Alternator whine on complex audio setup, need help please, im going nuts!

[ShadowWulf]

Ok heres my problem...

Im running a pioner deck (deh-4600 i believe), 2 Eclipse 6.5" speakers in the door, and 2 eclipse 6x9's in the rear. There all rated at about 160W RMS. There powered off a Crunch 400W amp, 4 way, 4 ohm. Yea yea, i know, cheap amp but i got it brand new for $20 bucks and it does the job well.

Also, to complicate things a bit im also running a flip down headliner LCD tv that plugs into an XBOX/PS2/Gamecube in the back. Now, the inverter is 400W, and i have RCA's run from the system to game systems. The sound is run through an FM Modulater so i tune the stereo to a channel an the systems audio becomes that of the games.

However, i have that damn annoying alternator whine that drives me nuts. Its really only noticable on the lower volume settings, once i turn the deck up to 20+ i cant hear it, but thats just masking it. Yes, the game RCA's are run on the opposite side of the car from the amp power. The sound is present on games, radio, movies, cd's everything. Also the amp is wired directly into the decks harness via the multi lead wire....ummm, things.

Things ive done so far.....
Checked the grounds, moved some and tightened others
hecks the polarity of all connections to be on the safe side
checked the alternator itself (brand new)
checked the invertor power connections and wiring
removed speakers and grounds/powersources one by one to no avail


Ok im stumped............does ANYBODY have any more advice on what else may be the caue of this? Ive provided as much detailed info as possible to help you understand the wiring situation thus far....


Any ideas?

 

[-doh-]

i had the same pproblem after installing my system..

first off you have to find out whats causing the problem..

could be...

-deck
-amp
-wiring

first off check ur deck..

how to check ur deck:

-unplug ur amp & wire the speakers to the deck..
-start up ur car crank up the music & rev the car.. if u still hear the whine than its ur deck.. if not than its something else.

how to fix deck whine:

-find a bolt somewhere near the deck.. sand the bolt hole down & screw the ground there.
-12v power from the deck should fused & connected directly to the battery.


---------------------
next check your amp..

-sand the ground for your amp down, & make sure its tight (ground it to a bolt somewhere in ur trunk)

-make sure your rca wires are ran seperate from your power wire.. (i usually run the rcas on the left side of the car & the power/remote wires on the right side.

---------------------

check it its ur your speaker wires.

-wire up your amp up
-unplug all the speaker wires
-wire up 1 speaker at a time & turn the car & stereo on (this if its ur speaker wires u know which speaker is grounding out.

if it is ur speaker.. to fix it.. simple cover the problem wire with electric tape or something..

--------------------

if all else fails try buying a ground loop isolator.. u can get it at any car audio store

 

[ucancallmedebo]

I had a simular problem with a kicker amp. I tried everything. It turned out to be the amp. It was a kicker zr120 and had horrible wine, I changed to soundstream and problem solved. A cheap amp on mids and tweets will cause problems that go unnoticed on subs.

 

[Attack Eagle]

First off... WHAT IS CONnECTED TO THE INVERTER? IS it a PS@ or is it xbox???

x box need about 2x the power that a PS2 does.

How is the inverter conencted? like an amp straight to battery? or are you tring to feed it off existing wiring?

HAve you INcreased the ground from Chassis to BAtery to make up for the additional current draw on the positive side?

I had asimilar problem that I fought with for a long time in an MGB... but as soon as I went to a 2ga ground (4ga stereo and 4ga car) no more issue.

the ground loop isolator wont help you b/c you have the amp wired up on the high level imput...

have you tried using an adapter to drop the level so you can use RCA's? Hi level is about the worst way to connect and generally they are make do inputs for really crummy 2-4w stereos. you should have 40-50w max on that pioneer. way too much to use high level inputs.


Are you using the same ground for ALL components (or at least very near) ?


USe RCas to conenct the amp to the crunch, and go get teh adapter that lets you conenct the rca's direct to the PIO... CRB20 I beleive is the part number.

If you still have issues, perhaps that is why the crunch was only $20 bucks? try another amp..

 

[dsmnate]

I would bet it is the amp. Do you have any friends who would let you try swapping their amp in there just to see if you still get the alternator whine?

Did you say you are using the speaker wire inputs on the amp? Why not run RCA's to the amp from the head unit?

 

[Mack]

I too support the ground loop. I would try to get all your grounds to one spot. That, unfortunately, would be ideal.

 

[Eclipse45150]

I had a problem like this, on the N/T's the alternators are pushin about 90amps max, on the turbos about 75 amps. I have the nt and when my amp was on my headlights would dim, I would lose fuel pressure and well just say the electricity was totally messed, when the amp was off it was fine. All the wires, the alternator, and connections were fine but I didnt realize that my Sony amp was drawnin to much from the alternator/battery. My amp was rated at 120amps so that was the prob. had to install a seperate battery/isolator and extras but its worth it! If thats what your prob is you can get the parts of ebay or some other wholesale companies but if you dont know car install well then have a shop do it, it isnt to difficult but if you touch the wires wrong you whole electrical system could short.