Aftermarket Amp

biorchang · 01-25-2009, 05:22 PM

Hi all.

So I had to replace my battery. After I did so, I was no longer getting any sound from my speakers, but the radio appeared to be functional.

The previous owner had an aftermarket amp installed. I checked the fuse and it is good...checked for power and nothing...nada.

It looks like he had custom thick wiring...one lead goes straight to the battery..not sure about the other one.

The question is: Is there a common place that sound installers would tap into for power? I am thinking that the hot lead is tapped in somewhere...and hopefully the inline fuse there is blown.

It is behind the passenger seat...so I am going to have to tear out a lot of stuff to trace it down....just thought I would ask first in case there was some common place that I should look first.

Thanks...and later.

Ben · 01-25-2009, 05:26 PM

With an aftermarket amp running a power wire straight to the battery, the best place to mount the fuse is as close to the battery as possible. I would start tracing the wire at the battery and move backwards towards the cabin.

biorchang · 01-25-2009, 05:50 PM

That's just it. The wire that goes to the battery was installed on the negative terminal. It did not make sense to me either, but it always worked before

I am wondering if the Alpine head unit actually sends power to the AMP....and maybe an inline fuse on the way is dead....

Ah...good times...good times....

chrisfromnh · 01-25-2009, 07:24 PM

ok... so what you need to do first is have the wire that is coming directly from the battery(make sure there is a fuse on it as close to the battery as possible) connect that wire to the terminal on the amp that is labeled as "+12" or however it is labeled meaning power. -then depending on the amp it may have a terminal labeled REM. this would plug into the REM line in the back of the radio.- then there would be either a negative(-) or a ground(gnd) terminal. if it is a negative terminal, plug it into the negative line from the back of your radio deck. if it is a ground terminal, ground it to a major metal section of your car or to the ground wire of your radio. if you have two seperate terminals (one negative and one ground) you can just connect the terminals together with a little U shaped piece of wire and then run a wire from the negative terminal to the negative wire in your radio deck.
-an alternate place to hook up the power line (+12) other than directly to the battery is to the power line of your radio. you may have to get a bigger fuse since you will be drawing more power but if you hook it up to the switched power line of you radio deck it wont drain your battery

-any questions just ask. ive done it a ton of times. the best way to ask is to Prvt msg me.

~chris

baktasht · 01-25-2009, 08:33 PM

If you're bored and want to drive to south austin, feel free to bring it by and I'll have a look. If someone miswired it we can reroute the wiring and get you back on track.

biorchang · 01-25-2009, 10:42 PM

I thought you were moving north to RR?

baktasht · 01-26-2009, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biorchang

I thought you were moving north to RR?

We were actually trying to move north to around Parmer or the Arboretum, but that one fell through. We ended up with a really nice place down south again.

01-25-2009, 05:22 PM	#1 (permalink)
biorchang 94 Turbo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,038 Thanks: 16 Thanked 52 Times in 51 Posts iTrader Rating: (9/100% )	Aftermarket Amp Hi all. So I had to replace my battery. After I did so, I was no longer getting any sound from my speakers, but the radio appeared to be functional. The previous owner had an aftermarket amp installed. I checked the fuse and it is good...checked for power and nothing...nada. It looks like he had custom thick wiring...one lead goes straight to the battery..not sure about the other one. The question is: Is there a common place that sound installers would tap into for power? I am thinking that the hot lead is tapped in somewhere...and hopefully the inline fuse there is blown. It is behind the passenger seat...so I am going to have to tear out a lot of stuff to trace it down....just thought I would ask first in case there was some common place that I should look first. Thanks...and later.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

01-25-2009, 05:26 PM	#2 (permalink)
Ben Same In The End Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Oceanside, CA / Reno, NV Posts: 4,022 Thanks: 18 Thanked 283 Times in 265 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (11/100% )	With an aftermarket amp running a power wire straight to the battery, the best place to mount the fuse is as close to the battery as possible. I would start tracing the wire at the battery and move backwards towards the cabin.

01-25-2009, 05:50 PM	#3 (permalink)
biorchang 94 Turbo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,038 Thanks: 16 Thanked 52 Times in 51 Posts iTrader Rating: (9/100% )	That's just it. The wire that goes to the battery was installed on the negative terminal. It did not make sense to me either, but it always worked before I am wondering if the Alpine head unit actually sends power to the AMP....and maybe an inline fuse on the way is dead.... Ah...good times...good times....

01-25-2009, 07:24 PM	#4 (permalink)
chrisfromnh drift Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Weare, NH Posts: 163 Thanks: 9 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Blog Entries: 2 iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	ok... so what you need to do first is have the wire that is coming directly from the battery(make sure there is a fuse on it as close to the battery as possible) connect that wire to the terminal on the amp that is labeled as "+12" or however it is labeled meaning power. -then depending on the amp it may have a terminal labeled REM. this would plug into the REM line in the back of the radio.- then there would be either a negative(-) or a ground(gnd) terminal. if it is a negative terminal, plug it into the negative line from the back of your radio deck. if it is a ground terminal, ground it to a major metal section of your car or to the ground wire of your radio. if you have two seperate terminals (one negative and one ground) you can just connect the terminals together with a little U shaped piece of wire and then run a wire from the negative terminal to the negative wire in your radio deck. -an alternate place to hook up the power line (+12) other than directly to the battery is to the power line of your radio. you may have to get a bigger fuse since you will be drawing more power but if you hook it up to the switched power line of you radio deck it wont drain your battery -any questions just ask. ive done it a ton of times. the best way to ask is to Prvt msg me. ~chris

01-25-2009, 08:33 PM	#5 (permalink)
baktasht EMSPowered.com Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 5,229 Thanks: 23 Thanked 161 Times in 138 Posts My Google Map iTrader Rating: (44/98% )	If you're bored and want to drive to south austin, feel free to bring it by and I'll have a look. If someone miswired it we can reroute the wiring and get you back on track.

01-25-2009, 10:42 PM	#6 (permalink)
biorchang 94 Turbo Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 1,038 Thanks: 16 Thanked 52 Times in 51 Posts iTrader Rating: (9/100% )	I thought you were moving north to RR?