I just started hearing noise from my alternator yesterday, in which I've not heard it before. My amp is a Kicker 550.3, and I've had lots of class A/B amps in this car (1993 Toyota Camry) with no noise. I've had the 550.3 in my car for a couple of months now, but just heard the noise yesterday. I hear noise that's kind of like a fast, steady tick when the car is off and key turned to acc, when I crank my car up I hear the alternator whine and it is extremely loud(have to turn music up halfway to hear it). I don't think it's the ignition because it happens when it's turned to ACC(the coil is not hot then)I'm not sure what it is, maybe battery, or diodes gone bad, but with your experience I thought you may have seen it before.
Anonymous
Posted on
By the way, I forgot to mention, the RCA's are on the opposite side of the power wire, and I unplugged them from the amp, the noise went away, although I'm not sure if unplugging them totally disables the amp or not. If it is the RCA's, do you think it's the head unit? Nothing's changed, not even the head unit ground, which worked fine with the other amps. The other amps were a JL 300/2 and a JL e4300, in case that'll change anything
double check ground for the amplifier, and head unit.. make sure one didn't come loose. Make sure the grounding is to a good sanded bare metal chassis point. If it's not a ground loop, check the amplifier gains. if gains are set too high, it'll cause what you're hearing. Last resort could be a bad amp or head unit that may need to be serviced.
you could take a spare set of RCA cables and bypass each pair in the car to make sure its not a bad cable as well.. just to be sure.
Anonymous
Posted on
Ok, It DOESN'T happen when ACC is on,when ACC is on everything is normal, sorry. So I think that means the amp is ok. One thing I forgot to mention, I jumped a friend off the other day, that might have caused the alternator diodes to have some damage. Having that checked is pretty cheap. I'll try that first. I've already checked the amp ground, even cut it as short as possible, down to 8 inches, and resanded the connection point to the point where it's shiny, it's solid. I'll look at the head unit after checking the alternator.
Anonymous
Posted on
Ok, see what you think now, Glasswolf. The first amp gave out and smoke spat out, so I had it replaced, now to the problems, ALL of the symptoms. NO noise when ACC is on, when it is to on, I hear a buzzing sound, when the engine is running, alternator whine. removing the RCA's from the amp shuts it up, removing from head unit shuts it up.When I adjust the gain on the amp, it quiets when turned down, and vice versa. Wire is 4 ga. I double checked both grounds and they're solid. moved the power wire around to no avail. No wires are frayed, fuses are all fine and solidly connected, speaker wire connections are tight, I moved the power wire further away from the ignition, and double checked the coil,distributor, and spark plug wires, they're fine, nothing changed, spark plug wires are shielded. Amp still makes sound, but now after testing on the road, when I stopped (stopped kinda fast) It made weird noise and went back and forth from protection to power, while the head unit was still running the rear speakers perfectly(The box did not move, and there is no ground or metal that the amp could have touched when I stopped). Also, took the amp off the rack and moved it thinking (or hoping) it may be getting interference from the antenna or something, with it tilted it made the same noise that it did when the first amp fried, yet all power wire etc. were connected perfectly. I just picked up the new amp 2 days ago, although it's possible that it's a fluke, I've got friends who have never had a problem with Kicker. Alternator seems to be fine, haven't had a chance to run a voltmeter across it. but it doesn't struggle at all, it's the same as it ever was, it can drive the amp, run AC and all 4 windows, and headlights on high beam at the same time w/o problems (factory 80 amp). Battery also seems fine. I'm led to the point that I think it's the amp, but i'm not sure, saying both ones have had the same symptoms, and the fact that it started after jumping a friend off(jumper cables WERE hooked up right, did them myself).
your gains are too high, or you may need suppression cables for your plugs. you could also try a ground loop isolator on the head unit. They sell them at radio shack. prices vary, but not too much coin for one.
Anonymous
Posted on
I figured out the problem. The gains weren't the problem, as the noise was always there, just louder the higher the setting, it never went away. The preamp inputs of the amp (new amp I might add) were not getting ground. If I ground the inputs, the noise completely goes away, and music is crystal clear. Does this ground come from the cables or the amp?
should come from the amp. it was a ground issue.. like I initially suggested.
Anonymous
Posted on
Thanks for your help. So do you think the amp is bad, or do you think that I just need to upgrade/relocate the amp's ground wire?
jimmy6868
Unregistered guest
Posted on
hey guys .... question about amp hookup - alt noise... lots of noise through the speakers when amp's on ... coaxial running from amp, but no hook up for it on the cd player...cut ends off, hooked up the center, to speaker wire, plays, but hook up speaker ground, and the protection red comes on the amp. also hearing lots of noise through the speakers of what sounds like the cd motor?...without the amp, cd plays fine, etc, no noise
sounds like the amp has a bad solder point inside, which is causing that bad ground.. it's probably fixable pretty easily.
jimmy, ground loop.
Anonymous
Posted on
I'll run it back to the shop and see about getting a new one. Thanks.
Anonymous
Posted on
Shop wanted to charge $45 an hour for "troubleshooting" since they think I'm a total idiot and think it's not the RCA's, after telling them everything. The amp is discontinued, but I assessed the problem myself and found that the head unit's ground for the RCA's had disconnected, so I got in there, soldered a new wire, now everything is perfect, Ahh sounds soooooo much better. Thanks for all the help Glasswolf.