installed sub, now drivers controls dont work...

[STANG KILLA SS]

yeah ive been reading about them, im VERY electrically inclined. but never dealt with relays.

what makes no scense is why im even talking about all this. the blue RTL is not going to the DCs at all. it has its own two wires coming from the head unit. i assume one is power and the other is signal.

the only possible corrilation is if the blue RTL is split internally on the circuitboard inside the HU and goes to the DCs threw one of its dedicated wires. then the blue RTL would already be split and possibly maxed out amprage wise with the factory amp and DCs. and the second amp and 3rd amprage draw put it over the top with too much draw.

[pickle311]

cool. i ran into something like that in my highschool days. i tried to wire a neon light to the amp using the ground and the blue remote lead to turn it on when the amp came on. it was too much draw if i remember right and wouldnt work all the time.

im not real familiar with relays.
pickle how do you think the factory wired the stereo if i ordered the two amp package?

it is NOT running the remote off the blue wire. unless its done internally inside the radio. the blue wire does not go to the drivers controls. and im getting power to the DCs. its just the buttons that arent working. the display is lit up and working.

It could be powering though an internal circuit that's connected to the remote wire, no real way of knowing though. Even if it's not, I still suggest a relay. I use them on all of my installs just so I don't have to worry about the remote circuit and I tend to use a lot of amps. I can assure you that the factory didn't use a relay, they just ran a remote wire to each amp from the head unit, or jumped from one amp to the other. Either way, all of the amps are pulling from that single source.

I also want to make sure I'm understand the driver controls correctly. It's a 2 wire system, one is like a mini headphone jack and the other BUS plug. The mini headphone jack should be carrying the power for the remote and the BUS plug is going to carry the input/output signal. If it's lit up that tells you that it has power. So it looks like everything is powered on but you have no control. That leaves 1 of 3 things that could be happening.

1. The Bus plug is loose at the head unit or remote
2. Everything is plugged in correctly and tight, but there's not enough current from the power source to fully power the remote. It lights us, but just not enough power to allow communications between it and the head unit. This is a likely scenario and could possibly be fixed with a relay as we already mentioned.
3. Faulty remote. Only way to prove this is to replace it with a new one or a known good remote.

What it comes down to is you check all connections at the radio and remote to ensure they are good. Disconnect the remote wire from all of your amps and see if you then regain control from the remote. If no, the remote is bad, if yes then a relay will cure your disease.

[newty]

The blue wire (or the lead wire to the remote) may also be your illumination power. Does the remote work with that wire disconnected? That would may help track down the problem. If it does then maybe run that lead wire to the switched power to the deck or to your light switch in the dash. That way its only illuminated when the lights are on in the boat. You really don't get any benefit from having the remote illinated during the day anyway.

[pickle311]

Illumination wire is Orange, sometimes it gets tied to the remote wire so the buttons illuminate anytime the radio is on.

[STANG KILLA SS]

newty: the blue wire does NOT go to the drivers controls remote.
pickle: ive pretty much iliminated the loose connection scenario. ive un-did and re-did connections over 20 times now. only other possibility would be a bad crimp or partially broken wire somewhere. where the redoing is making it just make or not make contact.

ive got lots of scenarios to test now.

im going to start by just removing the blue wire to the new amp. although i tried that many times at the lake and it did not seem to make a difference. controls still did not work.

ill keep ya posted

many thanks so far!

[rdlangston13]

This is what warranties are for lol

[STANG KILLA SS]

i hate stealerships.
did all my own 20hour service etc. i cant afford to miss any riding. and i like to do all my own work.
plus driving 2 hours to the dealership each way with these gas prices etc.

lol i told the salesman when i drove off the lot that would be the last time he would probly ever see me

[STANG KILLA SS]

so i get home with all these tests i want to run, i flip on the stereo test and the DCs work just fine
i just cant figure this out. its SO random. i let it run for a bit to see if it got hot or something and quit working but it worked perfect. turned the switch on and off several times, always with perfect working results.
the blue wire to the second (sub) amp was hooked up at the time.
i made sure not to touch ANYTHING. were going out to the lake thursday to ride, ill be anxious to see what happens....

[you da man]

so i get home with all these tests i want to run, i flip on the stereo test and the DCs work just fine
i just cant figure this out. its SO random. i let it run for a bit to see if it got hot or something and quit working but it worked perfect. turned the switch on and off several times, always with perfect working results.
the blue wire to the second (sub) amp was hooked up at the time.
i made sure not to touch ANYTHING. were going out to the lake thursday to ride, ill be anxious to see what happens....

We'll be out there around 2pm. I'll be sure to do plenty of power turns

[pickle311]

I would put money on a faulty remote or faulty BUS cable