Hi Guys

I posted the same message on the TL forum but seems like I would probably get more help here. I had my entire stereo installed "so called professionally" Im trying to fix the problem myself and with helps of others.

I have some ground noise while driving under low volumes and everytime I shut off the car on my TL, I hear the horrible *POP* noise on my speakers and subs. I think I almost eliminated all the ground noise by grounding using the seatbelt buckles instead of the crossbar on the rear seats.

Here is the Kenwood 8017 MP3 with 9044 Kenwood EQ


I also have a Phoenix Gold ZX 450 with a Fosgate Cap


The whinning problem is almost gone. I re-grounded the amp and the cap on the seatbelt buckes and it seemed to help better than the crossover brace behind the seat.


If you notice, I put all my speaker wires and my RCA wires together bundled in the loom on the right side. The power and ground are to the left.


I have all MB Quart Speakers and 2 12' Kicker comps not shown.
Like I said before, the whinning is almost dissapeared. I also have a ground loop RCA isolator. But I still have the problem when I turn off the car and still makes the pop sound.

Any help comments/suggestions is appreciated.
Thanks

 

Firstly nice set up. The pop is strange, I used to have that, but only when i used my stock headunit in my pathfinder. Some of the othe guys will tell you how to fix it. As for the grounding, I think you should get a ground loop isolater, and find a better place to ground stuff. The seatbelts are not the best place to ground.

 

I've seen popping like that caused by a component such as a crossover, deck or equalizer shutting off prior to the amp shutting down.

Do you have everything using the same wire for the turn on signal?

Sometimes, simply using a relay for the turn on lead for the amp (using the turn on lead you are using now for the turn on signal for the relay) creates enough delay to stop the problem. Do you follow what I am saying? I just read what I wrote and its kinda circular sounding...

Dunno if that's causing your problems, but its possible.

 

hmm well I only have this one amp. This amp powers all the speakers. I havent looked behind the head unit or EQ yet. Im pretty sure the turn on leads are connected to the head unit.
Thanks for the suggestion.

 

I was thinking about this...

In an effort to troubleshoot this problem, you could figure out if the amp is causing the noise or if something upstream is causing the problem by changing the turn on lead for the amp from the deck (acc switch) to the (on) position. That way, when you turn off the car, the amp will shut off FIRST.

If the deck or your eq is not shutting down quietly, the amp will have shut off already and it won't matter. Of course, you will have to have the key in the on position for the stereo to function, but it would help you know what to do next.

And it shouldn't take long to find a wire in the trunk you could use.

 

got this doing a search on the net/crutchfield.

you can get one of those delay turn offs on the net. just do a search or you can build your own.

"Occasionally, after installing a new component in your car stereo system, you will notice a 'pop' when you turn the receiver On or Off. This is usually caused during shut-down of the power by components in the system which turn off before the amplifier turns off. In most cases, the component is an EQ, or signal processor. The sound signal has no place to go except the speakers which then produce the pop. Usually adding a slight turn-off delay to the processor in question can solve this problem. This added delay allows the processor to remain on until the amplifier has powered down, thus preventing the pop.

If you have the 'pop' when the system turns on, it may be due to the amplifier turning on prior to the offending component. Adding a little turn-on delay to the amplifier will usually resolve this. Many components sold today have these delays built in. Check the manual to see if this is an adjustable feature on your component if you have this problem.

If your processor does not offer this feature, you can build your own delay circuit with a 1N4004 diode and a capacitor. Add a diode in series with the processor's turn-on lead, striped side of the diode towards the EQ. Then add a capacitor in parallel, the positive side of the capacitor connected to the striped side of the diode, the negative side of the capacitor going to the vehicle's chassis ground (NOT to the body of the radio or processor chassis). Experimenting with the capacitor value will give you the right amount of delay before the EQ shuts off. You don't want it to be very long, just long enough to make sure the amp is off before the EQ powers down. The capacitor value of 220-1000 uF is about right, and make sure the capacitor is a polarized electrolytic, 16V or higher. The diode alone will introduce a 0.7V drop on the remote wire, but this usually does not effect most processors enough to cause them to shut down earlier than the rest of the system."

 

(for the "POP" noise) that's because your remote turn on lead of your bose amp draw current power first then your PG amp drawing second so your voltage is drop, that's why you hear the poping noise. you can get the PG DD10 to fix that problem.

 

Thanks for the help guys.. I will try to tackle the problem over the weekend. :-)