Ice Problems

[Ski]

anyone know how much power should be running though the remote cable? Is it a problem if im using a earth cable thats 1.7 meters in lengh? The amp should turn on with just the 3 cables attached right? dont need audio in and speakers out connected for the amp to turn on correct?

update : I just read through google the remote must be 12v and even 10v may not turn the amp on. 12v seems exessive and im not geting anywhere near that. im getting 0.6v and thats straight from the back of the unit :/ heeelp

[Ski]

sorry to spam the forum so much, u guys my only help.

Is it correct the the remote wire should have the same volts running through it as the live? 12v? seems excessive, and if this is true, would it mean my head unit poped as it dosnt pump out that much through the remote cable (if im reading the multimeter correctly)

[Fat Audi 80]

You can spam your OWN thread as much as you like!

Ski, have you got the manual for your headunit? It will tell you what the remote turn on voltage should be. It sounds to me as if you have a problem from your head unit that is not signalling the amps to turn on / stay on.

Yes, you are correct, the amp should turn on if it has:

1.) 12v from the battery
2.) A suitable earth
3.) The correct voltage from the turn on signal from the head unit. (Check what voltage the amp is expecting and what your headunit gives out.

You can check the voltage by measuring from the signal lead from the head unit to your earth point in the car...

Let us know what you find.

Cheers,

Steve.

[ctolladay]

Your amps will require 12V at the remote terminal. Headunits usually can supply up to 60mA or so and the amp will only require 2-3mA to switch on.

To fault find your system I would disconnect your amps in turn and:

- Turn the gain of the amp under test to the min and dissconnect any speakers.
- Wire them directly to the battery with an in-line fuse on the +ve feed.
- Using a small length of wire connected to the +ve terminal on the battery touch the other end of the wire on the remote terminal of the amp under test.

If the amp does not switch on it is bust. I would then check any fuses on the amp or in the lines.

A word on earthing: You must have a good earth otherwise you will drop volts across the earth connection meaning that the amp will not switch as the volts on the remote will be insufficient. To get a good earth I would recommend using a crinkle washer on the earth bonding bolt that you are using to bite through any paint that is on the body work. You can just use a small screw driver to remove some paint but I would still recommend the crinkle washer.

Good luck!

[Jamo]

Ski are you going to GTI?

Bring it down we'll have a look at it then.

[Ski]

Many thanks for all your reply's.

@ Steve;
I got a totaly diff amp, hooked it up like you said (apart from using a fuse DOH) and still dosnt turn on, still getting 0.6v down the remote cable. Will dig out the manual for the HU as suggested. I still got my old HU will try that too.

@ ctolladay;
unsure what mA is and didnt check that on the remote cable only v's. i found a whole under the seat, so i striped paint around it untill it was nice and shiny then stuck earth to it. same result as when it was going direct to battery.
Could you elaborate on this "- Using a small length of wire connected to the +ve terminal on the battery touch the other end of the wire on the remote terminal of the amp under test." +ve terminal is the + on the batt right? you think i should touch the live wire from the battery to the remote terminal on the amp? would that make the amp turn on?

@jamo
Unfortunatly not going gti and the journey down there without base would be harsh

remote : my remote wire is a weired setup. from the back of the HU it goes into a socket (IO socket?) from there it changes colout to white and behindd the dash somewhere (ignition?) Ive attached my remote wire onto this wire. could this be the reason its not 12v?

[Jamo]

The remote line may be blown in the head unit.

Try using the ignition wire connected to the head unit and biwire it to use for rmeote out as a test adn see what voltage you get at the amps.

[Jonas_R]

Hmmm normaly the remote wire is blue/white or just blue and it comes out directly from the HU. Meaning that it does not go through any IO sockets.
Think the best thing you could do was to take a picture of the back of your HU, that shows the wires going out of the HU. Which model HU did you have?

[Ski]

will take a pic nps.

Jamo : where can i find the ignition wire? please explain as this test sounds the best way to test if remote wire blown in HU.

Jonas : my HU came with the blue cable going out of HU along with live and earth etc.. straight into a socket. that socket fitted perfectly to my audi socket and all worked fine so i presumed it was ok. I biwired my remote from this cable as i didnt want to cut the audi white cable, or the JVC blue cable if that makes sence. will take a photie.

[Ski]

my remote wire back of HU looks like this :

(i know what your thinking, i need a better camera right? )

P.S. the unmarked wires are wires like live, earth etc..

[Jamo]

It's either the red ir yellow wire on the ISO

You can tell which as one will be perm 12V and the other will only be 12v with the ignition on.


Diffrent cars have the two colours reversed so just check it with the MM to be sure.

[Jonas_R]

Just wondering, why there is a whiteline, that goes to our remote cable?

I mean as far as I know, nothing should be connected to this wire? Perhaps this white wire is connected to something that takes power from the remote line?

/Jonas R.

[Ski]

right.. test sucessful.. finally.

I coudnt find the ignition cable (red cable gave constant 12v, yellow nothing with ignition on or off) so took a chance and got a new remote cable and touched the live battery with it. and viola, amp turned on. soo, the problem is with the remote wire not pumping enough from the HU.

as you guys seem suprised my remote wire goes elsewhere, i will disconnect it and pump it direct into the amp to see if the volts increase. if not, faulty HU (its only couple months old).

Many thanks for all your inputs on this!

[Ski]

Diag : When the amps go out, im still getting a reading of 1.2 on the live cables in both amps, and 0.06 from the remote cable.

I guess the answer was in my original post

I cut the mistery "white" cable which was attached to my blue remote cable and amps turned on and all is goood, instantly got 11v through remote cable

base is back in the house y'all. Many thanks to all of you who helped me with this

[Jonas_R]

Your welcome

I wonder what the remote was connected to, perhaps some kinde a Amp that car with the original sound system. Or perhaps the previous owner made some kinda wierd installation.

/Jonas R.