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motherfuckin son-of-a-bitch alternator noise


pwmin

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so, i decided i needed to run wires for an amp to supply my dash and door speakers since the amped 6x9's were drowning them out. i ran new speaker wires, an rca that i had lying around to the back, used the 8 gauge wire i already had and a ground loop isloator that i had from the out on one amp to the in on the new amp just to try it out. everything was fine. i then ordered a 4ga wiring kit and 2m rca to replace the GLI. when i hooked everything up, i got some alternator noise. i ran the power cable on the driver side and all the others on the passenger side (rca's, remote turn-on, and speaker wires).

 

i tried everything i could think of. that includes trying 3 different amps running each of the 6 speakers separately, using the different rca's, separating all the wires the best i could, etc. the 4-channel RF amp seems to run everything okay w/ the monster XLN 201 cable but gets noise when i run the radio shack rca's. so, i concluded from that that i need some better rca's to run the other 2 channels. however, im still getting noise w/ the 2-channel RF amp and the lightning audio amp that didnt give me any problems before when i was running it for just the 6x9's. i had both RF amps in the camaro w/ no problems using all monster 301XLN interconnects.

 

im going to get a new set of rca's tomorrow. the rca's i was using for the out on the 4-channel to the in on the 2-channel running the 6x9's are streetwires zero-noise 7, but im getting some noise when i run them but it goes away when i just use the monsters. any suggestions on what else i should try? i think im going to go to ultimate electronics tomorrow and get a 4-channel set of monster 201 or 301 and use the 2-channel set i have to run from the out on the 4-channel to the in on the 2-channel.

 

wtf is going on, lol. i have the worst fucking luck w/ alternator noise. i have magnecor 8.5mm wires, which are supposed to be excellent for eliminating alt noise, but im probably going to try using the old wires i have just to make sure its not them.

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At least your power locks/ dont lock and unlock and dome light turn on when you hit the brakes.. lol.. (ground Problem) and it has something to do with the head unit... hummm

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re-ground your amp. grind off some paint somewhere and run a self tapping screw into the bare metal. if you have more than one amp, ground them all to the same spot

i drilled a hole in the metal frame behind the rear seat and scraped the paint off just like i did in my 96, so i doubt thats the problem, but it did forget to try regrounding it.
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the best spot ever is the strut mount stud.

 

try some JL audio interconnects. I had some noise that completely dissapeared and never came back after I got those.

 

of course the old ones had coiled up slack near a power cable which is a big no no.

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For the alternator noise, isn't there a filter that goes on the battery wire that's suppose to supress the noise? I think it's called a floating ground? It's been several years since I messed with car audio. I used to have a Yamaha head unit with a few ADS amps. Sure wish I had them today...Some of the wiring was sheilded. If you can get hold of sheilded wires, be sure to ground the sheild. Unsheilded wire will pick up RF noise. Which is something else you mention. If you suspect ignition wires or plug interference, or high powered CB fanatics in your area. The only way to keep it out of your speakers is sheilding.

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if your rcas are coiled up near the power wire there is nothing that shielding can help.

 

crossing paths with the power wire is ok.

 

running along side of the power wire is not. or crossing paths at multiple points is not ok either.

 

you can have them meet for an inch or two or have them cross paths once but after that you will get interference. think of the power wire as a magnet with a magnetic field. even with it an inch away can keep it from interfering. the field quickly diminishes within inches of the power wire.

 

the better they are the more they will resist interference. however they will still be affected. the electrical powerfield will warp the signal in the rca.

 

For the alternator noise, isn't there a filter that goes on the battery wire that's suppose to supress the noise? I think it's called a floating ground? It's been several years since I messed with car audio. I used to have a Yamaha head unit with a few ADS amps. Sure wish I had them today...Some of the wiring was sheilded. If you can get hold of sheilded wires, be sure to ground the sheild. Unsheilded wire will pick up RF noise. Which is something else you mention. If you suspect ignition wires or plug interference, or high powered CB fanatics in your area. The only way to keep it out of your speakers is sheilding.

 

that was some bad ass equipment back about a decade ago. car audio has come a long way in the last few years.

 

the only filter I can think of for suppressing noise is a bandaid fix that hardly ever helps.

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ok, so i figured it all out. i got some 204 monster rca's. the radio shack rca's were making noise, but the new ones dont. the other problem was one of the amps. it never made noise in the camaro because i had it running subs on low pass. only when i turned it on high pass or all pass, would it make noise. thats at least the 3rd amp ive had that was bad like that. figures, one RF amp was fine and the lightning audio was fine, but the other RF amp was bad. guess its going back in the camaro and ill have to get another 4-channel for later. it has some pretty good bass, but i may end up running 2 8" subs free air where the 6x9's were or a good 12 or 15 in the trunk later on.

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  • 1 month later...

so' date=' i decided i needed to run wires for an amp to supply my dash and door speakers since the amped 6x9's were drowning them out. i ran new speaker wires, an rca that i had lying around to the back, used the 8 gauge wire i already had and a ground loop isloator that i had from the out on one amp to the in on the new amp just to try it out. everything was fine. i then ordered a 4ga wiring kit and 2m rca to replace the GLI. when i hooked everything up, i got some alternator noise. i ran the power cable on the driver side and all the others on the passenger side (rca's, remote turn-on, and speaker wires).

 

i tried everything i could think of. that includes trying 3 different amps running each of the 6 speakers separately, using the different rca's, separating all the wires the best i could, etc. the 4-channel RF amp seems to run everything okay w/ the monster XLN 201 cable but gets noise when i run the radio shack rca's. so, i concluded from that that i need some better rca's to run the other 2 channels. however, im still getting noise w/ the 2-channel RF amp and the lightning audio amp that didnt give me any problems before when i was running it for just the 6x9's. i had both RF amps in the camaro w/ no problems using all monster 301XLN interconnects.

 

im going to get a new set of rca's tomorrow. the rca's i was using for the out on the 4-channel to the in on the 2-channel running the 6x9's are streetwires zero-noise 7, but im getting some noise when i run them but it goes away when i just use the monsters. any suggestions on what else i should try? i think im going to go to ultimate electronics tomorrow and get a 4-channel set of monster 201 or 301 and use the 2-channel set i have to run from the out on the 4-channel to the in on the 2-channel.

 

wtf is going on, lol. i have the worst fucking luck w/ alternator noise. i have magnecor 8.5mm wires, which are supposed to be excellent for eliminating alt noise, but im probably going to try using the old wires i have just to make sure its not them.

[/quote']

 

 

run wires only on the drivers side. mabby your alt is taking a shit on you. run new wires to the deck

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  • 4 weeks later...

another way to help eliminate those odd alternator noises is go with a head unit with 4 or 5 volt outputs.....I had a turbo eclipse that was terrible for that untill I did. One good thing about that is that I did not need to look at my Tach, I could hear how fast I was goin through the stereo

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I only have a bit of noise through one side of my components. I've got it pretty much narrowed down that the external crossover was not properly shielded.

 

Better cables do always help, but wire routing and installation make a humongous part of it all.

 

Speaking of which, I've only had one or two vehicles in my install bay that the alternator noise could not be solved. Ran wire's outside of the vehicle, still noise. New headunit, still noise. Shortest ground possible, still noise. Move ground to a solid spot away from the fuel pump, still noise. I've even used several hundred dollar wire's, still noise. New amplifiers, still noise.

 

Yet the thing is, i've done many install's into this particular type of vehicle with absolutely no problems in the past. The thing is, there are just some vehicle's that have so much more background noise than others. And in all reality, if your picking up noise, there was definately some sort of problem before hand. It's just that with an amplifier, it's ampliying the actual problem.

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