Rep Power: 0

so here's the basic problem: my newly installed powered sub "pops" almost whenever I do anything on the head unit like change a cd track, change the input, or turn the car off

I got an infinity basslink powered sub and just installed it. This is the first time i've done an amp/sub install myself so I don't know if this is specific to the basslink, my head unit, or what. I did a line level install, running line outputs from my Aiwa CDC-X504MP head unit. and I ran a remote turn on line also. I noticed that whoever installed the head unit (best buy I believe) connected both the AMP REMOTE and ANTENNA REMOTE lines together in 1 spot on the wireing harness. So when I ran my remote power line to the sub/amp, I have both "amp remote" and "antenna remote" connected to it, which I believe if the culprit but I want confirmation from you guys. could it be something else?

 
Rep Power: 0

i went back behind the head unit and disconnected the "antenna remote" line so only the "amp remote" line goes back to the amp/sub now. But, that did not fix the problem. I still get the loud "thump" or "pop" whenever I change tracks, inputs, turn the volume all the way down to 0, and when I turn the car off. I do not get any pops when I turn the car on. When I turn the car off, i get one or 2 pops right away, then about 10-15 seconds later there is another pop.

So now i'm sort of clueless as to what the cause can be. To ground the amp, I scraped the paint off the body around the bolt that holds the side seat cushion down and put the ground there between the plastic and the car body. Could my ground not be good enough? That's the only other piece of wiring that I can think might be causing the problem. Any ideas?

 
Rep Power: 0

redid the ground wire; reran the amp remote power line....same deal. anyone?

 
Rep Power: 263

Honestly I think the problem is the head unit.

 
Rep Power: 0

I'm thinkings it's the head unit now too. If i unplug the RCA cables and leave all the other cables plugged in (bettery power, amp remote, ground) i get no pops. I can then plug an mp3 player directly to the sub, with the car on and play music thru the sub with no problems. I also noticed that as soon as I unplug the RCA cables, the power light on the powered sub turns off. I had the "auto turn on" set to off with the mp3 player plugged in and playing. the power light was off and no sound was coming out but then i turned the car on and the power light came on and sound came out (normal operation).

I noticed that if I turn the car off with the RCA cables from the head unit unplugged, the power light on the sub turns off. If i then plug in the rca cables from the head unit (car still off), as soon as I plug either rca line in to either Right input on the sub, the power light will turn on and eventually the Servo light will light solid. If i then unplug the rca cable again, everything will turn off.

so is the head unit not grounded properly? Is the head unit bad?

 
Rep Power: 263

Possibly a ground issue. Try re-grounding. Head unit could be bad as well.

 
Rep Power: 0

i ran the ground on the head unit to a bolt but it didn't fix the problem. anything else to try or does this mean the head unit is bad?

 
Rep Power: 263

I'd say 95% likely bad head unit at this point with really no other ideas what the problem would be.

 
Rep Power: 279

my friend had the same issue.. some head units do this. when he changed the head unit, it solved the problem... only way i can think of is to have maybe the sub amp on a toggle switch to delay power... but rather than that, it is the head unit.

 
Rep Power: 0

well, i bought a new head unit and installed it. i get the same thumps and the same power/servo lights when the car is off. I have absolutely no idea what the problem is.

 
Rep Power: 263

Hmm, that really surprises me. You mentioned re-grounding the amp. Tell me more about that, a picture would be especially helpful.

 
Rep Power: 291

is it the same brand/model of head unit? or another brand/model?

 
Rep Power: 0

new head unit was a Pioneer DEH-P4000UB

edit: also, i tried 2 other ground points in the back seat area and resanded the original ground point, but neither caused a difference. I also noticed that the sub/amp acted the same even if I didn't have the ground connected.

 
Rep Power: 291

only thing left really is the amp.

 
Rep Power: 213

I'm not to clear on what you're saying... but does the amp, headunit turn off when you turn the car off?... they should, that's what your remote lines do. A good ground spot can be under a nut or bolt somewhere in the trunk, or if you have a bolt for your spare tire, in there, the hole that holds your tire down.

 
Rep Power: 291

if he drilled a new hole and sanded down the paint, a ground doesn't get much better than that.

 
Rep Power: 0

If i disconnect the RCAs that run from the head unit then the amp will turn on and off with the car as it is supposed to. So if I leave the RCAs fom the head unit disconnected and connect an MP3 player directly to the amp/sub using a 1/8" male to RCA male cable the sub/amp works perfectly fine. With the mp3 player connected to the rca inputs, I will have to turn the car on to turn on the sub even if i have "auto on" turned on (because the auto on detects signal over the speaker inputs, which I am not using). With the mp3 player connected, I get no thumps even if I push buttons on the head unit and no thumps when the car turns off.

 
Rep Power: 291

try using a different set of RCA's between the head unit and amp. the RCA's could be pinched or shorted to ground somewhere.

 
Rep Power: 0

I finally found some time to check the RCA cable out. It was pinched under one of the trim panels. I feel like such an idiot for not checking that sooner. oh well, lesson learned.

 
Rep Power: 291

sweet! what do i win?

 
Rep Power: 0

woops, false alarm. so at lunch today i thought I figured it all out but I didn't go 100% because of time. So with the wire still run in it's original location, I connected an mp3 player using a rca-to-1/8 adapter directly to the RCA cable which was connected to the amp/sub. with the cable in it's original location, this made the sub turn on and the servo light up....which is the exact same thing that was happening before. So i pulled the entire rca cable out and checked it. All of the outside was still intact but you could easily see where it had been pinched, but nothing had broken. I then plugged the mp3 player in again (with the rca line not running behind any panels, etc.) and the sub/amp worked perfectly. So i thought i figured it out.

just now, i decided to rerun the RCA, taking care not to pinch it. As soon as i plug it in to the head unit i get the old problem...powers on and servo lights up. So i took the rca out from behind all of the panels and just ran it straight to the head unit, not hiding it at all....same thing.

so once again, I have no idea.

 
Rep Power: 0

new RCA cable didn't fix it. I guess now I need to find some one to swap sub/amps with to see if its a problem with my car or with the basslink.

 
Rep Power: 0

i finally got down to bestbuy this weekend to have one of their install guys see if he could figure out what was going on. I spent 2 hours there with the guy going thru all the same things I did and getting the same results as me. Finally, he went and got an already opened amp from the sales floor to swap in....and it worked perfectly fine. So we decided it was the basslink itself.

I got a new one delivered today and threw it in the car. It works perfect. relieved that it works now but still mad it took so long to figure out

 
Rep Power: 213

wait you got a new amp and it works fine now?

 
Rep Power: 291

is there an echo in here, or is it just me?

 
Rep Power: 213

....