bogelo Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 Another quick question... is a ground loop isolator going to fix my whole problem? I do have a constant hum that comes from somewhere in the engine and the headlights and other components, but i also have the alternator whine and clicking when I shift to reverse and whatnot. Will a ground loop isolator take care of all of this? I'm basically having a hard time figuring out what is causing the noise. If it is a ground loop feedback problem, why am I getting noises other than just a consistent buzzing? My understanding is that what happens is that two audio devices have different grounding potentials (on their actual power lines) so because of this difference, a current flows down the grounding wire of my RCA cables to try to compensate. So wouldn't this just cause a consistent buzz and not pick up headlight noise and everything else?I'm beginning to hate analog....←It'll take care hum and whine. Just curious, what kind of RCA cable do you use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tboyko Posted October 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 Stinger hyper series interconnect is the RCA cabling I am using. I'm running out to purchase two ground loop isolators right now, we'll see what they do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tboyko Posted October 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 oops, double posted... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tboyko Posted October 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 I just purchased the ground loop isolators from radioshack. They do indeed eliminate almost all of the buzz coming from the system. Unfortunately, they take almost all except the high frequency sound out of my music so that I generally do not even hear vocals any longer.Looks like I'm going to have to find the actual source of my problem.Also, while listening to my music today with my car off and everything off except for my audio components, i realized that even the sound of my cd laser motor is picked up through the amp...of course this is probably grounding once again, but i just found it interesting that even when i was getting no buzz from anythign else, that still was occurring...Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can troubleshoot my problem further? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogelo Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 I just purchased the ground loop isolators from radioshack. They do indeed eliminate almost all of the buzz coming from the system. Unfortunately, they take almost all except the high frequency sound out of my music so that I generally do not even hear vocals any longer.Looks like I'm going to have to find the actual source of my problem.Also, while listening to my music today with my car off and everything off except for my audio components, i realized that even the sound of my cd laser motor is picked up through the amp...of course this is probably grounding once again, but i just found it interesting that even when i was getting no buzz from anythign else, that still was occurring...Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can troubleshoot my problem further?←Check and make sure steady 12+ and ignition 12+ don't get mixed up (if they mix up your HU still working but it doesn't get the voltage that it needs to power the HU, thus the noise maybe created). The ignition 12+ voltage should be less than steady 12+. Also check the voltage on the ground(-) on the wiring of the Headunit, you might neeed a new ground for your headunit.Do you have the original Volvo Headunit or another Headunit? If so, you can try connect it to your amp and lets see what happens. Don't use IPOD because it's not connected to the ground. If it works, then your headunit is bad. If above fails then ufortunately you have a big electrical problem in your car. Your amp can't be bad because you have tested with an IPOD and it was okay.Don't ever use a GLI (Ground Loop Isolator) unless you don't have any other options (I think I said it before somewhere). Don't put more than 2 GLIs since your amp is a 4-ch (I used scosche GLI and it worked well on my client' car, available at wal-mart). Lastly, put the GLIs to the amplifier side, not to the HU side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tboyko Posted October 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 Check and make sure steady 12+ and ignition 12+ don't get mixed up (if they mix up your HU still working but it doesn't get the voltage that it needs to power the HU, thus the noise maybe created). The ignition 12+ voltage should be less than steady 12+. Also check the voltage on the ground(-) on the wiring of the Headunit, you might neeed a new ground for your headunit.Do you have the original Volvo Headunit or another Headunit? If so, you can try connect it to your amp and lets see what happens. Don't use IPOD because it's not connected to the ground. If it works, then your headunit is bad. If above fails then ufortunately you have a big electrical problem in your car. Your amp can't be bad because you have tested with an IPOD and it was okay.Don't ever use a GLI (Ground Loop Isolator) unless you don't have any other options (I think I said it before somewhere). Don't put more than 2 GLIs since your amp is a 4-ch (I used scosche GLI and it worked well on my client' car, available at wal-mart). Lastly, put the GLIs to the amplifier side, not to the HU side.←I would assume that if I had the power wires backwards, that my head unit would not keep its setting stored (i actually had this problem early on before I had an amp). Volvo includes two steady power wires and two grounds on my car for some reason. I tried swapping between all of them. I also tried running a new power and new ground from the battery (and put the ignition power to the new power as well) but it made no difference. I tried switching in a new headunit of the same model and it made no difference. I guess i could try someone elses headunit, like a different brand, but i seriously doubt that it would make a difference, and creating a wire harness for it would be a huge pain.The voltage potential between the ground and the shell of the car is always too small for my voltmeter to pick up, both for the headunit and the amp, so I haven't been able to figure out anything there. I have also tried testing the difference in voltage between the outer RCA ground and the ground of the car, always too small once again to detect.The ground loop isolators that I got from radioshack I attached immediately before the amp, so everything was done properly. Someone from MTX recommended I run a new four guage cable from the amp to my battery of my car, but he said it probably wouldn't make a difference, just an idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogelo Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 U can try this instead of running the ground cable all the way to the trunk: either drill or solder a new ground cable from the battery to the car' body. You might have some loose connection because you were saying that the ground voltage is small to be picked up.What year is your car? any rust on the body? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tboyko Posted October 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 U can try this instead of running the ground cable all the way to the trunk: either drill or solder a new ground cable from the battery to the car' body. You might have some loose connection because you were saying that the ground voltage is small to be picked up.What year is your car? any rust on the body?←I could check the mount between the battery and the car battery...I would assume it is pretty good though if I'm not having any power issues with my amp etc...I meant that the difference between my ground voltage on most wires and the ground of the vehicle chassis is too small to detect, as it should be... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogelo Posted October 11, 2004 Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 I could check the mount between the battery and the car battery...I would assume it is pretty good though if I'm not having any power issues with my amp etc...I meant that the difference between my ground voltage on most wires and the ground of the vehicle chassis is too small to detect, as it should be...←Check voltage between your battery (+) and (-), then compare it to the electrical steady 12+ and put the (-) to the the ground (any ground). It should be the same or you have some kinda resistance in ur electrical system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tboyko Posted October 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 11, 2004 Well, I think I finally found the problem. You guys are going to laugh. I was at radio shack looking for a head unit power filter and decided to pick up a pair of RCAs...I guess it was the last thing I really tried swapping out of my setup. Well, the power filter did nothing, but the RCAs..well, looks like that was the problem. I guess there was some sort of shielding problem with the RCAs, but it only surfaces when the RCAs are connected between two devices both being powered by the car. New RCAs are on the way and I will be sure to declare victory once I have them fully installed and working! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogelo Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 Well, I think I finally found the problem. You guys are going to laugh. I was at radio shack looking for a head unit power filter and decided to pick up a pair of RCAs...I guess it was the last thing I really tried swapping out of my setup. Well, the power filter did nothing, but the RCAs..well, looks like that was the problem. I guess there was some sort of shielding problem with the RCAs, but it only surfaces when the RCAs are connected between two devices both being powered by the car. New RCAs are on the way and I will be sure to declare victory once I have them fully installed and working!←Glad you found the problem. I told u it was the RCA Get monster cable 201XLN (they have thick insulator) or maybe stick with radio shack RCA cables Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tboyko Posted October 12, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 Glad you found the problem. I told u it was the RCA Get monster cable 201XLN (they have thick insulator) or maybe stick with radio shack RCA cables Good luck.←I'm returning my old ones and getting a fresh pair, stinger hyper series. I like em because it comes with four rcas bundled into one cable so it works well with my four channel setup. I'll tell you how it goes once I get them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogelo Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 I'm returning my old ones and getting a fresh pair, stinger hyper series. I like em because it comes with four rcas bundled into one cable so it works well with my four channel setup. I'll tell you how it goes once I get them!←Monster has one too. If the stinger doesn't work, you might want to give monster a try. But I wish your new stinger works well.Monster 4-ch cables Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tboyko Posted October 15, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 IT WORKS.turns out the RCAs were bad all this time. now i'm tempted to start up a sub setup. why can't I just be content with what I have? I'm considering one solid 12" with an amp to drive it...any suggestions, or why I should do somethign different? I don't want to take up too much trunk space.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogelo Posted October 15, 2004 Report Share Posted October 15, 2004 IT WORKS.turns out the RCAs were bad all this time. now i'm tempted to start up a sub setup. why can't I just be content with what I have? I'm considering one solid 12" with an amp to drive it...any suggestions, or why I should do somethign different? I don't want to take up too much trunk space....←If you don't have a sub, its not complete. If you are into SPL, rockford, mmats, orion HCCA will be a good choice. If you are into SQL, image dynamics IDQ, JL Audio W3, xtant hex will be a good choice. There are many good amp brands for ur sub, such as: zapco, rockford, mmats, orion HCCA etc.12" in a sealed/ported box will not be enough, IMO. If you want 1 solid 12", try to use bandpass box. You can always make a custom sealed box for 2 12" (depends on the sub you're getting) at the back of your seat, thus it doesn't take up your trunk space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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