My temp. system is Kenwood Excelon 615 Headunit Infinity Reference 4x6's and 6x9's. Alpine 3554 amp and 2 Kenwood 12's. I've had the 4x6's and 6x9's powered from the deck with the amp powering the 12's. Today I thought I would hook up the 4x6's and 6x9's to the amp on 2-channels and bridge the other 2-channels to power the subs. When I I'm using the crossover's on the amp and when the engine is running I'm getting a altenator whine but it doesn't climb with the RPM's. When I put my foot on the brake the whine gets louder till I let off. The same thing happens when I turn on my turn signal. The whine isn't audible when the crossover is switched to low-pass only when it's turned off or on high-pass. There was no whine before. I have a new battery and alt. I have no clue. I've also swapped the Patch Cables. This is getting on my nerves!

[This message has been edited by jobryan26 (edited July 24, 2001).]

 

Re-do all your ground wires, esp. the amps. Almost every installation that I have had to troubleshoot regarding alt. whine has been cause by bad grounding.

 

Well, of course you can't hear it when it's in low pass, you're filtering those frequencies out silly Trust me though, it's probably still there.

Grounding is one common cause, be sure that you have a good solid ground for the amp AND the head unit. Sand down any paint where you are grounding the amp for good contact to the metal.

However, I have seen more times than not a simple problem of an RCA behind the head unit touching a metal cross brace and causing problems that way.

Do you by chance have a ticking sound associated with it? What kind of condition are your spark plug wires in? Do you have any other aftermarket electrical products? Does it happen on just radio, or radio and cd?

We'll go from there, I'm sure there will be a few more suggestions by the time I check back tonight...

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Carl
CarAudio Resources

 

Move the head unit ground to the passenger side kick panel area and use 12 gauge wire for the extention. Make sure connections are soldered or crimped solidly. Twist & Tape won't cut it. If that doesn't work, you may need to run new power to the head unit. Because it's brake light and blinker light related, I think it's because you've got a "noisy" ground because it's grounded with all the other crap near the fuse panel.

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Thankx guys I'll go outside and go ground checking. The part that has me confused is that there was no noise through the speakers when they where hooked up to the deck just when I hooked them up to the amp. So I was thinking it was RCA or Amp ground related. And usual Alt. whine the noise increases with the RPM. but it didn't. I'll troubleshoot everything but atleast I have a good starting point. Thankx John

 

Ok guys I've went through and redone all my ground wires. The blinker and stop light issue is solved but now I have just the engine noise and it now goes up and down with the RPM. It sounds just like my Accel Super Coil so I'm wondering if thats what's causing the noise. At idle it hums and I hear the ticking of the Super Coil. Which kind of noise filter do I get and where do I put it? Be nice.

 

I don't know if I am on the right track but maybe...

Any chance you have solid core spark plug wires instead of resistive type? Solid core create tons of noise.

 

I have Accel 300+ racing wires. The desciption was as follows:
"With a resistance of only 150 ohms per foot, Accel's 8.8mm 300+ Race wire provides a stunning 300% increase in electrical current delivery. A specially designed Aramid/fiberglass core provides unparalleled tensile strength while providing superior RFI suppression that won't interfere with your on-board electronics. A high temperature silicone jacket protects up to 500 degrees, and stainless steel plug terminals direct the power into the plug."

So I don't think it's the wires since there was no noise through the headunit when the speakers where powered from the deck. The noise appeared after I hooked up the amp but that the amp prob. just ampified the noiseas to where I didn't hear it before.(?) Any more suggestions? The wire's are about 3months old.

[This message has been edited by jobryan26 (edited July 30, 2001).]

 

There are 3 diodes in your alternator. 1 is bad most likely. It will still charge but creates noise.

 

1. It is common to have noise problems when using external amps, but very uncommon when just running speakers directly from the deck.

2. You probably had the noise there all along, but since your crossover was on low-pass, you never heard it before.

If the noise isn't too bad to begin with, you can probably just turn your amp gains down a bit....are they set really high now?

 

Hey Chris, I think you're right. I have the gain turned down quite abit. I did that first thing because it was driving me nuts! I need a filter right? Which one do I use? I've seen some that's RCA type and a Power lead type. Which one do I need?

 

Most of the time, noise filters are a waste of time. Make sure you are using a HIGH QUALITY interconnect. Cheapies are a no-no. Also make sure your ground
1)from the batt to the engine
2)from batt to the frame
are good.
There also should be a braided ground from the engine to the firewall. Might as well start with the easy, free checks first.

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-Justin-
T-Top '86 5.0L LG4 700R4 WS6
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There can be only one!!

 

i looked for this solution, but didnt see it here, perhaps you could try running your power wire and your rca's down separate sides of the car, that was my prob in my camaro, really bad wine, separated the wires, and boom, gone. if you havnt already, give it a shot, if you already have it fixed, good for you!

 

I don't think anyone mentioned it because 99.9% of the time this will make zero difference. That is an old installers myth that has been proven not to be true.

I have personally run both twisted pair and coax style rca's along side of power wires and have yet to see a noise problem that can be attributed to running them together.

Think about this...the entire chassis of your car is the ground or negative connection to the battery. It flows just as much current back to the battery as the wire does coming from the battery. This tells me that you'd get the same effect running anywhere in the vehicle that you would running right next to the power wire.

Just something for you to think about.

I never did get a reply as to whether it just whined on radio, or radio and cd...does it whine with the RCA dissoncected from the amp, does it whine with the RCA disconncted from the head unit, does it whine if you short the RCA input of the amp.

These will help narrow down where the source of the noise is. Also are there any pieces in signal chain other than deck and amp? xovers? eq's? etc...



------------------
Carl
CarAudio Resources

 

It whines all the time CD or Tuner. And when I push the source button to turn it off it whines until the headunit kicks off. And it does not whine while the RCA are
disconnected at either end. You asked "does it whine if you short the RCA input of the amp." I'm not sure what you mean? But I haven't done this.
I did not notice it before I hooked up the amp. The 4x6's and 6x9's were powered by the headunit and the subs were powered by the amp. Now the 4x6's and 6x9's are hooked up to 2 of the channels and the other 2 channels are powering the subs. So my guess as to why I never heard it before is because the amp amplified the signal and made it more audible. I think the reasons why it didn't whine through the subs is due to the crossover. I have moved the ground to my headunit and amp and there are still no changes. I thought I had cured the blinker and brakelight problem but it's still there. Sometimes it whines and sometimes it doesn't. My Accel Super Coil is really noticeable tho. I'm thinking I move the Power to my headunit.(?) I hope this helps. Thanks John

 

Try disconneting all the rca wires and plug them in one at a time. Also try just disconnecting just the sub cables. I have a broken ground in my EQ and had the same problem. Also have you had your amp laying in your car not mounted? If it slides around and moves alot it can cause damage to the rca jacks inside the amp.

 

I got it fixed by installing a noise filter on the RCA's running into the amp on the mid-high side. Thanks guys for your help. jobryan26

------------------
Trans Am:
(Engine)305 TPI
180 Degree Thermostat
JET Fan Switch
TB Bypass
Accel 300+ 8.8 Racing Wires
Accel Super Coil
Bosch Platinium Plugs
Custom Ram Air with K&N
Removed Emissions Equipment & Cat.
(Stereo)Full Kenwood Excelon System
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Member at kyfbodies.org

 

That means you have a ground loop or a bad power supply in the amp. The noise filter is a band-aid, but not a cure. I would still
try to track down the problem.

------------------

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View the restoration of an 85 IROC</A>
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Thanks Jim I kinda had a thought in the back of my mind that it might be the amp. Oh well I've been saving for replacments anyway since my stuff got swipped. Just trying to decide on what brand I want to get. Thanks tho. jobryan26

------------------
Trans Am:
(Engine)305 TPI
180 Degree Thermostat
JET Fan Switch
TB Bypass
Accel 300+ 8.8 Racing Wires
Accel Super Coil
Bosch Platinium Plugs
Custom Ram Air with K&N
Removed Emissions Equipment & Cat.
(Stereo)Full Kenwood Excelon System
See my Ride:
https://www.thirdgen.org/rides/index...ew&rideid=1324
Member at kyfbodies.org

 

hmm.. the problem I'm having only started after installing my msd 6a. if I run the head unit direct to the amps it's ok.. if I run the head unit to my eq/active x-over the noise is there. the eq is also a 4 volt pre-amp though.. if I leave the amps hooked up to the eq and unhook the head unit from the eq the noise is also gone.. really ticking me off.. msd told me to use their 8830 rfi noise filter.. don't know if it's worht a try. I even checked all my grounds to make sure. also it doesn't get louder with volume.. stays the same.

 

my car started making serious ALT whine and injector ticking in the radio. You can hear it in the speakers with the head unit off or on. I have replaced the ALT, changed the RCAs, (cleaned, changed, replaced grounds), Had the battery checked, rerouted wires, I pulled every fuse in the car the i could and it was still there, I unplugged the ALT and it was still there. I am clueless. Could it be the capacitor in the distrib? Any help he would be much appreciated.

 

dont try to hi-jack someone else post, start your own for g*d's sake:nono: