Trying to get rid of some ground loop noise in the system. Thinking of changing ground location. Right now the ground is drilled into the round metal bar under the A/C vent. This was doen by the shop that originally installed the system. Any better place to ground?

 

If you are running amplifier(s) then just run the ground wire from your deck to the same location that the amp's are grounded to. That usually will eliminate the whining noise. Also, you might want to make sure that your alternator isn't going bad. Put a volt meter on the battery while it's running and make sure it's still getting cood current...

 

Whoa! That's a long grounding point, depending on where the amps are grounded. Grounding points should be short as possible with good metal contact. Ground loops are usually caused by bad grounding points interfering with other components. Grounding the headunit to another piece of metal is optional. Formor, if you use the ground wire from the headunit harness, you should be fine. It's probably the amps causing your loops. Try grounding your amps in different locations with bare metal (sand away any paint). This should do away with the loops. I usually find a good grounding point on the back seat frame. I never experienced any noise entering in the system.

 

thanks guys for the replies. I was thinking the same thing with the ground cable being long, all the way to the trunk. I only started to get this once I upgraded to 0 gauge. I made excellent connections and have my amp ground coming from the rear seatbelt bolt, everything sanded down nice and shiny. the 0 gauge is fed into the trunk to a distro block. I was cheap and reused my distro block that was originaly equipped to handle 4 gauge in and 8 gauge out. But now the system is 0 gauge in and 4 gauge out. I simply stripped some strands out and electical taped the edges to make the neat and made them fit into the smaller holes of the distro block. Could this be the culprit? I would not think that it would make a difference. I also went behind th head unit to rearange the wiring thinking that might help. My original system was put in by a stereo shop, and then I gained knowledge and have learned to do this stuff myself as I upgraded components through the years on the car. I used to have th bose system, and they simply spliced the wires into the harness. The did however make a separate ground which i have kept from HU to HU that I have changed out through the years. I am really stumped and agrivated. With the lights on and the A/C it can be annoying to listen to the system at low volume. Everyone thinks its not a big deal, but it is to me LOL. I want it GONE!

 

Mine has just started making a noise only when the A/C is on as well. It has been fine for a year, but for about 3 weeks now it has started this whining crap.

 

I know grounds should be as short as possible. But what I suggested is a long time known cure for system whine. Running a ground wire from the deck to the amp's yes is long, but that doesn't mean that you can't also keep a short grounding point behind the deck also. It's pretty much the same theory that alot of high current amp's use. Where they suggest to not only have a short ground under 12" but to also run a second ground directly back to the battery.

 

I'm gonna try the grounding directly to the battery when I have the chance. I dunno what is going on with my system. I dont get how mine, like blk2blu's system can be okay for a year, and then all of the sudden start whining. The whine is pretty under control with no lights or a/c. when they are both on, it can get quite annoying. Other than that my system sounds godly. i ask again if anybody knows, can splicing down the wire to a smaller gauge just to connect to a smaller distro block create whine? I really dont see how, since the whole block is "alive". WTF.

 

i have mine grounded to a metal bar in the center console i unbolted a gold bolt and it works fine.. I dont have any interference, i would check how close your rcas are to your power wire. Also check to make sure you have good rcas that can actually help prevent interference.