Why do I suck? Why can't I get it to work?

[Dirty Rockstar]

Gettin rather upset here.. Workin on installing a Kenwood CD deck, some 8" subwoofer, and an Alpine amp.. I cant get the amp to power on.. I have it (As far as I can tell) hooked up right.. Got the heavy gauge power coming off the battery, going into the fuse block, then into the distribution block to drop it to a smaller gauge wire.. I sanded down to the bare metal, and grounded it out.. THe remote power lead is installed, and done right.. WHY WONT IT POWER ON? Damn pile of shit.. Maybe I should just go have ot done by someone who doesnt suck at this.. I quit..

[cizin]

well this is my sorta specialty... do you have a volt meter? If you do check if you have power on the positive from the battery and the remote on. That's where I would check first. Don't quit, the fun part is when it doesn't work.

[DiscoStudd]

well this is my sorta specialty... do you have a volt meter? If you do check if you have power on the positive from the battery and the remote on. That's where I would check first. Don't quit, the fun part is when it doesn't work.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Remember to check your fuses also...

[maybe2fast]

it my not be grounding enough!

[Dirty Rockstar]

Enough?! WTF?Yad think bare metal to the grounding cable woudl be..

[CougarNut]

USUALLY, and I say that in caps for a reason, your ground wire should be the same gauge as your power wire. Make sure the ground is TIGHT. Also trace the remote wire back, make sure you didn't snag it on any edges or something sharp, just a little puncher will ruin your day...

[glock19]

There is a difference between ground and a piece of metal in the trunk. You may have sanded it but it may not have a good connection to the chassis.

 

You need a voltmeter or test light to figure it out. Just follow the 5 simple steps below. I wrote the instrutions with a test light, but if you are using a voltmeter, just replace clip with - of volt meter and the instructions stay the same.

 

1. Clip the test light to ground (a good ground with no paint, like the seatbelt bolt or something, run a jumper cable to the - trminal of the battery if necessary) and probe the wire on the + terminal (of the amp). If the light lights up go to step 2. If not figure out what is broken with the power wire.

 

2. Clip the test light to the - terminal of the amp and probe the + terminal of the amp. If the light lights up then goto step 3. If not figure out what is wrong with the ground connection.

 

3. Turn on stereo, clip test light to - terminal of the amp and probe the remote wire. If the light goes on goto step 4. If not figure out what is wrong with the remote wire.

 

4. Check the fuse(s) in the amp. Make sure they are not blown or missing.

 

5. Make sure the chassis of the amp is not touching metal of the car.

 

If it still don't work, it is fuxord...

 

Let me know what happenes.

 

Glock

[stockgp]

OR, you could just run a wire from the battery to the remote terminal and see if that turns on the amp. or hell, if you have a spare battery just hook the amp directly up to that see if it turns on.