Best location for amplifier ground...

[Royal-T-Ltd]

...in the trunk... where are you guys grounding amps... just got done putting my old stuff back in... have a lil bit of "alternator whine".. i am assuming its from a poor ground... i went to bare metal on the side of quarter panel reinforcement.... let me know where you guys put'em.... thks

 

[DR BOOST]

rear seat belt bolt

 

[DCVING 6]

...in the trunk... where are you guys grounding amps... just got done putting my old stuff back in... have a lil bit of "alternator whine".. i am assuming its from a poor ground... i went to bare metal on the side of quarter panel reinforcement.... let me know where you guys put'em.... thks

Did you run the RCA cables on the same side as the power wire to the amp? I've heard that doing so can cause the alt whine.

 

[GlockandRoll]

There are two main rules of thumb to follow to eliminate alternator whine in car audio.

1. Ground ALL of your electrical components at the same point, to the frame with paint scrapped away at the source of the largest voltage consuming point. (The amp).

2. Run shielded RCA patch cables on a different side of the car than the power cable. (If you have to be near one, pass it at a 90 degree intersection, and do not run parallel to it.)

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

Did you run the RCA cables on the same side as the power wire to the amp? I've heard that doing so can cause the alt whine.

nope.... my power runs down the driver's side, rcas run down the passenger, ground is a short stretch in the trunk – probably less than 18"s

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

There are two main rules of thumb to follow to eliminate alternator whine in car audio.

1. Ground ALL of your electrical components at the same point, to the frame with paint scrapped away at the source of the largest voltage consuming point. (The amp).

2. Run shielded RCA patch cables on a different side of the car than the power cable. (If you have to be near one, pass it at a 90 degree intersection, and do not run parallel to it.)

1. yeah i thought about this... i might extend the head unit ground and bring it back to the trunk and ground it with the amp.... [its already sanded to bare metal]

2. i will double check.... dont think i have any power wires running parallel... but when i pushed everything back one might be close.... maybe i need to tie wrap somethings....

i will keep you posted on my findings...

 

[GlockandRoll]

Sometimes alternators are just loud, and if the battery isn't healthy it's going to work even harder. I've added capacitors and swapped over to AGM optima batteries with pretty good results.

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

Sometimes alternators are just loud, and if the battery isn't healthy it's going to work even harder. I've added capacitors and swapped over to AGM optima batteries with pretty good results.

Yeah i read about having too many accessories on the battery too.... mine does have a lot.... fan harness, hid harness, stereo..... etc.


i also read about adding a capacitor... might do that just to be safe. it should help out for those bass heavy songs... i have an optima red top battery.

 

[uniquesnd]

grounds should be as short as possible to bare metal or the frame(best place) also try upgrading your body ground they tend to go bad plus they are usually small! If that doesnt fix it take it to your local MECP certified installer(like me )!

 

[GlockandRoll]

grounds should be as short as possible to bare metal or the frame(best place) also try upgrading your body ground they tend to go bad plus they are usually small! If that doesnt fix it take it to your local mecp certified installer(like me :d)!

+1

 

[DR BOOST]

grounds should be as short as possible to bare metal or the frame(best place) also try upgrading your body ground they tend to go bad plus they are usually small! If that doesnt fix it take it to your local MECP certified installer(like me )!

the frames on g-bodies are not grounded i believe.

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

grounds should be as short as possible to bare metal or the frame(best place) also try upgrading your body ground they tend to go bad plus they are usually small! If that doesnt fix it take it to your local MECP certified installer(like me )!

yeah - i understand, in post 1 i mentioned it was to bare metal, it is also quite short - less than 15" ....i already have redundant grounds all over the place and i had a system in there years ago and the wiring is all the same..... only thing that really has changed is recently i installed an autozone alternator..... i dont think that what cause this....

....as soon as i catch up on work i will extend the head unit ground and add the capacitor.... no offense but i will NEVER bring my car to a shop to have it worked on......

 

[TurboBuRick]

It can also be a bad ground on the head unit itself. Something to look at. I would never extend the head unit ground to the back of the car. Thats just ridiculous. The whole idea is to ground stereo components as close to the units as possible.

Power feeds for amps should also avoid being to close the coilpack/module.

GL

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

It can also be a bad ground on the head unit itself. Something to look at. I would never extend the head unit ground to the back of the car. Thats just ridiculous. The whole idea is to ground stereo components as close to the units as possible.

Power feeds for amps should also avoid being to close the coilpack/module.

GL

yeah i never thought about running the head unit ground that far either..... until i started reading about ground loop. your supposed to try and have a common ground and i'm sure not gonna run the 4gauge amp ground to the head unit

 

[VMineo]

Put a bigger ground strap from the driver head to the body.Could be the problem,if not a line driver(audio control,crystal line)will fix it.No need to run the ground from the radio to the back.Another way to get rid of it is run a ground from the battery to the ground in the trunk(Same size as b+ power wire which im guessing is a 4ga).Twist the power wire and ground wires from the battery to the trunk together.It gets rid of the magnetic flux (phase cancellation).Another reason for alternator wine is cheap rca.Get some twisted double if not triple shielded rca.No reason to re-route the power wires away from the speaker wires.Do you have any y jacks on the rca's or barrels to make them longer?Could also be the problem.It could also the alternator straining.I could go on forever,if you need some help pm me.

 

[VMineo]

I just saw in your post you mentioned a cap.DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY.THEY DO NOT WORK THE WAY EVERYONE THINKS.1 farad=1 Amp so it will take about 650 1 farad caps to equal one car battery.Yes they can charge and dischange quickly.They were needed with tube amps.(Unless you have a tube amp in your car).A Cap will only work if used as a filter on the alternator line to help filter out the ac,but then you got the battery.IMO its not worth it.Their mostly for cosmetics

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

forgot to update....

.... i didnt have to move my ground at all.... it was my patch cable.... my RCAs which run down the passenger side conduit and then up the wheel well hump got too tight against the C pillar/Sail trim panels and against the sheet metal and was giving all kind of noise.... i loosened the panel and pulled it out some and the noise disappeared.....

 

[Turbo RX-6]

I just saw in your post you mentioned a cap.DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY.THEY DO NOT WORK THE WAY EVERYONE THINKS.1 farad=1 Amp so it will take about 650 1 farad caps to equal one car battery.Yes they can charge and dischange quickly.They were needed with tube amps.(Unless you have a tube amp in your car).A Cap will only work if used as a filter on the alternator line to help filter out the ac,but then you got the battery.IMO its not worth it.Their mostly for cosmetics

Mostly cosmetics???.....Trust me after burning up 2 alternators I finally wised up and went with a cheap 1 farad digital cap from Lightning Audio and I haven't had a problem since then. I would strongly recommend a cap on any car that has amped subs. Not to mention you can definitely tell a difference how the bass sounds.

 

[Royal-T-Ltd]

.... i didnt have to move my ground at all.... it was my patch cable.... my RCAs which run down the passenger side conduit and then up the wheel well hump got too tight against the C pillar/Sail trim panels and against the sheet metal and was giving all kind of noise.... i loosened the panel and pulled it out some and the noise disappeared.....

update again........ okay i was running another set of speaker wire to the front of the car and removed the head unit.... reinstalled it and the noise came back....... ...... played around with different ground locations for the head unit and moved it and NOW ITS BETTER THAN EVER so maybe a combination of a few things.... it all good now:biggrin:... maybe this experience will help someone down the road

 

[TurboBuRick]

update again........ okay i was running another set of speaker wire to the front of the car and removed the head unit.... reinstalled it and the noise came back....... ...... played around with different ground locations for the head unit and moved it and NOW ITS BETTER THAN EVER so maybe a combination of a few things.... it all good now:biggrin:... maybe this experience will help someone down the road

Didn't someone say that? :biggrin: