Serious issue with my system. Help please!!!

[Tommy]

to run your stuff outside your car, you would need a hardcore strong AC-DC converter.

I guess if you had a good car battery, you could just hook the power directly to the battery, and run the remote turn on from there too, that should power up the amp.

[VVT-i Owns]

Disconnect your +ve terminal of your battery, using a wire make a connection between the Remote Wire terminal and the positive terminal of your amp. Reconnect battery.

If your amp turns on then your remote wire circuit is bad.

[Luc]

Originally Posted by DMDrew812

Nothing inside the head unit is gonna be the culprit? like, the fact that the 12v out is divided among 2 12v remote in's? I've never considered this so I dont know if it is possible that's a problem.

The 12V isn't "divided," it's shared and used only as a turn-on/-off switch. Only the current gets divided.

Originally Posted by DMDrew812

That, and slightly off topic, but is there a way to wire up an amplifier somewhere other than a car, using something other than a car battery? for example, if I wanted to use it on my shelf stereo, and use a DC adapter or something? i mean what does best buy use to test their shxx in the store?

Start a new thread, please don't hijack.

[Luc]

Originally Posted by DarkMastyr

The reason I didn't bring up what parts I have is because usually people are going to end up saying something like "oh your system is built from crap parts, so therefore it's crap. Buy new parts." which doesn't really help me at all.

Don't worry, if people start trash talking other people's equipment, whether old or new, I'll take care of them.

But there's definitely something not right with your electrical system. As others have stated, when the car is off, you should see at least 12.4V. Then when the car is running, at least 13.5V, which indicates that your alternator is working. It seems like your battery might have been deep cycled a bit, but not completely, since it reads 10.8V when off, and 11.4V when on. Kenwood amps usually have regulated power supplies, thus, you will be able to get power from them even at a low threshold voltage like yours. But because it's such a low voltage, you'll never get a high probability (95%) of it working normally.

For the Kenwood headunit, I'm surprised it doesn't have a separate amp and antenna turn on's, thus, you are left with the antenna up at all times. Just make sure you don't go through the automated car wash with the radio on.

Try this, get a set of jumper cables and have a friend's battery hooked up to yours, as if to jump your car. Measure the voltages when:

1) Both cars off.
2) His/her car on, yours off.
3) Both on.

Report back. As always, make sure you connect the positives first, connect ground cable to friend's ground battery terminal, and connect "your" ground cable to either the engine block or chassis of your car, DO NOT connect it to the ground terminal on your battery.

[DarkMastyr]

I will have a chance to do exactly that in a few days (currently very busy with some last minute things at college). I'll keep you guys all up to date as to what results I get. Hopefully the cheapest option will be that I'll just have to get a Yellowtop, but if it's the alternator, so be it.

BTW you guys rock!!!

[Pb]

If you're having a problem getting a remote turn-on wire you can just tap into your ignition wire (usually Red on the radio harness). Your amps won't turn off when you turn the radio off, but they will turn off when you turn your engine off.

Also, make sure you have good clean connections at the battery and where your ground wire is bolted down. Make sure your ground wire has good contact with metal. Scratch away the paint on the sheetmetal where it bolts down. Then make sure there isn't any corrosion on the battery terminals. Corrosion causes extra resistance.

If that doesn't work, have your alternator and battery tested. AutoZone and other car parts stores will do it for free.

[JohnCWms27]

if you run the remote turn-on wire to the ignition, or hot, wire on the radio harness (the one that is usually red), then it will be a constant power wire. this means that the amp will stay on if you turn your radio off or your engine off.

[DarkMastyr]

Alright guys, I managed to get another car's battery hooked up to mine to see if that was the issue, but unfortunately it turned out that it wasn't. The system still didn't turn on. So that prompted me to go through the entire system again with a multimeter to figure out what was wrong, and here are my results and conclusion.

Originally, I had tested the voltage of the car on/off AFTER the 4-gauge primary power wire, at the distributor block junction, and the readings were around 10.8V with the car off and 11.4V on. This was with the fuses in the distributor block removed. What I hadn't tested before was the voltage at the battery itself, which turned out to be perfectly fine (I think about 12.8V on, 14.4V off). Actually, upon additional testing, I found that the readings that I obtained at that particular junction were erratic and sometimes would agree with the battery voltage and sometimes it wouldn't, so my original values of 10.8/11.4 turned out to mean a whole lotta nothing. However, with the fuses in the distributor block in place (and therefore connecting the amplifiers), I detected only a voltage difference of approximately 1V between the power wire and the ground (chasse), which could only make sense if the amplifiers were shorted out. This clearly wasn't the case since I could leave the car alone for a week at a time with no battery drain whatsoever. Just to make sure, I ran another power wire from the battery and tested the voltage difference to the chasse, and the difference was perfectly normal at about 12.8V off. Doesn't that just baffle the mind?

So here's what I found out (and I feel dumb now saying this after my original post)... the primary fuse near the battery connected to the primary power wire was no longer working properly. This wasn't obvious, however, since visual inspection showed that the fuse was not blown. Also, the fact that I could measure a voltage difference after the fuse to the ground showed that the electricity was going through. In addition, the multimeter confirmed that the fuse could form a complete circuit. Upon removing the fuse completely from the holder, I could finally see a very, very small crack in the fuse (and I mean small). So I replaced the fuse, and voila the system is up and running again.

I'm not 100% sure why the fuse went bad, but I'm guessing there's a decent possibility that it was due to repeated heat/cool cycles from the engine bay combined with possible condensation from rainy days.

So there you go, all this trouble because the defective fuse wasn't "obviously" defective. I'm glad that I don't have to run out and spend $160+ on a Yellowtop, or worse, an alternator.

Thanks again to everyone for your helpful suggestions and comments.

[klaymen333]

ive had a fuse blow to where you couldnt visibly see that it was blown...
like you said... a fuse can break just from hot and cold cycles...add in a lot of constant vibration and its no surprise that they can fail for reasons other than too much draw.

fuse is the first thing you should replace if everything is not working
even if it looks fine
or better yet...pull the fuse out and put a tester to it...take the guess work out

ive spent 3 days doing the same thing man...turned out to be the stupid fuse...o well

[Knailgun]

fuse is a cheap fix...be thankful