GCrites80s

I have a fairly basic Alpine CD player from 2013. I don't have the model number handy because the car is 20 miles away at our farm which has no internet. Its only additional feature is USB. The rest of the system is 2 Alpine 4x6 plates in the dash, 2 Kenwood 6x9s and an Infinity Basslink powered sub with a 10". It's between 150-200 watts.

If I am at idle and the voltage drops from its normal 14 volts to around 13 the H/U will shut off and quickly restart (or try to) when I am above half volume. If I turn it down it won't do it. Above 14 volts it also won't. The voltage drops because I have a lopey cam that gives the car a low idle. The old head units I had didn't do this, but two are tape decks and the other doesn't read discs and has no USB so I'm not going back to those. I recently installed a 140 amp Iceberg alternator which helped keep the car above 13V much more often. It was hitting 8-9V at cruise (especially with the headlights on) with the old stock-type one which I also got in 2013 but at hot idle it still hits 13V. I almost think this is a design flaw of my current H/U. Now I also want Bluetooth calling after using it in my truck.

Should I just try another H/U? I'd like the Alpine that is very similar to mine but with the Bluetooth feature but am worried that I will wind up in the same boat. Even if they are updated for 2015, I still don't want to go through another install just to wind up with the same problem. I don't think it's the wiring since I've done a lot of H/Us and work in an electrical occupation. I suppose I could check the wiring with a voltmeter to see if 13V at the gauge means lower voltage at the wiring but want to hear from others first.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

if you already replaced the alt its likely the wire to feed the HU is too small. the gms use the key on wire for the big wire and the always on is frequently pretty small. i have had to run a big wire to the battery or aux post for aftermarket HUs on a few of my gms. alot of the aftermarket high power HUs run the amps off the yellow "always on". the stock wires just werent designed to handle that much current.

-srs-

Yeah, there's a weak link in your circuit there somewhere. A poor ground can exhibit this symptom too.

GCrites80s

Thanks. I'll check into all three.

GCrites80s

I cleaned the ground which had a little flash rust, sanded the paint off of the washer and added a toothed washer. The ground wire is 12awg. I also ran a fused (15amp) 12awg wire directly to the battery for the always-on. The old always on was 16 gauge whereas the one coming out of the H/U is 14 gauge. I think these were both good moves that the unit will like, but they didn't fix the problem. The CD player is an Alpine CDE-141.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

man i thought that was it. i guess i would try some experimentation then, if you have a spare battery and put all three the two power and ground just right to that and see if it still does it. would have to say something internal if it does. if not could be your chassis path is not good. your ground you probably put it to in the car, but in order to complete the circuit there is likely a frame to body ground and a frame to battery.

Bob88GTA

iTrader: (2)

How is the battery?

GCrites80s

I upgraded the battery to frame and battery to alternator/engine grounds last year to 4awg. I also upgraded the positive battery to alternator cable at that time which was sorely needed since the old one had clearly overheated at some time and had frayed/corroded.

I installed a new Optima Yellow Top in 2013 as well before getting the H/U. The H/U has always exhibited this behavior.

-srs-

Is the voltage still dropping at the HU? You don't have anything weird like 2ohm speakers do you?

GCrites80s

I can't get a voltage reading from the H/U wiring harness for some reason. Not the always-on or the switched. The only speakers I have running off of it are 2 Alpine 4x6 plates and 2 Kenwood 6x9s. I hope they didn't sell me 2 ohm versions of those. Are speakers in those sizes sold in 2 ohm? I had no trouble with these speakers with my 2 previous H/Us, a Panasonic CD player from the late '90s and a Pioneer tape deck from the mid '90s.

-srs-

I've seen them come in dual voice coil versions but it's unlikely. I would continue to investigate why you can't get voltage readings at the HU. Check the pins on the connector to make sure you don't have any that are loose or backed out.

It's a pain but you could pull the head, put it on the bench and see if you can replicate the behavior. At least that way you'd know whether the problem is in the car or the HU. It's possible the amp is bad.

GCrites80s

One thing that did happen is that one of the 6x9s fell down during an autocross and grounded against the sheetmetal inside the sail panels right after I installed the HU. I have secured the 6x9 since.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

if the wire is partially shorted like insulation kinda touching chassis or something happened to the speaker it would do that too.

GCrites80s

The speaker sounds fine. I actually think the speaker connection tabs are what contacted the sheetmetal. I don't know what it sounded like when it happened since I keep the volume down during autocross runs, I have a loud exhaust and when you hear a noise during those a lot of times you chalk it up to "general autocross noise" or you think you hit a cone.

When I put the voltmeter probe in the HU connector it almost seems like the connector contact is too small for the probe to make good contact. None of the contacts seems to be pushed back too far.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

doesnt make any difference if it sounds fine. still have to check it over and the wire to it. especially if you autocross with it the wires could be banging anything along the whole run

get a little piece of wire, strip it back a ways so you can wrap it around the lead a few times and use that for a voltage probe

GCrites80s

Update: I've determined that I cannot continue to use the car without Bluetooth. I am responsible for multiple businesses. So I'm going to replace the head unit anyway. An Alpine CDE-153BT is on the way.

Bout a month ago I also disconnected both 6x9s to see if they were the culprits and the HU still cut out.

GCrites80s

Old head unit's melting down pretty bad. I was doing 80 (remember when that was a big deal?) dodging semis with some Dance With the Dead cranked today when sound from the HU's amp went away. So the voltage was definitely above 13v. I was still getting sound from the powered sub and the display was still lit. Also now it won't play music from my iPod, only let me select tracks and display the names of songs. If it cools off for a long time everything comes back for about 5 minutes.

jwfirebird

iTrader: (2)

sounds like stuff is coming loose inside, i personally would have gotten a marine unit, the potting and that helps it last in harsh environments like racing.

GCrites80s

I never thought about that.

GCrites80s

The new head unit seems to have eliminated the problem, though I was extremely methodical with the wiring this time around and cut out some extra length from the car's wires including a small section of speaker wire that had lost its insulation. I can definitely crank it up all the way on a loud song even with the headlights on. But if I'm running on battery only sometimes the new one will lower the volume for a few seconds, then raise it back up to a "safer" level rather than doing a full shutdown. The display lets me know it's doing it by saying what it put the new volume to.

Looking back, the old H/U had been through a lot in only 2 years:
-Being hooked to a defective powered sub that had to be sent back
-Having subframe connectors welded on without the negative battery terminal removed (at least I think so, usually it forgets everything when you unhook the terminal and it didn't that time)
-5-7 autocrosses, one where a 6x9 grounded out after coming loose
-bumpy track day at Nelson Ledges
-2 very cold winters
-a fender bender
-battery coming loose and losing and regaining connection a few times
-bumpy Ohio roads

zz3irocz

The previous owner of my car ran a new power wire and just stuck it in with the radio fuse under the dash, I don't know why they did this but I just left it that way because it works good. There are also open spots on the fuse panel where you can stick spade terminals in for key on power.

GCrites80s

Necrobump for update! The blower motor for the HVAC was slowly going bad due to debris in the vent system and was a major amp draw on the entire electrical system. By the end it was smoking through the vents. So now everything is fine, except that it still doesn't like running off of battery only. I should add that I swapped over to a T-56 in the meantime and did a custom tune that raised the idle to 850 rpm from the 500-550 that the automatic was stuck dragging against the overlappy cam. The HU still cut out after the T-56 swap but not as much. But ahhh, I wouldn't go as far as to suggest to change your transmission and do a custom tune in order to try and solve your headunit woes... that HVAC blower was bad news and may have been drawing 20+ amps.

GCrites80s

1.5 years later and another update! After driving around for a while after the blower motor was fixed, the Alpine was still wussing out above volume 16 or so with the car running above 13V even at 5000 RPM. On songs that were ripped "loud" like this file of Iron Maiden's "Wrathchild" that I downloaded in like 2002 it would crap out as low as volume 8. Off the battery it was getting to the point that it wouldn't play at all and just reset. Now remember, I have an Optima Yellow Top, Iceberg alternator, upgraded the big grounds, cleaned and checked the H/U ground and ran a fused 12AWG dedicated always-on from the battery that has upgraded terminals. Then I started unplugging things with no change. As a final check to see if it was battery related I ran jumper cables to my truck with both vehicles' engines off. No change. Then started the truck with the car off and it acted exactly like it did with the car running.

Broke down and bought another head unit. I still really like Alpine, but I had to do what I felt I needed to do to make sure that I don't buy another head unit for this car that acts the same. I got a Kenwood KDC-BT778HD. Installed it and CRANKED IT UP running on battery only. No issues with audio or cutting out whatsoever. Things are fine with the car running as well no matter how low the idle drops when clutching out in driveways or parking lots. The only thing is that the display dims when running at high volume on battery only. Is it foreshadowing? Only time will tell.