Bad RCA'S???????????

[cdog]

Would a bad RCA cable cause distortion on only one channel of your speakers? Why does the stereo pop when I turn on the blower switch or bildge pump or buzz when I turn on a cabin light? I switched rca's from left to right and the problem seems to switch sides. So I was planning on going to buy a new rca cable. But why am I getting interfearence from the switches?
The ignition turns on the stereo. Should I by pass that and run the stereo by it's self?

[Havasu Hangin']

Would a bad RCA cable cause distortion on only one channel of your speakers?
Possible, but not likely. If the wire is broken...it usually cuts in and out.
Why does the stereo pop when I turn on the blower switch or bildge pump or buzz when I turn on a cabin light? I switched rca's from left to right and the problem seems to switch sides. So I was planning on going to buy a new rca cable. But why am I getting interfearence from the switches?
The ignition turns on the stereo. Should I by pass that and run the stereo by it's self?
I'd first try running a separate ground back to the battery...those grounds at the dash suck.

[ROZ]

Would a bad RCA cable cause distortion on only one channel of your speakers? Why does the stereo pop when I turn on the blower switch or bildge pump or buzz when I turn on a cabin light? I switched rca's from left to right and the problem seems to switch sides. So I was planning on going to buy a new rca cable. But why am I getting interfearence from the switches?
The ignition turns on the stereo. Should I by pass that and run the stereo by it's self?
Did you swap the left and right rca's at both ends? meaning at the headunit and at the amp?
I'm with HH, it's most likely a ground issue at the headunit.

[cdog]

Did you swap the left and right rca's at both ends? meaning at the headunit and at the amp?
I'm with HH, it's most likely a ground issue at the headunit.
Thanks for your input. I swaped the rca's at the amp input and the distorted side switched. I guess I'll tear apart the side panel and run a new ground to the stereo from the 4 gauge ground that feeds the amps. How does that sound? To me it sound's like a grounding issue since i'm getting the interfearence from the switch panel.
Are you suppost to run battery isolators on boats? For some reason I got to thinking about how I have one and used to use them on my older systems that I had on one of my trucks when I had multipul batteries.

[ROZ]

Thanks for your input. I swaped the rca's at the amp input and the distorted side switched. I guess I'll tear apart the side panel and run a new ground to the stereo from the 4 gauge ground that feeds the amps. How does that sound? To me it sound's like a grounding issue since i'm getting the interfearence from the switch panel.
Are you suppost to run battery isolators on boats? For some reason I got to thinking about how I have one and used to use them on my older systems that I had on one of my trucks when I had multipul batteries.
What I was getting at was if you didn't switch the cable at both ends(amp and the headunit), the problem could be that channel in the h/u.... I agree with HH...
You run a perko switch ?

[cdog]

What I was getting at was if you didn't switch the cable at both ends(amp and the headunit), the problem could be that channel in the h/u.... I agree with HH...
You run a perko switch ?
I don't have easy access to the back of the stereo because it's in the side wall of the boat, So I have'nt swaped rca's there yet. I guess when I pick up the boat tommarow i'm gonna get access to the stereo and run a new ground to the stereo and see if that works. If I get no dice on that then i'll switch rca's at the stereo.
Yes, I do run a perko. Channel 1 runs the two starting blue optimas and channel 2 runs the two deep cycle blue tops. The batteries are hooked directly to eachother then into the perko. The amp leads are 4 gauge and run directly to the deep cycle's. Should each cahnnel on the perko have it's own battery?

[ROZ]

Not necessarily, but When wiring the batteries parallel I'd run power from the perko to battery 1 then to battery 2 Then run the ground from it's grounding point to battery 2, then to battery one. Having the wires come from different batteries should help with keeping the charge equal vs the first battery getting hit with more charge than the 2nd battery...provided they are both have the same time on them...

[cdog]

Not necessarily, but When wiring the batteries parallel I'd run power from the perko to battery 1 then to battery 2 Then run the ground from it's grounding point to battery 2, then to battery one. Having the wires come from different batteries should help with keeping the charge equal vs the first battery getting hit with more charge than the 2nd battery...provided they are both have the same time on them...
I'm going to look into that tommarow when I get it home. Thanks for your help.

[cdog]

So I ran a seperate ground from the batt. to the stereo ground in the harness. Still get the buzzing sound when I turn on or flip any switches on the dash. I also tried switching around the rca's and the buzz just changes sides. Then I removed the side that buzzes and ran a jumper rca just for that side and it still buzzes. Tommarow i'm returning the head unit. If that don't fix it, I GIVE UP! I guess i'm going to have to give shockwave some kind of alltimatum to fix this. They have been trying to say it's my supplied equipment. So far i've replaced just about every F'in thing. Any idea's? What should I do???? I tend to think it's a wiring problem with the boat/stereo and the way the batts are hooked up. Can you run 4 batts off of 1 perko switch? They keep going dead. :squiggle:

[Havasu Hangin']

Any idea's? What should I do???? I tend to think it's a wiring problem with the boat/stereo and the way the batts are hooked up. Can you run 4 batts off of 1 perko switch? They keep going dead. :squiggle:
Probably the last test (before replacing the head unit) I'd try is running a power jumper wire to completely isolate the head unit. However, if it's buzzing only on one side (noise), chances are it's a bad head unit.
When I wire my stuff, I usually keep the power and ground separate from the boat wiring, then I know that it's not the crappy wiring in the boat if there's problems.
You can run four batteries off one Perko (parallel), but the chances are that they didn't do it right if the batteries are going dead. Amps will draw small current even when turned off. Make sure the stereo power wires are hooked to the common on the Perko, and not the batteries, so when you turn off the Perko, the stereo gets completely disconnected.