josehernandez94

Ever since I've had my system in, there's always been a faint high-pitched sound that I attribute to interference. However, my RCAs and speaker wires run up the passenger side of the car, while the power wires run up the driver's side. They do not come close to each other until they hook into the amps. I have some of that plastic, ribbed insulation around the power wires in the engine bay and also around all the speaker wires and power wires by where they hook into the amp, yet the sound is still there.

So I'm beginning to think the sound isn't from the power wires, but from some other wiring on the passenger side. Does anybody know what, if any, wires normally run up the passenger side that might interfere with the RCAs/speaker wires?

Does anybody else know what could be causing the interference?

Thanks for any advice you might provide.

Chickan

iTrader: (12)

http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=270%2D054
or possibly
http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=270%2D051

Though the first one is your better bet. Sounds to me like it is flat alternator whine.

BRINKLEY

iTrader: (4)

you might also try moving your grounds on your head unit and amp, make sure if there is any paint under you ring terminal, you scrape it off to bare metal. Where is your power wires run to? If they run to the fuse box, you might try another fuse, your amp should be direct to your battery with a fuse.

josehernandez94

I've regrounded both the head unit and both amps. I scraped the hell out of the paint under the ring terminals used to ground the amps. Both amps are directly run to the battery, with in-line fuse holders.

cumbaj

If the noise increases when the RPM's increase then it is probably alternator noise.
Depending on the quality of the head unit and amplifier, this may be unavoidable.

You should run the RCA signal cables separate from the speaker wires (running the RCA cables down the middle of the vehicle and speaker wires along the passenger side)or at some point cross them at 90 degrees to see if the interference can be 'cancelled' out.

You could also try to get RCA signal cables with a ground shield (shield only at one end).

Tony Fernandes

Please describe the method you used to ground the amps and head unit. What size wires did you use?

Tony

josehernandez94

I didn't actually reground the head unit, I had some do it for me. But the whine wasn't present after the head unit was regrounded.

When I regrounded the amps, I actually used the same wires (both 8 gauge, for 8 gauge power wires) and I ran them to the center of the top part of the trunk. I scraped the hell out of the paint underneath the ring terminals, just as I had done for the original grounding.Basically, the ground goes to right in front of where the trunk lid becomes flush with the body of the car.

Again, the static sound isn't the issue at this point. Hell, I can live with a faint static at low volumes, I just won't be a perfectionist anymore. It's the damn engine whine, never before present, that's killing me now.

Tony Fernandes

I'm a little confused. You said the whine has been present ever since your system was in, yet now you're saying it wasn't present after the HU was regrounded? When did it start? Has it ever NOT whined?

Tony

josehernandez94

Yeah, I haven't done a good job explaining. There was an incredibly, incredibly small whine (barely noticeable at all and only if I really stepped hard on the gas) before I regrounded the amps and replaced the speaker wires. Ever since I did the regrounds and replaced the speaker wires (last Saturday), the whine is constant and loud. As soon as the ignition is started, it's present and quite audible. It gets worse when I put my foot on the gas and at low volumes almost drowns out the music. As I said, this was definitely not the case before.

So just to summarize, since I've done a sh!tty and confusing job so far:
Before Saturday:
My only complaints were a very, very, very light engine whine only audible when the gas was pressed down hard and only at low volumes along with a very light static noise that could only be heard at low volumes.

To fix:
I had the head unit regrounded; regrounded both amps to a single, central ground; replaced some speaker wire.

Since this all occurred:
The head unit was regrounded first and the engine whine was essentially nonexistent. However, after I regrounded both amps using the original grounding wires and doing a good job scraping the paint out from underneath the ring terminals, I noticed an incredibly loud engine whine, present with or without acceleration and worsened with acceleration. It's loud enough that it's almost painful to listen to.

Hope this explanation helps.

Tony Fernandes

Hmm. Sounds fairly simple to me. Change your grounds again until the noise goes away, starting with your amps.

Tony

BRINKLEY

iTrader: (4)

I agree with Tony, keep moving your grounds.