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Post by jhornbr225 on Jul 14, 2021 13:31:19 GMT -5
I wanted to give an update on something I learned. I had let the car sit for a few weeks, and the battery went dead in the process. I got a jump and the car was fine, but for some reason, the stereo didn't work. I set the clock on the factory head unit after entering the security code. But I could not get any sound. I thought about it for a couple days, and then the solution occurred to me. My system depends on the Sony head unit in the trunk always being on. When I turn on the factory head unit, it essentially turns on the ignition to the Sony head unit. Once the battery died, the Sony effectively "shut off". So when I got the jump start, and power was restored, the Sony defaulted to the "off" condition.
So I turned on the system via the power switch on the factory head unit, opened the truck and pressed the power button on the Sony. I turned off all the default equalization and digital sound optimization that seems to turn itself on when you lose the constant 12V power. After that everything was normal.
I thought I was going to have a big troubleshooting job to figure out what was wrong, but a little thought into what really happened led me to the easy solution.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Nov 10, 2022 18:47:48 GMT -5
Another little update.
I take the fuse out of the line going back to the truck to de-power the amps when I'm not going to drive the car for a while to avoid a dead battery. I think the sub amp draws a little too much current when off. I put the fuse in a couple days ago and did my normal setup when powering up. I played some music, and it didn't sound right. I did a little troubleshooting and found that the right hand speakers (front and rear) had no sound.
Figuring it was something common to both the front and the rear, I started by playing a CD in the stereo in the trunk. Still no sound on the right. That eliminates the USB connection between the computer and the Aux Input Box, and the RCA cables between the Aux Input Box and the Head Unit.
I jiggled the speaker cables at the amp, no change.
I was laying in the trunk, hanging the head unit after taking it down from it's brackets to check the RCA cables, and I noticed one wire on the right rear speaker had fallen off. Well, that explained the rear, but what about the front?
Since it did not appear to be anything related to the RCA jacks or the amps, I removed the passenger door panel, and removed the speaker. I jiggled the wire behind the speaker, and sound returned. Since the door panel is not super easy to remove, I decided to solder the wires from the factory plug to the speaker, instead of using those push on connectors. There's still the factory plug if I ever need to remove the speaker.
Weird coincidence that both right hand speakers had a loose connection at the same time.
Other than that, everything is great. I still get random times when the screen does not show a picture after booting. I just press the power button on the computer up under the dash, let it shut down, then press the button again to turn it on. Then I get a picture.
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Post by COMpulse on Nov 11, 2022 10:32:16 GMT -5
I solder everything. I hate pretty much every type of electrical connector.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Jul 15, 2023 17:41:43 GMT -5
Another update:
I went on a trip a few weeks ago, and as usual, I pulled my fuse out to prevent battery drain. I usually don't mess around with the fuse at the airport. I don't want anyone to wonder what I'm doing. So I usually pull the fuse out before I leave for the airport, and put it back in after I get home. This trip I got back late, and there was nobody in the parking garage, so I decided to put the fuse in, and have tunes on the way home. I forgot that it's a two step process, put the fuse in, then turn on the stereo, let everything boot, then go in the trunk and set the stereo to play the Aux USB input. I forgot to do the truck stuff, so still no tunes on the way home.
The next day, I did the trunk stuff before I went for a drive, but there was still no sound. A couple days later I had the time to check it, and everything appeared OK. As soon as I started driving, I tried to adjust the volume. It was acting really weird, I was getting either no sound at all, or sudden bursts of full volume. I shut it off.
Today I started to do some troubleshooting. I pulled both speaker plugs out of the 4-channel amp, and disconnected the woofers from their amp. I pulled the output RCA cables out of the Aux selector box, and ran them to my garage stereo aux input. That way I would get amplification, and volume control, just in case. At that output, it should be constant volume, based on the volume of the PC, (which is always set to 100%). I got sound, and it was steady volume. I then plugged that cable into the rear RCA output of the stereo. There should have been sound, controlled by the volume control on the stereo. I had nothing. I tried playing a CD in the stereo, but still no sound. I grabbed the Sony head unit I was going to use before I decided on this one, and subbed it in. Now everything works perfectly.
I checked my Crutchfield account, and I had ordered this Sony head unit in September of 2002. So it lasted almost 21 years. The only bad thing is that it is 5.5V out on the RCA plugs. The one I subbed in is only 4V. So to get full output, I technically should re-adjust my amp gains. The head unit I subbed in technically belongs to a friend of mine. It has a fancy, motorized fold-down face, which the flex cable to broke. It sat at my house for several years, before it caught my eye, and I found the parts for a reasonable price on Ebay, so I fixed it. We have since installed a new head unit in his car that ties to his phone and plays music off a USB stick, so I really doubt that I'll be re-installing this in has car anyway.
The problem lies in that my whole system is quite dependent on this era of Sony head unit. With the wired remote, and the Aux input box, it's really tied to that generation of Sony. I've been looking at a newer Pioneer unit, but I would have to re-design quite a bit to get it to integrate. I could use a USB sound card that I was going to use during my development phase, and run that to a 3.5mm jack and plug it into the front aux of a modern head unit. I would have to investigate the resistors required to make the Pioneer work via the wired remote. One benefit that I would gain would be a simple Bluetooth connection to the head unit from my phone, without messing with any Bluetooth stuff on the PC. I could use my steering wheel "Mode" button to change the head unit to it's Bluetooth input. The problem is I don't have enough buttons on my steering wheel to handle answering or making phone calls.
Or I could re-tune my amps and leave it go how it is, that would bring it to it's full potential. Or, for now, don't mess with the amps, I don't think I'm missing much power. Even high voltage RCA outs on modern hardware are 4V. That one head unit at 5.5V was an oddball. Whether I keep my friend's old Sony in there, or upgrade to something modern, they are 4V RCA outs.
Decisions, or take a nap and forget about it. I really don't drive that much.
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Post by revheadkev on Jul 22, 2023 18:27:10 GMT -5
If you don't drive much and all modern units are 4V anyway, seems to me the decision to retune the amps and leave as is would be the way to go.
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