CD/Stereo woes

[Matt Harper]

I bought a fairly budget cd/tuner for my old smoker Bayliner Trophy. I installed it yesterday. There were two power feeds from the unit (red to ignition switch, yellow to batt - for memory). I could not find a live feed from the tangle of spagetti under the driver console, so I took a direct feed straight off of the batt + to the red wire. The unit power light came on, but it wouldn't do anything. In desperation/frustration I spliced the yellow wire into the same live feed and BINGO - the unit came to life! Just as I was packing my tools away, the whole lot shut down - no power at all to the unit - but, both fuses (in-line in red and yellow wires) are intact. <br />I think I may have missed something basic (as I'm sure you can tell, I'm no electrician) - or have I just grenaded the stereo? There is no amp and just a pair of JVC speakers.

 

[vipzach]

Re: CD/Stereo woes

On most car stereos, the yellow is a constant 12v, for memory and the red is a 12v switched power. You can hook both to either switched or constant and the stereo still work. Where is the stereo grounded at, it has to be grounded and not just through the antenna. Do you have a volt meter or test light? If so, check and see if you have 12v to your stereo (at the point where yu spliced in the wire) and ohm through the fuses to see if they are good.

 

[MajBach]

Re: CD/Stereo woes

Sounds like vip is on the money. I only have the red wire on my boat stereo hooked up. But be aware: unless you wire this into the ignition, your stereo will constantly draw power - even when off. My stereo typically drains my starting battery in under two weeks - sometimes sooner. I either such the batteries off with an isolation switch ot remove the face plate on the stereo so that it only draws memory power.

 

[Matt Harper]

Re: CD/Stereo woes

Thank you for the prompt replies gentlemen - much appreciated.<br />The ground wire is attached to the bracket supporting the back of the unit - and this is screwed to the console. I must admit, I did worry about the integrity of the ground wire. Still - I can't figure why it worked - and then quit. I'd have thought that if the ground was dodgy, it would not have worked at all - but like I said, I'm no 'sparky'.<br />I'll re-check the in-line fuses - can you advise a better grounding point for the stereo?<br />I'm not so concerned about the stereo discharging the battery - I pull the negative on the batt when the boat is on the trailer.