Radio Cutting out when turned up

[ranger098]

This seems to be a common problem in the moomba's but i need to learn a little more about it to fix... my kenwood stereo (that i believe is the stock one) cuts out when slightly turned up. It's done this since i got it and thought the speakers were underpowered (all 6 running off the deck) and shorting the amp out in the deck. So i got a new amp that powers all the interior speakers and shut the amp off in the deck (theres a setting to do that) and the same problem continues.

Weird thing is that the stereo itself doesnt turn off, just the sound cuts out and comes back on by itself. Looking for any advice from someone who's fixed this problem before......

[mmandley]

You need to isolate if its the Deck or the rest of the stereo.

Get a cable that has the 2 RCA on one end and the 3.5 connection on the other. plus this directly into your phone and amp. Make sure the phone volume is turned down.

Now play some music and adjust the volume with your phone.

If you issues are gone then your HU is causing the issue, most likely a pat Volume pot.

If the issue continues then your amp or wireing is the issue.

[ranger098]

damn thats a good idea on how to troubleshoot. Ill def try that as i already have that cable hooked up to the deck. Ive also been reading about poor ground so im gonna try and run a ground straight to the battery

[trayson]

damn thats a good idea on how to troubleshoot. Ill def try that as i already have that cable hooked up to the deck. Ive also been reading about poor ground so im gonna try and run a ground straight to the battery

I was going to suggest the ground. You might have found my posts on my sunsport where it'd cut out and it's because I was trying to pull too much voltage from the deck and the ground was crap-tacular. getting it a legit ground made all the difference. my deck didn't reboot anymore after that.

[ranger098]

I was going to suggest the ground. You might have found my posts on my sunsport where it'd cut out and it's because I was trying to pull too much voltage from the deck and the ground was crap-tacular. getting it a legit ground made all the difference. my deck didn't reboot anymore after that.

Ill give that a shot tonight and report my findings. sure does suck climbing in that storage compartment on your back messing with those wires, so hopefully i get it right the first time ha.

[spyder]

Ill give that a shot tonight and report my findings. sure does suck climbing in that storage compartment on your back messing with those wires, so hopefully i get it right the first time ha.

i'd be interested in this as well, i've replaced my deck a few times for features.. but this issue always lingered... i assume it was just due to lack of power without a amp... if it's ground i would love to fix this on the cheap.

[MLA]

Sounds like you have already isolated the issue to the head-unit, since the problem originated prior to the external amp. Since yo turned the head-units internal amp off, im gathering you are using RCA outs to the amp, not the hi-level speaker leads? And you are for sure that the head-unit is not actually cycling off and then back on? The head-unit screen may not go completely out though. also interested in knowing if the amp turns off when the head-unit wigs out.

I would get a volt meter on the head-units black ground and red turn-on and yellow B+/MEM and see if you can induce the issue.

[newty]

I've seen this a lot because of the deck running at a 2 ohm load with two speakers on each of the rear channels.

[parrothd]

Just fixed this issue and that's my old boat. I removed the rear speakers from the radio and added a new amp to power them. The head unit only powers the fronts..


Oops read the entire post, maybe it's that radio, it's the original.

[spyder]

Just fixed this issue and that's my old boat. I removed the rear speakers from the radio and added a new amp to power them. The head unit only powers the fronts..


Oops read the entire post, maybe it's that radio, it's the original.

Easy to install?

[parrothd]

Easy? Lol..

Not bad, I think any Kenwood will swap in and use the same harness and support the remote. I upgraded to one with bluetooth. I bought this amp, someone on here recommended it. My boat didn't come with an amp from the factory. I connected the rear speakers to the amp and bought a cheap amp install kit to run power to it. My tower speakers are on another amp, it's a huge upgrade from before, doesn't cut out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IF9BR1E

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IYER9QC

[spyder]

Easy? Lol..

Not bad, I think any Kenwood will swap in and use the same harness and support the remote. I upgraded to one with bluetooth. I bought this amp, someone on here recommended it. My boat didn't come with an amp from the factory. I connected the rear speakers to the amp and bought a cheap amp install kit to run power to it. My tower speakers are on another amp, it's a huge upgrade from before, doesn't cut out.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IF9BR1E

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00IYER9QC

i've swapped the deck, that was easy.. wiring in an amp is confusing the hell out of me.

[parrothd]

Oh and I had to replace my speakers they were shot. Check YouTube for how to videos or ask these audio guys..

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000P0PF9G

[ranger098]

Welp i figured out what the issue was, but it isnt related to the deck or amps at all. I regrounded the deck to the battery, tested all over with my voltmeter, no luck. But.... as soon as i disconnected the tower speakers the stereo stopped cutting out. So either the speakers themselves are cooked (possibly water logged) or the wiring in the tower has a bad spot in it, or theyre wired wrong (not parrothd's fault, he never worked on the radio). Either way i am just glad to have found the issue.. sorry this doesnt help anyone else out.

The ground does, however, seem to go from the radio around the bow and over to the instrument cluster or something, which is a pretty long ground so shortening that up definitely doesnt hurt! Thanks for all the tips everyone.

[trayson]

Welp i figured out what the issue was, but it isnt related to the deck or amps at all. I regrounded the deck to the battery, tested all over with my voltmeter, no luck. But.... as soon as i disconnected the tower speakers the stereo stopped cutting out. So either the speakers themselves are cooked (possibly water logged) or the wiring in the tower has a bad spot in it, or theyre wired wrong (not parrothd's fault, he never worked on the radio). Either way i am just glad to have found the issue.. sorry this doesnt help anyone else out.

The ground does, however, seem to go from the radio around the bow and over to the instrument cluster or something, which is a pretty long ground so shortening that up definitely doesnt hurt! Thanks for all the tips everyone.

Tell us some more about your system. I think Newty might be on to something and you're loading up too much resistance on your deck if you're powering too much on it.

How many speakers do you have in your boat, and what's powering them? How many speakers do you have on your tower and what's powering them?

[ranger098]

Tell us some more about your system. I think Newty might be on to something and you're loading up too much resistance on your deck if you're powering too much on it.

How many speakers do you have in your boat, and what's powering them? How many speakers do you have on your tower and what's powering them?

the 4 rear speakers are ran off the rear L and rear R outputs on my amp. the two bow speakers and the two tower speakers are ran off the L and R front of the amp. Yes, you are reading right, 2 speakers for each channel. Nothing is run off the deck anymore. Amp is a JBL 5 channel 50 X 4 RMS.. Maybe the tower speakers are 2 ohm or something, ill have to take em out of the cans to know. Having the issue narrowed to the tower speakers should make for an easy fix, soon as i have a couple free hours to get in there! Till then i can still enjoy the interior speakers which sound pretty darn clean on the new amp.

[MLA]

Low impedance on an amp chnl will certainly put the amp into protect mode and there should be a light on the amp to indicate this. However, it would not have any effect on the operation of the head-unit (deck). Mostly speculation until some things are verified.

[newty]

the 4 rear speakers are ran off the rear L and rear R outputs on my amp. the two bow speakers and the two tower speakers are ran off the L and R front of the amp. Yes, you are reading right, 2 speakers for each channel. Nothing is run off the deck anymore. Amp is a JBL 5 channel 50 X 4 RMS.. Maybe the tower speakers are 2 ohm or something, ill have to take em out of the cans to know. Having the issue narrowed to the tower speakers should make for an easy fix, soon as i have a couple free hours to get in there! Till then i can still enjoy the interior speakers which sound pretty darn clean on the new amp.
Ok, I thought you had your interior speakers running off the deck. Skimmed through the original post.

[ranger098]

UPDATE all.... Thought i should share this for future members looking for answers...

Earlier in this thread i said my tower speakers were the culprit, but that's not true. it just reduced the amount of power that the amp needed to deliver so it helped the cutting out but didnt solve the issue.

The real issue was a bad battery ground at the engine (port side low on the engine). It's a 0 AWG wire that runs from there to the battery in the storage compartment under the glove box. In my case, there was paint at the engine connection that was preventing a solid ground. I just had to remove the ground connection and scrape that paint off and now the stereo works flawlessly with all 8 speakers running. Something to check out!

[MLA]

Is your head-unit still grounded to the factory boat harness? The audio should have a complete circuit through the battery, not the engine block.

[ranger098]

In my past troubleshooting i moved the head unit ground to the battery. Didnt fix my problem, but i think its a better place for the ground anyway.