Eltaco

In my pickup I had to cross the RCA's and power lead, but I made sure they crossed at 90 degrees. I also have my gain set on my amp at 50%, right were the pot "clicks". Granted my system requires more volume at the head unit to drive the amp, but I don't have noise.

wazzu_coug

Batman, ok, here are a couple things I've noticed. Don't use a ground loop isolator. It's the easy way out. Fix the actual problem.

Someone mentioned it earlier, but you've run your power and RCA cables down opposite sides, which is good, but then you have them crossing coming to the amp. Physically turn your amp around the other way to keep the power on the right side and the RCA's on the right. I've run both down the same side and have had no problems, so I doubt thats it. But it couldn't hurt.

Secondly, you've picked a bad spot for your ground. After you've fliped the amp, pick a spot farther left. The C piller or anywhere behind the rear interior pannels are better than the trunk floor pan. Make sure you are using self tapping metal screws. They will not back out (as you mentioned had happened before).

The reason you get the hiss even when the signal is off is because you have your remote wire connected to the wrong lead. meaning that your amp is turning on when your ACC, and not when the radio turns on. Simple fix.

ecko04

Yeah I figured I would read your ENTIRE post this time

x_Batman_x

iTrader: (3)

.... no the remote wire is defiantly correct, that's not the problem.

what do you guys think of using one of the strut tower bolts as a grounding spot?

ecko04

Honestly, if you're trying all this and you are still picking up noise I would begin to look at the amp as being the problem. If you've already done most if not all the steps we have posted here and still picking up noise then the problem could be a faulty amp more so than your installation. I would go ahead and try the ground loop isolator just to see if that fixes the problem in the interim.

x_Batman_x

iTrader: (3)

I'm also surprised that the RCAs could be the problem because they're $70 high quality JL Audio RCAs....

ecko04

Bad RCA's.......very low probability. I would hand the problem off to the amp before I said RCA's. An easy way to test is if you have a tone generator, simply test tone the RCA's at the HU and see if you have output without whine.

Yanki01

$70 RCAs? Good god, you should of went with KnuKonceptz for some good amp kits. You pay for the JL Audio name. Anywho, my ground is sanded to bare metal on the bolt that the baby seat should hook up to, I think that's what it's for? I'll get you a pic when I get home. Short ground and a sanded area is a must for best results. You did a good job on the amp work, nice and clean.

x_Batman_x

iTrader: (3)

Yeah actually all my wiring is JL Audio. Definatly pricey, but I will never have to replace them and I have peace of mind that they will not be a weak link in my system :-/

So anyways I rerouted the RCAs around the trunk so that they were no where near power cable.






I also moved the ground.

heres where it was mounted on the seat bolt:


and here is my new spot for it:


that spot was sanded and then I drilled the bolt in the picture and actually 2 additional screws just like in the video to ensure a good ground

I actually measured slightly less resistance at the seat bolt, but since I've already drilled 3 new holes, I think I'll leave it there...


Anyways it appears that THE ALTERNATOR WHINE IS GONE!!!!

I am so happy about this.

there is still a slight hiss or buzz butthat can really be attributed to the high gain setting more than anything else and its tolerable so meh


thanks for all your help everyone! I am so happy to be alternator whine-less :-)

although if anyone has any better ideas for grounding feel free to let me know incase I ever feel so inclined to seal up the holes and drill some more hah

x_Batman_x

iTrader: (3)

F*$& me! the alternator whine came back! oy im ____ed, I'm going to move the ground back to the seat bolt, any one with better grounding locations, please let me know....

ecko04

Dude its no more troubleshooting you can do. It is obvious the problem is not the ground. You can try a ground loop isolator but I am starting to lean towards the amp being the concern. If you have done everything listed in this thread, and it seems as if you have, there is not much left.

trialsindude

What kind of HU r u using?

x_Batman_x

iTrader: (3)

I'll call elemental designs tomarrow

Yanki01

im going to use your picture. this is where i grounded mine (left bolt) and before i had it somewhere else, cant remember where? i had the alternator whine aswell, once i re-grounded it here and sanded the hell out of it, the whine went away.

x_Batman_x

iTrader: (3)

OKAY HERE IS A VERY INTERESTING UPDATE:


I was really bothered by the fact that the whine was gone and then came back and I racked my brain trying to think if there were any other variables. As you can see in my pics I have the blue RCA cables hooked up to the A/B channels to run the components and I actually also had those silver RCA cables plugged in to the C/D channels to provide signal to the subwoofer, even though there isn't a sub to hook up yet. I realized that when I eliminated the whine, the silver RCA cables werent plugged in! I went out, unplugged em, and sure enough no whine!!

This is very strange especially since I had the subwoofer turned off at the head unit so no signal should have been going to the C/D channels anyway. But aside the point i havent a clue why having the cables plugged in or not regardless of actually having a signal or not would make a difference! I am very curious to see what happens when I actually get my sub to hook up.....

I will be sure to update when I drop the sub in but for now does any one have any input???

trialsindude

This is what I did:

Drilled a new hole for it and it was good to go....


JL audio grounding bolt

BZinn1

that is where my ground is also,get some dilectric grease from Autozone.......it is like .99c, and put it inbetween the screw and the mount and then tighten down and that iwll help keep corrosion from building up in time,especially during the winter moisture will get in car and your ground will start to get less contact due to corrosion,but being it is new that is most likely not the problem.

RCAs and power lines look good,did you route the speaker wires next to the power lines up to the doors,that can pull signal as well and give you taht wine.

x_Batman_x

iTrader: (3)

I actually moved the ground back to the seat bolt because the location I drilled stopped threading as I removed and rescrewed in the bolt several times during experimenting. Its reading 0Ohms of resistance between the negative terminal of my amp and another spot on the chasis so my ground is fine. Actually how do you reccomend I seal all the holes I've drilled to keep the spots from rusting? right now I have coated them with liquid electrical tape stuff but is there any thing else I should do? rust = nightmare


Also read my previous post, what do you make of that? hah




thanks again for the help all

BZinn1

You can use any liquid epoxy to seal the holes up,or silicone will work as well.

x_Batman_x

iTrader: (3)

does no one have any thoughts on my other post (2 ago)??