couple of questions: Ground loop and Wiring

[mrToester 10+ year member]

Hi all, my car was recently upgrade to new speakers all around along with 2 amps and a cap.

Infinity KAppa 6x8 (2 set)

Infinity KApps 6x9 (1 set)

Kicker Ix500.4

Kicker Ix 500.1

Infinity Kappa 12.1 (12" sub)

I am having some problems with my system, first is the GROUND LOOP. I have this faint whining noise. Right now, i have my 2 amps and my Cap negative wires all going into 1 Distro block and that is going into 1 ground. (not on opersite side of battery). all wiring is done in 4 gauge wires. I want to know how do i get rid of this ground loop.

my second question is, about my 4 door speaker install and the head unit controls.

I am using a STock head unit first of all. That is acomppanied by a MTX ReQ5. which has a 6 channel Monster MINI XLN, which is connected to my two kicker amps. i then have monster 16 gauge wire connected to the door speakers.

My question is, am i suppose to have full control of the speaker with the STOCK head unit? what i am trying to do is fade my music to the rear speakers but when i fade it "ALL" to the back, i get not sound from my rear door speaker and my rear deck speakers, but i will get a "Thump" from my woofer. So am i suppose to be able to control my rear speakers?

I am wondering if i messed up on the wiring, but i will go over that when i have a chance and test it out without my front speakers hooked up.

-Mr.Toester

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[UMWDawg92 10+ year member]

first off, ditch the cap you don't need it, instead do the big 3. Are your rca cables ran close to your power wires? And are your grounds all sanded down to bare metal with solid connections?

 

[mrToester 10+ year member]

1) i will think about the cap

2) Doing the Big this is in the future, But with only 4 gauge wires. It is hard getting my hands fit in the area of the Alt for the pos. line.

3) my Power wires are on the drive side and the rca is on the right side, but from the rear seat, it starts getting closer to the pos wire.

4) my Ground are not sanded down to bare metal. I actually have a question about grounding. MY friend said the ground should be on the opposite side of the car, true? and i am still working on the grounding to bare metal thing but i need to tear into my trunk. and should i consider finding 2 different ground for the amps or 1 ground should be good, as long as the ground is up to par?

5)The ground connection is only on a seat bolt ATM, i was trying to get away with a easy ground but ended up with a engine whine.

I am also keeping a eye on a thread that is currently active which people are currently talking about Ground loop but i read it drunk last night i might want to brush up on it again now that i am sober.

-mr.toester

 

[reallyxxxxloud 10+ year member]

Id seriously redo those earth points if I was you. Would be a good starting point!!!

 

[mrToester 10+ year member]

Id seriously redo those earth points if I was you. Would be a good starting point!!!

I'm not trying be a **** but I just don't know what earth points are. Ground?? If so, then what would you recommend? 1 wire from each amp to ground, making it a total of two grounds OR pulling the two amps to 1 distro block then grounding a single wire?

 

[Proximity 10+ year member]

Yes, ground = earth. They talk funny in other places in the world. 1 ground is fine, just sand it down to bare metal. You don't really need a distribution block for the grounds.

 

[Proximity 10+ year member]

Yes, ground = earth. They talk funny in other places in the world. 1 ground is fine, just sand it down to bare metal. You don't really need a distribution block for the grounds.

As for the fading thing, we need to know more about how you wired it. You said you have RCAs, but with a stock HU. Are you using a line-out converter?

 

[bjude1 10+ year member]

It dosn't matter what side of the car you ground the amps on. Both amps need to be the same ground or you will create a ground loop. Clean a good place in the chass of the car to ground your amps. I use the tip of my phillips bit to remove the paint from the chass. Just angle the bit pull the trigger and it will remove the paint from the car. Run a few self drilling screws through the metal "check where your drilling under the car for gas tank exc". As for the REQ it sounds like you either have it in two channel mode. Did you run the front and rear signal to the prossesor or just the front? Also the ReQ needs to share the same ground as the radio and or factory amp. What kind of car is it?

 

[mrToester 10+ year member]

Yes, ground = earth. They talk funny in other places in the world. 1 ground is fine, just sand it down to bare metal. You don't really need a distribution block for the grounds.
As for the fading thing, we need to know more about how you wired it. You said you have RCAs, but with a stock HU. Are you using a line-out converter?

Yeah, my line out converter is a MTX ReQ5. I have 6 channels RCA hooked up to that, going to my 2 amps. there the Speaker wires are now being fed to the same spot that i cut wires for the ReQ5. the wires are connected to the wire that was coming out of the stock HU(did this for less cuts in the lines).

Front doors has "Amp1" on the kicker IX 500.4. and the rear door and rear Deck speakers are on "Amp2" which is running series. the rear door are 2ohm and the rear deck are 4 ohms.

I will also do up the ground. i have to find a way to grind down to bare metal. What is best for this??

 

[mrToester 10+ year member]

Yes, ground = earth. They talk funny in other places in the world. 1 ground is fine, just sand it down to bare metal. You don't really need a distribution block for the grounds.
As for the fading thing, we need to know more about how you wired it. You said you have RCAs, but with a stock HU. Are you using a line-out converter?

Yeah, my line out converter is a MTX ReQ5. I have 6 channels RCA hooked up to that, going to my 2 amps. there the Speaker wires are now being fed to the same spot that i cut wires for the ReQ5. the amp speaker wires are connected to the wire on the other side of the cut for the ReQ5. from there, the speaker wire are feeding the stock wiring to the doors where i spliced the stock speaker harness for the new speakers i have.

Front doors has "Amp1" on the kicker IX 500.4. and the rear door and rear Deck speakers are on "Amp2" which is running series. the rear door are 2ohm and the rear deck are 4 ohms.

I will also do up the ground. i have to find a way to grind down to bare metal. What is best for this??

 

[grandam888 10+ year member]

caps>garbage can. if you need more power that bad, get an extra battery, and do big three if you haven't yet.

 

[grandam888 10+ year member]

caps>garbage can. if you need more power that bad, get an extra battery, and do big three if you haven't yet.

 

[smd4life 5,000+ posts]

round speakers sound the best....if your not in love with the 6x whatever's id ditch em and get some 6.5's

 

[mrToester 10+ year member]

double post

 

[mrToester 10+ year member]

caps>garbage can. if you need more power that bad, get an extra battery, and do big three if you haven't yet.

since everyone is hating on the cap, i will remove that from my system.

round speakers sound the best....if your not in love with the 6x whatever's id ditch em and get some 6.5's

i wish i kinda figured this out earlier, since i have 4 6x8 and 2 6x9. but screw it, ill keep mine, they are installed already...