Here is a small summary of the most common problems:
If your amplifier won’t turn on there are several possible reasons.
- There is no ignition live, check this with a multi meter.
- The amp has a blown fuse, or the inline fuse has blown.
- The amp may have gone into safety mode. This could be because your wiring is short-circuiting, or the speakers are damaged.
- There is no live feed
- The earth is not connected.
If your radio is forgetting its setting the most likely cause is that the wiring is backwards, or not connected properly.
Try switching the red and yellow wires; these should be live or permanent live. Check these with a multi meter before swapping them to avoid blowing fuses.
If this does not solve you problem it may be because a wiring adaptor is wrongly wired for your car. Try testing for which wires are live, ignition live, and earth.
Why are my speakers constantly buzzing?
There are a few possible causes for this. Some of them are very simple others are not.
I will start by listing the most simple, and giving solutions. If you try all of these and then get down to the bottom end of the list its likely one of them will sort you out.
- Are the RCA leads in contact with the Power Cable
Solution: re-route the wiring
2. Is the alternator causing interference?
Solution: Fit a ground loop isolator. This is basically a coil of wire, which hides interference. Be careful not to wrap this in other wires or place it on top of an amplifier, as this will make your original problem a lot worse.
3.How close are the amps to each other?
If you have more than one, try moving them as far away from each other as possible.
4. Are the RCA leads of significant quality to be used in a car?
It may be that whatever you do your RCA leads are going past an electronic device. Try upgrading to twisted RCA leads. Alternatively you can wrap the suspected areas with tin foil to stop interference from entering the wires.
5. Is the Earth cable touching pure metal?
Solution: Use a wire brush to clean up the surface that it is fixed to. Try to make it shiny metal. This way it will have the best possible connection.
6. Is this coming from the head unit?
Try another head unit. If this solves the problem then it is likely that your head unit has the earth tracking blown. A cheap solution to this is to joint wires from the outside of the RCA plug to the cage of the head unit. Alternatively you can get it repaired, but it can cost as much as 60 pounds, for a relatively simple job.
How did this happen to your radio?
Whenever you are playing around with your amps, u must remove the RCA leads first, and make sure that they are plugged in last after you finish working. If for example you remove the earth lead from your amplifier, it will earth through the RCA leads and blow the earth in your head unit.
If your speakers are crackling, they may be damaged, or the wiring leading to them may be damaged. Firstly try them with different wires, you don’t have to run them inside the car just use them straight from the amp/head unit to the speaker.
If this stops it you’ve got a damaged wire somewhere along the line. The most common place for this is in the door hinge where the wires pass through. It could also be where the wires connect to the plugs on the head unit and speaker.
If you cannot find the exact breakage, just install a new wire.
Your speaker may be damaged. Is sound still coming out but really flat?
Does it squeak at higher volumes?
Try gently pushing the cone of the speaker, does it move freely or does it click?
If it clicks then the coil of the speaker has melted together due to too much power running through it.
Solution: buy a new speaker, or alternatively send it to be repaired by the manufacturer.
If there is not a problem with your wiring, it is time to look at the Amplifier and the RCA leads.