Setting up a pretty killer system in my car... having an issue though EDIT: one prob solved, still a prob with the sub

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
F

Frosty3799

Diamond Member
Nov 4, 2000
3,795
0
0
Here is what the current system consists of (I wish I had a digital camera):

Head unit:
Pioneer DEHP-3500

Amp:
Kicker ZR1000

Sub:
Solo Baracs 15" square

Computer:
Pentium 3 733, 40 gig, 384 ram, 95 Watt PSU, the mobo from a Shuttle FV-24 system, with a XFX GF2 mx400 64 mb PCI video card in the lone PCI slot

Inverter (To plug computer in):
Radio Shack High-Efficiency 300 watt, 2 outlet (Link)

Extra power (understatement of the year):
Yellow top Hummer battery


Ok, I will go over how everything is wired:
Link to wiring diagram

First the extra battery/Power to the trunk:
I have the front battery re-grounded to my strut encasement (I forget the real term) using zero guage wire, then have zero guage coming off the positive terminal, through a 150 amp fuse, then through the car to the trunk, through a second 150 amp fuse, and then connected to the hummer battery positive terminal. The negative terminal of the humer battery is re-grounded to the bottom of my trunk. This setup keeps my alternator charging both batteries.

Next, the inverter:
This was a simple connect, I ran the positive and negative to the terminals on the hummer battery in the trunk, and then ran the on/off switch wires to the dash, where I have my 4-port on/off switch with wireless remote. I also have the two wires for an LED ran to the dash, but haven't gotten an LED that works with it yet.

The computer:
Plugged like a wall plug into the inverter, and then ran the on/off switch wires to another one of the ports for my wireless remote, and have an LED in my dash that shows when it is on. I will go into how the audio hooks up when I discuss one of the problems I ran into.

The amp:
Powered by 4 guage wires coming off the Hummer battery. I then have premium RCA's running off the deck.

The sub:
Bridged 16(? possibly 14, whichever is the standard) guage wire off the amp.


Now the problems I have ran into:

1. EDIT: problem 1 is now solved with the help of d33pt. I re-grounded the computer case to the negative terminal on the hummer battery, and the hum is now gone :)


As I stated before, I am having a bit of trouble with the computer audio. How it is set up right now, I have the adaptor for my head unit to input audio through RCAs. I have a stereo 3.5mm male (plugs into normal computer audio output) to red/white RCA male ends, which run through a hum reducer box, and then a set of RCAs run to the front audio input on the deck.
Now, I have it set up so that when the computer boots up, I can hit enter to go into windows, and then x to start playing songs in winamp. That part works fine, and the songs start playing and all, but the problem is I hear a pretty loud hum over the auxiliary channel whenever the computer is turned on. I tried adding the hum reducer, as I stated in the setup, and that helped some, but there is still quite a hum, probably half as loud as the music is. I know htere will always be some extent of a hum, but it shouldn't be this loud.

Anyone have any ideas how to cut some more of it out?
I found a few products on thr Radio Shack web page I could try:
Could plug computer through this
This sounds like it could work ,can't quite tell what it is from the picture though
Let me know if you have any other ideas, or if you know what the second linked product hooks up to.

2. The sub and amp are all connected, and worked for a good week until yesterday I started hearing something weird. Whenever I stop going a constant speed, the sub seems to repeatedly hit really hard, and make a really loud noise, but whenever I maintain a constant speed, it works like normal. Of course I turned it off as soon as I started hearing it, thinking it was jusut a loose wire or something, but I checked all my connections tonight, and they all seemed to be tight as ever. I could be wrong, and one may be loose still, has anyone ever experienced, and solved this problem before?


Please help me out with these problems if you have any ideas.

Oh, and lastly... the final component that my car system will consist of is a 7" touchscreen LCD with VGA input I will be mounting in the dash right under my deck, so no I won't be blindly selecting MP3's with a keyboard forever.

Thanks
Josh
 
S

Spac3d

Banned
Jul 3, 2001
6,651
1
0
Did you rewind the alternator? Is it a stock one? Did you upgrade the big three yet? It is kind of shocking that you put in another battery but didn't upgrade the rest of the electrical system. Seems a little half-assed to me.

Why in the world do you have to hit enter to go in to windows? IMO, the less needed to start the music, the better. Is it the login screen you hit enter at?

Did you check the grounding wire from the amp? Make sure you have a good, clean signal.

Before you start buying parts to fix the noise, I think you should make sure what is causing the noise. It could be a bad wire, a bad sound card, bad input on the head unit ... try playing with the computer out of the car, with different outputs, different wires if possible, etc.
 
J

jfall

Diamond Member
Oct 31, 2000
5,975
2
0
IMO you are wasting money using a computer with that system. I would just be useing a nice head unit. I'm not a fan of soundcard quality
 
S

Spac3d

Banned
Jul 3, 2001
6,651
1
0
Oh ya, you added all of that, but you didn't even add a nice front stage?:disgust:
 
F

Frosty3799

Diamond Member
Nov 4, 2000
3,795
0
0
Originally posted by: Spac3d
Did you rewind the alternator? Is it a stock one? Did you upgrade the big three yet? It is kind of shocking that you put in another battery but didn't upgrade the rest of the electrical system. Seems a little half-assed to me.

Why in the world do you have to hit enter to go in to windows? IMO, the less needed to start the music, the better. Is it the login screen you hit enter at?

Did you check the grounding wire from the amp? Make sure you have a good, clean signal.

Before you start buying parts to fix the noise, I think you should make sure what is causing the noise. It could be a bad wire, a bad sound card, bad input on the head unit ... try playing with the computer out of the car, with different outputs, different wires if possible, etc.
Click to expand...

I dunno what rewinding the alternator is, but yes it is the stock one. I do plan on upgrading that soon also, to a premium version meant to power two batteries. And what do you mean by 'the big three'?

I hit enter at the login to go into windows.. I don't really mind doing that because it is basically just for the time being, until I get the LCD in.

When you are referring to the grounding wire for the amp, are you syaing htat could be a problem that is causing the extra noise in the sub? Tomorrow I am going to re-check all the wires, and make sure there are no problems. I figure one of them must be lose, but when I checked today they all seemed snug.

now the Auxiliary noise problem:
-I know the computer ouputs sound clearly, I have had it connected to my home speakers, and it sounded fine.
-I know the deck receives clear sound through my RCA wiring, because I connected a portable CD player up to it, and the sound was clear... only thing I can think of is the inverter is causing quite a bit of interference.
 
F

Frosty3799

Diamond Member
Nov 4, 2000
3,795
0
0
Originally posted by: jfall
IMO you are wasting money using a computer with that system. I would just be useing a nice head unit. I'm not a fan of soundcard quality
Click to expand...

The goal was to be able to watch DVD's/Divx movies, and have a large scale mp3 storage with the computer, not just have a sub.

 
D

d33pt

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2001
5,654
1
81
try grounding the computer. run a wire from the PC chassis to a vehicle ground...preferable the same ground point the amp uses. what you are experiencing is probably a ground loop.
 
F

Frosty3799

Diamond Member
Nov 4, 2000
3,795
0
0
Originally posted by: d33pt
try grounding the computer. run a wire from the PC chassis to a vehicle ground...preferable the same ground point the amp uses. what you are experiencing is probably a ground loop.
Click to expand...

Ok, I can try that, thanks.
 
I

IamElectro

Golden Member
Jul 15, 2003
1,470
0
76
First the extra battery/Power to the trunk:
Info on ground loops and how to handle them
have the front battery re-grounded to my strut encasement (I forget the real term) using zero guage wire, then have zero guage coming off the positive terminal, through a 150 amp fuse, then through the car to the trunk, through a second 150 amp fuse, and then connected to the hummer battery positive terminal. The negative terminal of the humer battery is re-grounded to the bottom of my trunk. This setup keeps my alternator charging both batteries
Click to expand...

You need to have an isolator in between these two batteries without it if the 2nd battery drops in power it will suck power from the primary battery and you may not be able to start your car. The isolator makes sure the primary battery always has a full charge for these reasons. 2nd reason it reduces the the strain on the alternator. 3rd it will eliminate the ground loop. The ground loop is when componets in an audio system are not grounded to the same spot in a vehicle which is most likely the reason for the hum you are recieving. Try also running a ground wire from the computer chassis to the car chassis you may what to put a diode in line with it as to eliminate any feedback to the computer from the ground.

 
F

Frosty3799

Diamond Member
Nov 4, 2000
3,795
0
0
Originally posted by: IamElectro
First the extra battery/Power to the trunk:
Info on ground loops and how to handle them
have the front battery re-grounded to my strut encasement (I forget the real term) using zero guage wire, then have zero guage coming off the positive terminal, through a 150 amp fuse, then through the car to the trunk, through a second 150 amp fuse, and then connected to the hummer battery positive terminal. The negative terminal of the humer battery is re-grounded to the bottom of my trunk. This setup keeps my alternator charging both batteries
Click to expand...

You need to have an isolator in between these two batteries without it if the 2nd battery drops in power it will suck power from the primary battery and you may not be able to start your car. The isolator makes sure the primary battery always has a full charge for these reasons. 2nd reason it reduces the the strain on the alternator. 3rd it will eliminate the ground loop. The ground loop is when componets in an audio system are not grounded to the same spot in a vehicle which is most likely the reason for the hum you are recieving. Try also running a ground wire from the computer chassis to the car chassis you may what to put a diode in line with it as to eliminate any feedback to the computer from the ground.
Click to expand...


Thanks for your input, me and d33pt were a little bit ahead of you... I just tried re-grounding the computer chassis and the hum is gone :)

as far as the isolator goes, d33pt also recommended I get one of those, and I am going to stop by autozone tomorrow and see what I can find.
 
C

CraigRT

Lifer
Jun 16, 2000
31,440
5
0
mmm kicker solo baric.... sweet sub

i want one of those... gotta get rid of my rockfords....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom