D1NOnly34

iTrader: (4)

I need to stop the hitch pitched engine sound through my speakers when I hear my radio and watch my TV in my car. Im pretty sure the reason is because of the ground. Where is a good place to ground all my stuff so I wont get that sound? Where do you have yours grounded? Battery negative? I don;t know, let me know thanks!

jmax

Pretty much any solid point on the chassis. You may want to double check the tv and headunit grounds as the factory ground is not great. But, there are literally millions of things that can cause this noise.

D1NOnly34

iTrader: (4)

Well, I thought groundign it to teh car chasis was the reason it was making that noise, its so annoying i want to get rid of it.

Pearl96Max

iTrader: (151)

Please do not take offense to this, as I am not flaming or anything. BUT isnt this you that posted this :

We are new, no store as of yet, we are thinking of naming it "Sound Innovators", I like it, if you can pick up items then you save a lot on shipping, and we can maybe even discount you on installation if you want, we have certified technicians.

I was curious as to the "certified technicians" part. They cannot solve your problem?

--Don

friendhasmax

[
QUOTE]Originally posted by Pearl96Max
Please do not take offense to this, as I am not flaming or anything. BUT isnt this you that posted this :

We are new, no store as of yet, we are thinking of naming it "Sound Innovators", I like it, if you can pick up items then you save a lot on shipping, and we can maybe even discount you on installation if you want, we have certified technicians.

I was curious as to the "certified technicians part. They cannot solve your problem?

--Don [/QUOTE]


I was questioning the same thing in my head Don. Is it not a golden rule that all components be grounded to the chassis? Amplifiers should all share a common grounding point to prevent a voltage drop across component grounds. That voltage drop is what allows alternator whine to occur. But hey what do i know? I'm only an electrical engineering student....much less qualified than you and your trained technicians...dont post here unless you know what you are talking about

WHO HERE WOULD HAVE HIS "TRAINED TECHNICIANS" WORK ON THEIR CAR??

Pearl96Max

iTrader: (151)

Yeah thanks for doing your best to dis me on the org. I installed my whole system, not the technician guy. And this technician guy is from Best Buy, I know him through this NEW business that I just started to work with, just not too well where I can go up to him and ask him to install my whole system with no charge. Ive always installed my system in my car ever since I got it (March 2002), even if it wasnt perfect (hence the thread). Next time you want to flame me about somethign I said, make sure you have all the facts straight. If you want to flame the installer, flame me, I was the one who installed it, and I am the one asking for the help, if it was him who installed it I would have asked him and not bothered you with the org. Thanks for your help...riiiight... figures people like you are the ones who rather flame people then help them with their problems. [/B][/QUOTE]

Excuse me????? As I posted I was not flaming...What I was asking is how are you going to advertise that you have techs to work on peoples cars here and you cant even ask them for help? It was not in anyway a flame, it was a simple question. Take offense if you wish, but as previously stated it wasnt intended....

--Don

jmax

It seems that someone has figured out how to delete their posts in order to not look like the aggressor. Or they just changed their mind about what they were saying. If he/she figures out what question to ask, someone might still be around to answer to the best of their knowledge.

Pearl96Max

iTrader: (151)

James your such a smarta$$


--Don

D1NOnly34

iTrader: (4)

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Where do you guys have your systems grounded exactly? Do you have any "engine" noise comming from your speakers. I believe that my mids/high amp is not grounded in the same place as my bass amp.

jmax

Mine is actually grounded someplace that should be bad. But it has worked damn well. I didn't do the ground myself. I plan to move it soon. Real soon. But I am still working on finding a place that is secure, convenient and electrically superior. But the one I have now is behind the rear drivers side wheel, on the vertical piece in th rear fender. Opposite the antenna. It worked for up to about 1800 watts RMS without any engine noise. I have one 8 mm diameter bolt through the metal and about 4 ring terminals secured that way.

jmax

I know. But no matter how hard I try it's just the way I am. I am critically honest, or realistic - my viewpoint. I don't normally intend to come across harsh. The truth just comes out no matter how hard I try to keep it quiet. It's probably why I used to always get into fights when I was a kid. And why I still get into arguments at work. I don't care how long somebody has been doing a job. If they screw up and it could affect others in a negative way I make an attempt to fix the error and educate the misinformed.

I would rather screw up trying to do something the right way then suceed doing it the wrong way.

D1NOnly34

iTrader: (4)

jmax

Did you see the answer to your message above the reply?

D1NOnly34

iTrader: (4)

Didn't see it till now. Why is it so bad? 1800 watts is way more than what I have, so it should work for me. Maybe if I tell you how my ground are wired, it may help. My radio and tv are grounded by the brackets that hold the radio. My amps are grounded behind the rear seats (on one of the bolts that hold that metal peice when you remove the upper part of the back seat). My cap is grounded the same way. Thats all I can think of now. Im thinking that since I have an amp for my mid and highs, that its probably a bad ground for that amp. But when Im listenign to music, I only hear a constant faint static in the backround. I hear the engine noise that goes with the RPMs when I watch my tv. Since my radio does nto have auxillary rca outputs, I use an FM Modulator (its a new kind..the antenna does not need to be connected through it, it just sends a signal through the air to the station selected.) The FM Modulator is also grounded to the brackets that hold the radio. And that is when you hear the engine noise the most. Any ideas?

jmax

Get rid of the ground to radio/console bracket first. There is a good bolt in the center of the floor directly below the middle of back of the radio. Look straight forward from the shift ****, 14-28 inches forward. I havn't looked at it in a long time so I am guessing. If you don't see that bolt, I'll try to take a pic in the morning.

Then ground your amps and cap to someplace lower. The rear deck is almost as far from the battery aw you can get and the weld joints aren't significant enough to carry the current properly. But you may want to check the gauge of the ground wires as well. IF you are grounded to one of the bolts in the floor behind the seat, that's probably not too bad for grounding. But it is asafety hazard as those bolts get a lot of force on them when you brake hard or get run into. At least if you have a back seat passenger or unsecured luggage, subs, amps,etc. in the trunk.

D1NOnly34

iTrader: (4)

Well, as for the radio, it is automatically grounded, since the brackets are metal itself. Meaning that the ground wire form the radio is not even being used. Since I noticed that, I had the TV and FM modulator wired to the brackets as well. I recall somewhere that you dont want your ground cable being too long, I dont know. When you say ground my amps and ground somewhere lower, just exactly WHERE do you mean? All wires head under the seat.

jmax

"When you say ground my amps and ground somewhere lower, just exactly WHERE do you mean? All wires head under the seat." -

The way you worded that the first time I thought you might have it grounded to the top of the back of the seat. But I reread your post and then added the third sentence in the second paragraph.

As for the bracket being grounded it technically is. But not securely and it's not made of highly cunductive metals. A copper wire - 10 to 8 gauge - running from the back of the headunit, tv and fm modulator down to the floor will be a shorter and less resistive path. The fm modulators may be prone to noise as well. I don't know, I've never used one.

D1NOnly34

iTrader: (4)

I see, but even if I ran a wire form the radio, modulator, and TV to that point you are talking about, does it matter if the brackets still act as a ground the same time (at least to the radio).I strongly belive that this has somethign to do with the mids/high amp. But I WILL run that wire for the equipment in the front, wont hurt, can only do better.

D1NOnly34

iTrader: (4)

If doing all these options do not work, will I have to buy these?

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-8GPvJzz...search=filters

Im wondering if these will solve the problem completely? And if so, which ones would I need and how many?

Thanks

jmax

The filters are a bandaide and should never be used. Fixing the problem by locateing it and then fixing whatever it is will work for the life of the install. It is very likely the spark plug noise is going to all your amps. But since the sub amp is low passed you don't hear it. Turn up the sub crossover to 4000 hertz and you will hear it.

D1NOnly34

iTrader: (4)

Well I organized all the wires for my radio, tv, and fm modulator. Basically I checked all the connections to make sure they were tight and good. I was at a weird moment, where my radio didnt turn on, because usually I didnt have to have the ground wire from the radio touching a ground because I thought that the radio brackets would provide the ground. I just found out, that when I connec tthe antenna, it acts as a ground! I didnt knwo that, I would disconnect and reconnect the antenna cable, and the raido would turn on and off. I started to think, and thought that since the antenna was acting as a ground for the radio, that could that be a problem with the noise I am having? Just a thought, thanks for the help.

jmax

I think the antenna is always grounded. Don't know if it is a requirement for the AM/FM to work, but it is definitely normally grounded. Despite this millions of people have stereo's without spark plug whine.

Pearl96Max

iTrader: (151)

Absolutely correct, the antenna is *almost* always grounded. This is often referred to as a "floating ground", but should not be relied on as a main ground for your radio.

--Don

friendhasmax

the whole car uses a floting ground silly

the definition of a floating ground is no common grounding point

everything in the car is grounded at sperate parts of the chassis (the beginnings of alternator whine )