xBuRn09

Hey Everyone,
I've had my 09 xB going on 3 weeks now, It's been great so far.
I added a 10' sub & amp no problem with it.
I have a Asus EEE (mini pc) and an external Hard Drive for music and video.
(Both can run on battery power for awhile)
Anyway I have a power inverter, ran the power straight to the battery.
The problem is when I turn the inverter on & use the Aux for sound
there is distortion coming from the speakers.
I've bought a few other Inverters from $40-$75 same problem.
Can Anyone help solve this problem?
Thanks for your Time!

xseveredveganx

Where do you have the inverter grounded?

xBuRn09

It is grounded to the body under the passenger's seat.
I tried going direct through lighter plug in

xseveredveganx

But the inverter is powered directly to a fused cable to the battery +, correct?
Are you getting more of an alternator whine, or straight up overdriven distortion?
Aaaand last, but not least, are you getting this distortion to teh OEM speakers, or just the subwoofer you added?

xBuRn09

Yes it is fused.
I would say over driven distortion noise.
Only the Oem Speakers not the sub

xseveredveganx

But it doesn't make that sound when the inverter isn't connected to the devices, correct?
Weeeeeeird.

This is boggling my brain banana for sure. Only thing I can see is that the inverter is producing some kind of audible distortion.

xBuRn09

You are correct when the inverter is off All is Good.
I took it to the shop where I got the amp put in,
The installer said the 1st inverter was no good.
I bought 2 different 1's 2day the problem remains.

xBuRn09

I'm thinking of changing the battery, optima (maybe) as you can tell I'm trying to throw money at the problem but it hasn't gotten me anywhere.

IceMage

Four things come to mind:
1. Check you ground/find a better grounding point.
2. Lower the master volume on the Eee and/or check for new audio drivers.
3. Buy a DC-DC power supply (cheap inverters don't provide clean power).
4. Ground loop isolator

xBuRn09

Another point I forgot to mention when I turn the power to the inverter ON run the Aux wire without it connected to the pc the sound distortion can be heard I tried different wires too.

redline8k

try running the power to a different source (ie another car) and see what happens. Is the power wire close to the rca's for the sub? what type of radio do you have.(stock?)

xBuRn09

i tried powering everthing from AC current no problem. The power was run opposite of the RCA's the radio is stock premium unit.

buickid

The only thing I can think of is that the inverter is introducing electrical noise. Maybe the shop you mentioned can put their oscilloscope (that they should have for setting audio gains) to your electrical system and the inverter and playing around with things, ie. turning the inverter on/off, hooking it up directly to the battery terminals, try on a different car etc. If it is the inverter... then I guess you'll need some sort of choke coil or a new (better) inverter.
Good luck, electrical noise is never fun.

john08xb

Yea if it sounds like distortion then i think its the RCA's or PC.

The inverter would induce alternator whine or such..not distortation..
Are you sure the PC is working right?
Lower the volume on the PC..
I have a CarPC and its great..

Whispaz

^ i had the same prob and it was the RCA (for the Wii). Friend works at CC and he helped me out. we ended up just grounding the RCAs and the distortion went away

xBuRn09

Thanks for your help guys. I think it is alternator whine because when the pc is running on it's battery there's no whine. With that said what should I do about the alternator? Get a better battery?

buickid

Pretty much the only thing there is to do is make sure ALL your grounds are good.