Now only the front speakers work

Xavid · **Posted:** Wed Aug 10, 2011 9:51 pm

Great long weekend at gorgeous Lake Cumberland last week, but I had some problems. Everything including the sound system worked well on the first day, and then i noticed an annoying scratch/hiss from the port/rear speaker that was intermittent. I pulled out the cooler and inspected the wiring and pulled the grille and looked at the speaker/cone- all seemed normal. I just ended up turning the radio off and we soon went in. Next day, batts were dead, couldn't hold a charge, after succesfully jump starting it and running for an hour. Maybe I left the nav light or the blower on, or the radio was actually never off, I don't know for sure. I had the marina mechanic install two new batts, and all was well except now only the bow speakers work. Fader adjustment doesn't help, and it's the same for aux, fm, am, and cd. I have the Clarion radio, with an amp in front of the helm (fuses ok). Also, it's the same on batt select 1,2, or both. I don't really know how to troubleshoot this, and any help would be appreciated. Also the sub doesn't work either if that helps.

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 6:54 am

Is there power to the amp? That's what drives the outside speakers and subwoofer.

Measure the voltage at the connectors for the amp. Sounds like it's either not getting power or it's broken.

aguyindallas · **Posted:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:23 am

I would take a look at the RCA cables on the back of the head unit as well as where they go into the amp. The hissing/noise sounds like it was possibly a bad/loose connection, which could be caused by vibration in the boat etc.... Now you state you are getting nothing out of them almost makes me feel like the connection has finally come all the way apart.

Xavid · **Posted:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 3:18 pm

I will try to check those things. I can access the amp easily, though i just see a bunch of wires connected to a box, but how do i access the stereo unit itself? Do I unscrew and remove the locker box located below it? I dont see any way otherwise to get to it, even from the head.

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 4:23 pm

Xavid wrote:

I will try to check those things. I can access the amp easily, though i just see a bunch of wires connected to a box, but how do i access the stereo unit itself? Do I unscrew and remove the locker box located below it? I dont see any way otherwise to get to it, even from the head.

Depends on the model radio. If it's an XMD3 then you take off the two side parts of the faceplate (they pop off outward on each side). That will reveal the screws holding it into the panel.

Xavid · **Posted:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:06 pm

wkearney99 wrote:

Xavid wrote:

I will try to check those things. I can access the amp easily, though i just see a bunch of wires connected to a box, but how do i access the stereo unit itself? Do I unscrew and remove the locker box located below it? I dont see any way otherwise to get to it, even from the head.

Depends on the model radio. If it's an XMD3 then you take off the two side parts of the faceplate (they pop off outward on each side). That will reveal the screws holding it into the panel.

It is the XMD3.. I'll look at it tomorrow night or this weekend. Looking at the old installation guide I found inside the old owner's manual it shows a "16 pin extension lead" that appears to be the entire wiring bundled into one input/connection. The speaker wires, "power lead", "memory back up lead", "amplifier turn on lead", ground wire' "auto-antenna lead", and "illumination lead" all join at this "16 pin connector extension lead". The diagram shows 2 fuses along the course of the power lead and the memory back up lead. Are these the only 2 fuses in the system besides the 2 I see on the amp?

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Thu Aug 11, 2011 9:45 pm

As I recall the connection has everything but the pre-amp outputs and any input line (one AUX, I think). So you'd probably also see 6 RCA connectors in addition to that 16 pin block.

As for fuses, well, there's only supposed to be the ones on the memory and main power leads. Memory is supposed to go straight back to the battery. Main power goes back to the breaker panel (which is fed from the main battery switch).

I say "supposed to" because wiring is often one of the most botched setups in any form of vehicle. From the factory, and not having had anyone molest it, yes, there should only be two fuses.

Xavid · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2011 6:01 pm

I cannot find where the power lead connects to either the batteries or at the batt selector switch or other. The amp works when I supply power externally. The fuses are intact, the amp turn on wire has current (functioning). Tracing the power wire from the amp toward the battery I lose the wire as it dives under the floor over the captains seat. The wire goes from the amp into the dash and then I find it behind the receptCle in front of the sub on the cockpit/ starboard side. The wire then goes under the floor in a direction toward the passenger chair on the port side. I can't see which of the multitude of wires attached at the batteries is this amP power wire. There a wire with a 40 amp fuse is connected, but there is no apparent problem with this. I may just run a new 10 gauge fuse wire of my own. Anyone know the route this amp powr wire runs from the amp to power?

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:17 pm

Does your owners manual include a schematic? Those sometimes tell you what bundle of wires go where, and what circuits run through them. That and wire colors would be listed. When done properly the color of the wire used for a circuit should stay the same (until it meets a connector and is listed as changing color on the schematic).

Multitude of wires at the battery? There shouldn't be many. Most things should run to the breaker panel, which has it's own heavy gauge wire to the battery switch, which then has a lead to the battery. There really shouldn't been much leading straight to the batteries. That's just asking for trouble with corrosion and potentially loose wires that could spark.

Xavid · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:38 pm

I have the schematic from the clarion installation instructions, which does a good job explaining what wires connect to what, but it is generic and doesn't obviously show the path and direction of the wires thru the boat. The drawing shows the red power wire connecting to the battery with a fuse along the course of the wire. The power wire is red. The four winnns manual has a basic schematic showing general location of items such as the bilge pump is a box shown somewhere near the front of the engine compartment. It does not show the routes of the bundles of wires.

Maybe I'll relook at the fuse cluster under the dash. As I recall it had a fuse for "radio" which was intact, and the power wire to the amp did not run into that box. Is there another "breaker" box I'm missing?

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2011 7:55 pm

What the FW schematic should list is what other wires are bundled together through a given connector. That can help find where a wire goes. As in, a white/purple wire joins a bundle of others, whose colors are more readily visible on the outside of a wire bundle. That way if you can see some of the other colors you can narrow down where the one you need might be.

When trying to find wires it's VERY helpful to have a tone generator. I've got an older model of this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Extech-40180-Gene ... pd_cp_hi_3

Or from monoprice, even cheaper:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/produ ... 1&format=2

What these do is let you attach the tone generator to one end of the wire. And then use the probe to listen to where the signal goes. The probe works by merely being close to the wire with the tone being put on it. Not by touching the conductor inside the insulation. They're not cheap but they last forever and are an absolute God-send for debugging wiring issues like you've got.

You'd hook up one of the tone generator clips to the power wire at the amp (powering all boat electric off first, of course) Then poke around with the probe to hear where the tone comes in strongest along the bundles of wires. Eventually you can track down where it goes using the probe to find the tone signal.

These inductive tone generator/probe units are great for all kinds of wiring. AC, DC, coax, network, etc. They'll work on anything that's got a metal wire in it.

Xavid · **Posted:** Mon Aug 15, 2011 9:14 pm

That is an interesting piece of equipment, and maybe I'll pick one up

Xavid · **Posted:** Sun Aug 21, 2011 5:29 pm

Who/where does the stereo/amplifier wiring and installation take place? Does the dealer do this, as the upgrade to amp was an option? Or is the amP wiring done at factoty?

I used the tone generator and found that the 10g red wire with an intact 40 a in line fuse located near the batts, but not connected to them, is the power wire. Problem is I cant find the end of the wire. It is difficult even with the generator to follow the bundle after it dips behind the engine. Could it be connected at the starter/solenoid? The schematics showed that the power wire is supposed to connect to the battery terminal itself with a Merc(likemine) but at the starter on a Volvo.

wkearney99 · **Posted:** Sun Aug 21, 2011 8:13 pm

I believe you could ask the factory how your boat shipped. They'd need your HIN (Hull Identification Number) and should be able to tell you how they built it.

If it's not the factory setup then all bets are off on how it could be wired.

ric · **Posted:** Sun Aug 21, 2011 10:13 pm

You're troubleshooting everything but what the real problem is, the paperweight in your dash with the clarion logo on it.

www.iFourWinns.com

Now only the front speakers work

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