I think I need a better ground, but cannot find a suitable location. The main ground bolt (for jump starting) is too large. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Aftermarket stereo engine whine
- Thread starter Ken YZ F1
- Start date
Are you wiring up an amp? If so where is your mounting location....That whining noise is most likely linked to how you wired your power cable and Audio Cables. Its best to wire your Audio Cable away from the power line. As for grounding any bare metal location would be a good ground.
i installed the Thunderworks kit featured in the Dali catalog. Amp is in the trunk. What is a ground loop isolator, what does it do and where are they sold?
http://www.autosoundgear.com/Value/itemdesc.asp?CartId=8777016-ACCWARE-MOPPZ914&Ic=SGLI&Cc=&tpc=
I just ordered this one myself - there are a bunch of places you can buy these, just do a search of different car audio supply on line. This one was $14 - you can find them in your local car stereo hook-up store, but I was quoted $40 locally , so bought on-line.
What it does? Ground loops are where there is a small potential difference between the point you connect the amplifier say, to where you connect the head unit. Current can flow between these different potentials, particularly high frequency noise, like alternator whine. The RCA cable effectively joins the ground system of one component to the other: The ground loop isolator decouples them, by connecting in between the two components on the RCA Cable; it Transformer-couples the signal so there is no hard DC connection between the 2 components, but the audio signal is effectively tranferred. This keeps the ground seperate & reduces the effect of the potential difference of the grounds.
[This message has been edited by D'Ecosse (edited 17 December 2002).]
Most of the noise caused by installing an amp in the car is caused by a bad ground. Actually this is the cause of most noise in any car stereo instalation. Choose a good ground and make sure both surfaces are clean and free from paint. If done right you should not need any kind of noise supressers.
Several NSX'rs seem to suffer from this problem, especially with after-market amplifiers. There is certainly more possibility for a ground loop under this scenario. On my own installation (not done by me originally) good components & good technique have been utilized; still it has persisted. I have what appears to be a good ground to the trunk-mounted amplifier, short heavy gauge wire directly fastened to chassis, clean to metal & star washer: for this reason I suspect the original ground to the stock head unit possibly being marginal & perhaps the root of most peoples' issue.
However, what you believe to be a good chassis ground may in fact not be, even if a bare surface with star at point of connection is utilized - for example body panels are connected by paint-paint surfaces etc.
The best method to eliminate ground loops is to have all components terminate to the same physical grounding point, provided a low resistance (i.e. heavy gauge) connecting cable is utilized.
Note that a GLI is not a noise suppressor as such, it is a dc isolating component to prevent direct current flowing between the components if any potential difference between them is present i.e. caused by high resistance ground at one location. Because the dc "loop" is broken, direct current cannot flow around it, thereby eliminating the effect, if not necessarily the direct cause.
Your suggestions are all valid. The only reason I don't like those things is because you haven't solved your problem. You still have a bad ground somewhere. This could cause a lack of performance from the product with the faulty ground. Imagine running the ground through a resistor, there is going to be a voltage drop.
I had a ground loop issue in my NSX, simply choosing another ground location resolved my problem.
I had a ground loop issue in my NSX, simply choosing another ground location resolved my problem.
I'll be working on the ground issue today. I'll post my results or lack there of. Thanks for all the advice!
