spending a little time with some test equipment will save both time and money in part swapping. Also, if something is not wired right, any replacement gear you plug up will suffer the same failure. Hope this helps.