Ground problem

ShockTherapy · Post by **ShockTherapy** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 9:52 am

I got around to working on my setup today and came across an annoying problem. I'm running a Z600c2SL to my components. I'm using a symbilink balanced transmitter and an 18ft cable. I keep getting this damn engine noise! I was able to move the transmitter around and the noise would stop for a few seconds. I thought "maybe it's the transmitter so I unhooked the symbilink cable, transmitter, etc,... then ran a temp rca straight to the back and I still had the damn engine noise! I made a better ground for my deck to ground to. I'm so damn frustrated! help me out please.

The Golden One · Post by **The Golden One** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:05 am

sometimes running all the grounds to the same spot is the solution but i dont like having long ground cables so i try to avoid that. also i would make sure that there are no signal cables running ether near or over your power wires they can pick up noise big time. and lastly i would make sure your spark plug wires are high suppression and in good condition sometimes they can be a source of noise.

Post by **ttocs** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:49 am

what kind of car? it doesn't have an upgraded ignition or anything does it?

I would normally try grounding the outer shield of the rca, or last ditch try I would run two wires back to your amps from the deck. Connect one to the amp ground and the other to the constant, this way the deck gets is power from the exact same place as the amps and hopefully avoid any noise.

Is the case for the transmitter resting on a metal ground? I have had that problem with line driver getting noise.

davewaibel · Post by **davewaibel** » Fri Aug 27, 2010 11:58 am

is it picking up noise from the crossover inductors- to close to the car computer? noise in both channels, or just right channel?

ShockTherapy · Post by **ShockTherapy** » Tue Aug 31, 2010 1:16 pm

davewaibel wrote:is it picking up noise from the crossover inductors- to close to the car computer? noise in both channels, or just right channel?

I have the symbilink balanced inline transmitter mounted with zip ties behind the glovebox... I can move it around and sometimes its super loud engine noise... then I move it a little more and it goes away. The wierd thing is that when the engine is off I get this high frequency sound that is there when the engine is off. I tried taking a ground from the deck to the ground block by the amps... did nothing.

I also tried taking out the transmitter and using a symbilink din to rca adapter and the noise was the same. This is frustrating! grrrr

Post by **kg1961** » Tue Aug 31, 2010 1:26 pm

what deck? let me guess pioneer Hu ..

ShockTherapy · Post by **ShockTherapy** » Tue Aug 31, 2010 2:23 pm

kg1961 wrote:what deck? let me guess pioneer Hu ..

Eclipse AVN-7000

Post by **kg1961** » Tue Aug 31, 2010 2:34 pm

have you tried to ground the rca cable out of the deck ? you got me sorry to here of the problem that sucks

ShockTherapy · Post by **ShockTherapy** » Tue Aug 31, 2010 8:08 pm

kg1961 wrote:have you tried to ground the rca cable out of the deck ? you got me sorry to here of the problem that sucks

I've never tried grounding the rca cable out of the deck. I did try the front and rear rcas and both had the noise. I will try the grounding of the rca and let you know. thank you all.

XJEDIX · Post by **XJEDIX** » Tue Aug 31, 2010 9:11 pm

are any of your hardware touching the same metal as ur grounds?looses up mounts to amps,eq,etc...see if it goes away!

Post by **Bfowler** » Tue Aug 31, 2010 9:13 pm

another thing that has caused me grief in the past is running my cables over the fuel pump.

ShockTherapy · Post by **ShockTherapy** » Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:26 pm

XJEDIX wrote:are any of your hardware touching the same metal as ur grounds?looses up mounts to amps,eq,etc...see if it goes away!

The amps are mounted to 3/4" mdf. I'm going to go out and check out the 200 amp stinger relay as well as bundling of the cables together.

Post by **ttocs** » Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:47 pm

what kind of car is this in.?

ShockTherapy · Post by **ShockTherapy** » Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:41 am

ttocs wrote:what kind of car is this in.?

99 Silverado Extended Cab - My personal vehicle.

alfabit1 · Post by **alfabit1** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 8:56 am

Bfowler wrote:another thing that has caused me grief in the past is running my cables over the fuel pump.

I've run into this issue (fuel pump) in the past. Man do I hate grounding problems, can drive you absolutely insane. To the OP - I feel your pain.

Post by **ttocs** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 9:25 am

I have seen a few issues where people upgraded their ignition/coil and caused noise no matter where you ran the cable or what you did..... msd always seemed to be the worst.

Post by **stipud** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 9:37 am

Try this: http://phoenixphorum.com/trouble-shooti ... vt178.html

tonym · Post by **tonym** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:18 pm

kg1961 wrote:what deck? let me guess pioneer Hu ..

whats the problem with pioneer head units?

let me guess you run kenwood?

Post by **kg1961** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:33 pm

tonym wrote:
kg1961 wrote:what deck? let me guess pioneer Hu ..
whats the problem with pioneer head units?

let me guess you run kenwood?

PIONEER HU decks are know to have noise from there RCA you need to ground the out side to the car for some reason
and sorry for the last 8-9 year high end clarion i have a dxz955mc before that hxd10 and dxz935 0r 925 and before that was cdxc90 sony than before that
Alpine 7949...

think that as far back as 1997
now amp you guys have seen what i change just in the last 2-3 year i have been on the forum let alone the last 10 years

tonym · Post by **tonym** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 12:35 pm

kg1961 wrote:
tonym wrote:
kg1961 wrote:what deck? let me guess pioneer Hu ..
whats the problem with pioneer head units?

let me guess you run kenwood?

PIONEER HU decks are know to have noise from there RCA you need to ground the out side to the car for some reason
and sorry for the last 8-9 year high end clarion i have a dxz955mc before that hxd10 and dxz935 0r 925 and before that was cdxc90 sony than before that
Alpine 7949... think that as far back as 1997
now amp you guys have seen what i change just in the last 2-3 year i have been on the forum let alone the last 10 years

Ive had pioneer since 93....never a problem with engine noise...ever...

Post by **ttocs** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:06 pm

don't run the cables with them plugged in. from what I understand it charges some capacitors and when you run the cables and eventually short them out it will pop a small fuse in the deck and cause noise. This has been a common problem of theirs for years.

Every shop I ever worked at carried pioneer and I have yet to buy one, never did like them compaired to other brands.

ShockTherapy · Post by **ShockTherapy** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 1:21 pm

stipud wrote:Try this: http://phoenixphorum.com/trouble-shooti ... vt178.html

Fantastic Information! Thank you very much! I will be working on my system tomorrow... this will be printed out and by my side.

ShockTherapy · Post by **ShockTherapy** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 7:35 pm

Ok so here's the deal. I spent some time dinking around with things earlier. I unplugged the symbilink cable from the amp and the noise went away... plugged it back in and noise is there.

This is the wierd thing...

I unhooked the left speaker wire from the amp and the noise went away... upon reconnecting it I connected the negative first and it was cool... then I connected the positive! LOUD humming til it was screwed down... then it just had a dull humm. I looked at the connections and realized that the left speaker wire was connected to the right terminal and vice versa. I got excited! could this be it??? so I connected the right speaker wire to the right terminal of the amp, no noise.... then I tried to connect the left speaker wire... Upon doing this it goes into protection right away. Maybe something on the left side is grounding out??? c'mon you friggin gurus... here anything familiar???

from what I'm hearing out of the right side this damn amp is a sq beast!

Wadayathink?

Post by **ttocs** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 8:13 pm

are your signal wires(rca) ran next to one of your x-overs?

ShockTherapy · Post by **ShockTherapy** » Thu Sep 09, 2010 8:22 pm

ttocs wrote:are your signal wires(rca) ran next to one of your x-overs?

the symblink is ran next to the crossover but when i connect the left speaker wire to the speaker strip of the amp it goes into protection mode. not sure how running the cable next to the crossover could do that. im going to check it out... oh wait! i did clamshell the crossovers together on the left side and zip tied the speaker wires together from both crossovers right after they left the terminals... maybe i have the negatives and positives touching somehow???? dammit! I'll check in the morning. any other suggestions?