my new stereo is OFF! and still draining my battery

Ladythump

what should I look for?

wesgardner · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 5:35 am Post subject:

Hey Ladythump,

Think backwards - what did you modify electrically? Keep in mind it CAN be coincidental that you have a bad battery....

Do your amps really shut down?

What else is directly connected to the battery?

Wes

wakessories · Soul Rider Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 283

I'd have to agree, it's probably not the radio causing the battery to go dead, and if it is then you probably have a bad battery. If you have any amps or a crossover, I'd check there first to make sure they are shutting off. What kind of voltage is the battery putting out?

Wakessories

Ladythump · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 5:55 am Post subject:

electrically i installed the new stereo with two amps. (nothing else) right now the battery is charging so I have to check to see if the amps are completely shutting down. They are both wired into the remote amp wire on a brand new headunit.

The battery was bought brand new at the beginning of last season so I'm going out on a limb and saying the battery is good.

How would I check for a bad ground?
If the amps are not turning off, how would I rewire?

wakessories · Soul Rider Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 283

Is this the first use of the battery since last year. How was it stored, have you charged it before adding this equipment. It could be you just had a dead battery if it was left on a cement floor or left it in the boat all winter. Sounds like you have things hooked up correctly.

If they are not shutting off, that would tell me that your remote wire is not doing anything for you. The only other thing you could do is hook the yellow wire up to an ignition switch, however that means you wouldn't be able to turn the amps/stereo on unless the boat is running, not cool for me but might work okay for you. Just make sure your remote wire is hooked up to the deck and goes out to the remote connection on the amps and NOT the power conection on the amp. I don't think it has anything to do with your ground. Does your power and ground hook directly up to the battery, if so that's all that matters.

wakessories · Soul Rider Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 283

layout

Ladythump · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 6:23 am Post subject:

Yes, the boat has not even been out of the garage yet this season. I charged the battery fully before starting the stereo install. The battery was left inside the boat (inside a garage) for the winter season (in St. Louis, doesn't get that cold here during the winter) ---

Now when you say "remote connection on the amps" .... that might be it. I have the wire hooked up to the connection that is labeled REM. Oh, i guess that must mean remote.

yes, my power and ground hook directly to the battery.
It takes about 2-3 days for the battery to completely drain. Well, it drains enough so the stereo will not turn on, but it has enough juice to turn on the blower and depth gauge (if that helps)

joedirt00 · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 7:26 am Post subject:

Either the red or yellow wire on the stereo should be labeled MEM or Memeory or something like that. It should be hooked up to the battery, The other should be hooked up to a a lead that is switched with the ignition. If you have them both hot all the time it will drain your battery over a few days. I know, because I did the same thing and my sony drained it. I went to the lake and had to get a jump at the ramp.

I will be fixing this in the next few weeks though. For now since I have a Perko Switch I just cht it all down when I park.

Ladythump · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 7:34 am Post subject:

joe,

I'm guessing the red and yellow wires will be the problem. I'll double check what is under there. Technically the stereo stays on when the ignition is off - and I manually turn off the stereo. Could this wiring still be the problem?

I will be adding a second battery and perko switch sometime this season. But ideally I don't want to have to keep resetting my radio presets and shutting everything down.

Ladythump · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 7:35 am Post subject:

Wake,

Everything is wired exactly as in your layout.

wesgardner · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 8:56 am Post subject:

Hey Ladythump,

Mine's wired with a "hot" lead direct to battery (maintains radio presets) and another lead to the ignition switch - my ignition switch has an "ACC" position (turn it to the left) so just my stereo will play in that position and of course it'll play when the boat's running. With key "OFF" things go off....

Wes

joedirt00 · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 9:16 am Post subject:

It's not an ideal set-up, but what you could do is put a toggle switch inline for the wire that should be connected to your ignition. You would then be able to turn off the power to the stereo witout shutting down the whole boat and losing your presets.

I actually have a switch on the remote wire going to my amps. I rigged the speakers mounted in the boat to the power from the head unit for just hanging out. When I want the tower on too I just hit the switch, amps come on and tower kicks out some tunes. Very Happy

wakessories · Soul Rider Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 283

If you have it wired like that diagram, you can turn the radio on without messing with the key or any other switch. I've wired my last 3 boats this way and never once had a problem with my battery going dead. Three things to check.

A. Check to make sure your amps are shutting off or turning on when you mess with the ON/OFF button with the deck.

B. Check the voltage on the battery

C. Try disconnecting everything and hook one thing up at a time. Start with just the deck, and an amp, and another amp and so on... Then if it dies after four days of just having the deck hooked up, you know it's something funky with that and could be defective.

It's either your Deck remote wire not functioning correctly, battery issue or you've done something funky with the wiring between the two amps (power or remote) reversed maybe?

Ladythump · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 9:48 am Post subject:

Wes,

maybe I got the wrong wires connected to the wrong leads. But if I manually shut down the head unit, shouldn't that stop the drain off the battery??

wakessories · Soul Rider Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 283

If you have the remote wire reversed with the power, the amp(s) will stay on all the time because the deck will try to send a signal to the amp and say hey stupid shut off, and the amp will be like, what are you talking about, I've got all the power and I'm not listening to you. Sorry, bored today at work so I'm talking in third person.

wesgardner · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 10:12 am Post subject:

Hey Ladythump,

So you needed something to do this weekend besides ride?

I'd go thru my wiring to insure you've got stuff where you think you do...my amp has a power light so I get a visual on whether it's on or not...of course I have to pull the footwell panel to see it....

Good luck, have a great weekend..

Wes

joedirt00 · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 10:17 am Post subject:

wakessories,

When you say the reomte wire reversed with the power wire, are you talking about the yellow and the blue wires? If this is the case the deck shouldn't even power up, thus the amps shouldn't power up. You need 12 volts to hit the yellow and the red wire at the same time for the deck to turn on. If the yellow wire is hooked up to the amp's remote terminal it will not get it's 12 volts. Therefore the remote wire will not work at all, so the amps would not be an issue.

Am I reading into this right, by all means correct me if I'm wrong. Cool

Ladythump · Posted: Apr 29, 2005 1:46 pm Post subject:

I just double checked and everything is wired correctly..... any ideas?? anyone??
A couple people mentioned a bad ground ..... ??? Question

wakeboarder89 · Addict Joined: 15 Jun 2003 Posts: 637

soundsetter · Newbie Joined: 06 Mar 2004 Posts: 23 City: newark

do you have test light. connect it between the battery and the ground cable. dont turn on any accesorys. if the light comes on you have a draw.
you can now start disconnecting items till the light goes off. hope this help you. i hate finding draws.

joedirt00 · Posted: Apr 30, 2005 3:20 pm Post subject:

Ladythump,

I'm gonna stand by my first impression, mainly because it happened to me. This week if your not going to be out for a few days, try disconnecting the power wire from your deck but leave the memory wire on. See if it drains still drains your battery. If it doesn't you know thats the problem, if not I guess keep looking. Rolling Eyes

Ladythump · Posted: Apr 30, 2005 5:33 pm Post subject:

i think i'll try that joe. I know for a fact the amps are shutting down.
I'm starting to think the battery is probably shot. Taking the boat out tomorrow for a full run!

Ladythump · Posted: May 02, 2005 7:22 am Post subject:

Battery is good. Took a good 5 cranks before the boat started (first start of the season) and the battery was strong.

I've unhooked my negative amp wire. Now I'm just waiting to see if the head unit drains the battery still.

wakessories · Soul Rider Joined: 09 Feb 2005 Posts: 283

Well you've got my attention and can't wait until you figure it out. I just can't imagine it's the deck unless you have a wired remote coming off of it that requires power. Maybe the remote isn't shutting off. The draw from the deck when it's turned off is peanuts. Is there any other equipment involved, crossover, remote, lighted toggle switch, etc... ???

Wakessories
http://www.wakesiderides.com/rides/index.php?page=out&id=613[/quote]

Ladythump · Posted: May 02, 2005 8:55 am Post subject:

no other equipment - just the headunit and the amps are turning off when the head unit is powered off.

joedirt00 · Posted: May 02, 2005 11:27 am Post subject:

Ladythump,

Try leaving the negative on the battery and just disconnecting the power at the headunit but leave the memory on. If your amps are turning off w/ your head unit, disconnecting your negative most likely wont do anything different since they are not getting power anyway with your headunit off.

wakessories,
You're right it's not drawing peanuts while its off, but we are talking a matter of days before it's drained. Think of it like this, when its turned off its like in a "standby" mode ready for use. When you cut the main power it goes into a "sleep" mode and just maintains the vital information.
Another thing to consider is the domelight in your car will drain it in a day and its only somwhere around 10 watts. So to drain your car battery in say 4 days you would only need a 2.5 watt draw(theoreticly). Rolling Eyes

2.5 watts isn't peanuts either, but it could do it over time.

Ladythump · Posted: May 02, 2005 11:45 am Post subject:

Joe,
I have no idea how to disconnect the power but leave the memory on.

joedirt00 · Posted: May 03, 2005 1:48 am Post subject:

You would have to actually pull the headunit out and physicaly disconnect the red wire(if the yellow is labeled memory). Be sure to tape off the power wire from the battery so you dont accidentally short it out.

Good luck

wesgardner · Posted: May 03, 2005 3:19 am Post subject:

Hey Ladythump,

All good advice from joedirt00, andwakessories, .....you might also want to have your battery checked UNDER LOAD to see if it is truly up to snuff...you do only have one battery ?

Good luck

Wes

Ladythump · Posted: May 03, 2005 5:17 am Post subject:

only one battery --- when the boat was running, the gauge read 14 volts.

I think I'll just end up putting a perko switch in since I'll want to run the stereo while I'm catching some rays.

wesgardner · Posted: May 03, 2005 5:33 am Post subject:

Hey Ladythump,

The 14v is correct - that's the output of the alternator, however it doesn't speak to the status/strength of the battery - also panel gauges are notoriously inaccurate. We have a place called Battery Warehouse that can "load check" will in the vehicle - if you ask nicely, they'll do it on a boat as well....

Wes

Ladythump · Posted: May 03, 2005 6:23 am Post subject:

Wes,

I hear what you're saying but I gotta guess the battery is strong. Took the boat out for the first time this season and it needed quite a few cranks to get the boat started. I have to think if the battery were weak, it would have started fading after the third or forth crank ....... and it cranked strong every time.

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

Ladythump, take the battery to your local parts shop and they can test it for you. I had a battery go bad and it cranked fine but the CCAs were shot. Getting it tested would at least solidify your problem and narrow it down.

wesgardner · Posted: May 03, 2005 6:44 am Post subject:

Hey Ladythump,

I don't want to seem hard-headed or rude about this BUT, when tracking down electrical problems, you need to ELIMINATE (not guess at) possibilities...nuff said

Wes

Ladythump · Posted: May 03, 2005 7:11 am Post subject:

GOTCHA!

I'll start with the battery ....