PLEASE HELP! : New sound system, but the sound comes and goes

[lprince]

Hi guys

Recently installed a new sound system and the sound worked fine for about 2 weeks. But since yesterday the sound comes on when I turn on the car, lasts for about 5 minutes and then becomes static though my speakers...then dies off. It comes back after a while like 5 minutes and the same thing happens again.

I just now made sure all connections are right but the sound problem is still there.

One thing I did notice is that when the sound is either choppy/ static or completely gone, my stock head units power on button or any other buttons will not make the beep noise anymore either...

Does anyone know what could be wrong here?

Any help is much appreciated thanks!

[vinnierap]

Maybe your stock head unit cant power the system.

[Default User]

What did you install? Amps, subs, HU?

My first thought was your amp was clipping. But doesn't explain the Loss of radio beeps

[lprince]

Thanks for your reply, Eric. I installed 4 speakers, tweeters, a sub and an amp... I still have the Stock HU....

- Infinity Reference 6830cs
Component system in the front

- Infinity Kappa 682.9cf in the back

- MB QUART ONX4.80/500 5 Channel Amp

- Alpine Type R 10" Sub


I grounded my wire on the bolt right beside near the tire well...could it be a grounding issue?

[cwp_sedan]

First off, check all wiring and make sure it's tight and all connections are good.

How did you connect the stock speaker wiring to the amp? High-level inputs or LOC and RCAs?

[lprince]

Hi I made sure all wires are tight today...even went back and electrical taped them tighter...

i used LOCs and RCAs..

[cwp_sedan]

Does the amp shut off or go into clipping at that point or do you know? It's hard to diagnose without actually seeing it myself. All I can say is triple check every connection. There has to be something you are missing. Even one bad ground connection could cause issues.

Does the static occur only when the car is running? Did you run the speaker wires down one side separate from the power/remote wires?

[lprince]

Does the amp shut off or go into clipping at that point or do you know? It's hard to diagnose without actually seeing it myself. All I can say is triple check every connection. There has to be something you are missing. Even one bad ground connection could cause issues.

Does the static occur only when the car is running? Did you run the speaker wires down one side separate from the power/remote wires?

Well I get to drive/stay stationed about 3-5 minutes....then it starts to become choppy sound...then intermittent and then completely dead. I turn the radio off/leave it on for about about 5-7 minutes the sound comes back on but only for about 3 minutes...then dies like before.

Im starting to think its my Ground...There is only one ground point that I have for this system, which is in the trunk for the amp...the bolt at the south end of the tirewell.

The wires run along the driver side are power wire, amp start wire, front lefts, left tweeter and read rights.....the passenger side has the right tweeter, front right, and rear right speakers....

could it be my grounding point?

[n00bMeiSter]

Try unplugging your sub and see if that changes anything.

[cwp_sedan]

It could be possibly some of the following but who knows...

1) Your amp or deck is overheating and not working correctly.
2) The fact that you have power and speaker wires running right next to each other. If the speaker wire isn't shielded this could cause static or engine whine.
3) Bad ground somewhere. Though usually a bad ground would cause there to be no sound at all. Is there static at all if you have no music playing but the volume is turned up.

Since there is static, it means that there is power to the amp. Also the amp is turning on so the remote wire is good. It kind of sounds like you have an amp problem but I can't be 100% sure. You also say that your stock deck doesn't beep sometimes when you turn the radio on/off, etc. That could also mean the deck could be the issue.

There are so many variables. If you can't find the problem, maybe try taking it to Jeff at Audio Heaven.

[cwp_sedan]

Try unplugging your sub and see if that changes anything.

This might be an interesting theory. How is your sub wired up? It could be overloading the amp.

[n00bMeiSter]

Well I get to drive/stay stationed about 3-5 minutes....then it starts to become choppy sound...then intermittent and then completely dead. I turn the radio off/leave it on for about about 5-7 minutes the sound comes back on but only for about 3 minutes...then dies like before.

Im starting to think its my Ground...There is only one ground point that I have for this system, which is in the trunk for the amp...the bolt at the south end of the tirewell.

The wires run along the driver side are power wire, amp start wire, front lefts, left tweeter and read rights.....the passenger side has the right tweeter, front right, and rear right speakers....

could it be my grounding point?


If there isn't enough shielding, you could be getting interference from the power wire, which would cause the static. As for the shutting off, something could be over heating, or straining for power.

Your amp specs list "LED Protection indicators show high voltage, low voltage, short circuit, hard clip, over heating, or DC fault condition".
Turn your car and stereo on, and watch the LED indicators on your amp. If any of them light up, you'll know what problems (if any) the amp is having.

[cwp_sedan]

If there isn't enough shielding, you could be getting interference from the power wire, which would cause the static. As for the shutting off, something could be over heating, or straining for power.

Your amp specs list "LED Protection indicators show high voltage, low voltage, short circuit, hard clip, over heating, or DC fault condition".
Turn your car and stereo on, and watch the LED indicators on your amp. If any of them light up, you'll know what problems (if any) the amp is having.


lol is there an echo in the building?

[n00bMeiSter]

lol is there an echo in the building?

ECHO! echo! echo!

[lprince]

This might be an interesting theory. How is your sub wired up? It could be overloading the amp.

The sub is connected to the HU I believe...

[n00bMeiSter]

The sub is connected to the HU I believe...

it shouldn't be......
If it somehow is, that's probably what's doing it. The stock HU can barely power itself.

[cwp_sedan]

The sub is connected to the HU I believe...

Please lay out how everything is wired up. I assume you have a 4/ch LOC out going to the amp then the amp to the speakers and sub?

I don't think your sub is connected to your head unit, or at least it shouldn't be, and if it is, that may be causing some issues for you.

[lprince]

If there isn't enough shielding, you could be getting interference from the power wire, which would cause the static. As for the shutting off, something could be over heating, or straining for power.

Your amp specs list "LED Protection indicators show high voltage, low voltage, short circuit, hard clip, over heating, or DC fault condition".
Turn your car and stereo on, and watch the LED indicators on your amp. If any of them light up, you'll know what problems (if any) the amp is having.

Thanks n00bmeister. I'm actually going to check this first thing tomorrow...but as far as I know, there is one red led....wonder where the other LEDs are that show what's wrong with the amp

[n00bMeiSter]

Thanks n00bmeister. I'm actually going to check this first thing tomorrow...but as far as I know, there is one red led....wonder where the other LEDs are that show what's wrong with the amp

Well, there's these two on the back:

http://images.sonicelectronix.com/images/416517/big/onx480500.jpg



And my guess is that the red one on the front will change colour, or there are multiples inside of it that will light up different colours to signify the meaning. Check the manual that came with it, should all be listed in there somewhere

front led:
http://images.sonicelectronix.com/images/462461/big/onx480500.jpg

[cwp_sedan]

How do you have your setup wired to/from the amp/deck?

One of these on page 7?
http://www.gpsfever.com/upload-folder/MBQuartOnyxAmplifierManual2010.pdf

[n00bMeiSter]

http://www.gpsfever.com/upload-folder/MBQuartOnyxAmplifierManual2010.pdf

Good find.

On page 4 of this PDF you will find the diagnostic information. Read through this while you are looking at your amp.

I also noticed that your amp does not have a cooling fan. Make sure it's somewhere that it can "breathe" so to speak.

[lprince]

Ok guys, just tested this thing again. So...surprisingly.....it seems to be back to normal....I have absolutely no idea how...I did not do any work on it from last night to this morning other than change some tracks and going for a drive.

At first, The sound started off choppy when I had the battery on (the engine not running), then I started the engine....sound was OK for about 30 seconds, became choppy, I checked the amp...the RED LED at the front was blinking, seems like its a power issue...Then the amp went off, Came back on immediately. I checked the diagnostic lights but the only one that is lit up on the side is the GREEN LED indicating Power. But this always seems to be on when the amp is on...

So after it came back on I waited for the sound to go away but it never did, went for about a 10 minute drive, nothing happened, sound was perfect, no choppy/ intermittent sound. Came back to my garage, turned off the engine, turned it back on and left it for a while....it seems OK now...

But Im supposed to go for a fairly long drive soon, I will update everyone when I get back soon..

But I took some pics so you can see where all my stuffs located......

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/5913/photoze.jpg

Based on above...I think the amp has enough breathing room right?

http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/1527/photo1rr.jpg

And this is where my Ground wire is....as you can see along the bottom...bolted to the metal that you see when you lift the plastic tool tray/wheel well protector

I will update everyone soon as soon I get back.

[lprince]

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/846/photo1rr.jpg/ -- AMP Ground Wire

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/546/photoze.jpg/ --- Sub/AMP set up in the trunk

Posting this here because the Images I posted on the previous reply don't show up for me....wierd..

[cwp_sedan]

Amp definitely has enough breathing room. The green light will be on always, probably because it has battery power.

Try grounding the amp elsewhere and see if that does anything. You shouldn't have any static at all.



BTW, I fixed your pictures.

[Default User]

Its hard to tell - but I dont like the grounding point

and that pic looks like the ground wire is spinning/rubbing around meaning its not very tight

[lprince]

How do you have your setup wired to/from the amp/deck?

One of these on page 7?
http://www.gpsfever.com/upload-folder/MBQuartOnyxAmplifierManual2010.pdf

Here is the diagram I made with a friend for my layout...The pic is about 2 MB, didn't want to re size because all the writing wont be legible

CLICK HERE (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/571/photo2fzn.jpg/)

[gabbygenier]

seems like everything is right. only thing i would suggest is grounding your amp somewhere else.

mine are grounded by the bolt that holds the back seats down. plenty of room to do it there.

it does sound like a power issue. when i turn my breaker off and let the power in the cap die in my car i get the same symptoms as you. i was gonna post something earlier but with no diagrams and pics its hard to tell, and others were putting their inputs and help. so you know its a power issue. if you have a multimeter check the resistance between your ground and the bolts that hold the seats down like i mentioned. im not sure where that bolt goes on the actual car but it might not be a good enough ground for the power the amp takes. maybe the bolt is lose on the bottom and thats the issue. never know.

[Default User]

http://img571.imageshack.us/img571/7278/photo2fzn.jpg

[lprince]

So i came back from my drive a while ago. No issues with the sound whatsoever. I have no idea how this got fixed.

I will select a new grounding point though. Thanks alot for all the help everyone

cwp_sedan thanks for fixing the pics!

[lprince]

Solved.

The ground wire was lose. This was pain in the rear end to figure out....The ground wire for some reason kept loosening after tightening. I replaced the bolt that I used and all seems fine now. Thanks a lot for the help everyone!

[Default User]

Solved.

The ground wire was lose. This was pain in the rear end to figure out....The ground wire for some reason kept loosening after tightening. I replaced the bolt that I used and all seems fine now. Thanks a lot for the help everyone!

WooHoo!! I knew it was the ground