69 replies to this topic

[christhegasman]

The purple and the red ? These are the switch and permanent live I think , These are ok the cd dosnt spin constantly just when I first power it up I guess the other plug is speakers ? Makes no difference if this is in or out But remove the mains plug and no drain Also when I put the fuse in it sparks a little so this would confirm a drain or power usage

[The Batman]

A cd player when ignition is off will release the cd and take a cd electrically.

[turbobob]

The purple and the red ?
These are the switch and permanent live I think ,
These are ok the cd dosnt spin constantly just when I first power it up
I guess the other plug is speakers ? Makes no difference if this is in or out
But remove the mains plug and no drain
Also when I put the fuse in it sparks a little so this would confirm a drain or power usage

Can you turn the stereo on when the ignition is off?

[christhegasman]

No it goes off with the ignition but retains it's Chanel settings

[turbobob]

No it goes off with the ignition but retains it's Chanel settings

SOunds like the permanent live and switched live are the right way round.

As it is standard ISO wiring, have you got another stereo you can chuck in?

[ghand]

It may spark a little when you put the fuse in as all the caps charge up but then the in rush fades and it should be next to nothing after that and you should not see a big spark if you do it again a few seconds later.

[christhegasman]

Tried 2 Sony head units and get the same results

[turbobob]

Tried 2 Sony head units and get the same results

Ok, do you have a non Sony head unit you can try?

As I mentioned before the main wires that should be connected are two lives, one ground and 4 speaker wires. What wires are connected on yours?

[christhegasman]

2 lives 1 permanent and 1 switched 1 earth Then the other plug has around 8 but having thus plugged in or not makes no difference

[turbobob]

2 lives 1 permanent and 1 switched 1 earth
Then the other plug has around 8 but having thus plugged in or not makes no difference

The other 8 are for a 4 speaker system. Assuming you only have the two speakers only 4 should be connected.

It sounds like the power wiring is right as the unit is turning off when the ignition is turned off. However there is a chance that the stereo may still switch off when the ignition is turned off even if the permanent and switched lives are swapped. Can you turn the stereo on after it has gone off when the ignition has been turned off?

[christhegasman]

no all seems to be ok begining to think my multimeter is wrong but seems ok on all other fuses and something is killing my battery every week or so

[turbobob]

Maybe fully charge the battery, take the stereo out completely and see what its like in 1 - 2 weeks?

[christhegasman]

Think that's a good plan I will remove the fuse while its in the garage for a couple of weeks and see what happens when I push the starter then if it's bot flat it must be something on that circuit How would it be if a ran a new earth and perm live to the radio and did away with the existing ?

[StealthVXT]

Think that's a good plan I will remove the fuse while its in the garage for a couple of weeks and see what happens when I push the starter then if it's bot flat it must be something on that circuit
How would it be if a ran a new earth and perm live to the radio and did away with the existing ?

Do you program the buttons on it? if not then just remove the permanent power and keep the ignition one. Then it will just reset your head unit every time but will not draw any power when the ignition is off!

[MellowYellow]

I've got a crap Sony X-Plod head unit which only works (say works, emits a noise sometimes passable as music) with the car running (ignition live), it saves the presets so must be wired to a permanently live supply and it doesn't drain the battery so I don't think it's a "brand" related problem. It may be worth following the wiring through from the head unit to see if anything has been trapped by trim etc in the past by accident.

[turbobob]

Think that's a good plan I will remove the fuse while its in the garage for a couple of weeks and see what happens when I push the starter then if it's bot flat it must be something on that circuit
How would it be if a ran a new earth and perm live to the radio and did away with the existing ?

Before you change the wiring you want to establish that it is the stereo / wiring that is the issue. Charge the battery, pull the fuse and see what happens.

[TheRealVXed]

I have a Sony too. Didn't touch the car for 8 weeks (no alarm set but everything else connected). When I came to start it I had no issues at all with the battery. Not even slow cranking (which I was expecting) so I don't think with the wiring correct it draws anything really. Although even if I unplug mine it remembers the stations tuned in so I guess it has non-powered memory? Battery is at least 3 years old too. Hope you get yours fixed! Let us know if it is the head unit.

[smiley]

Whilst trickle chargers are handy, I wouldn't rely on that. All that is going to do is mask the problem. I would want to understand what the issue is and rectify it. The use the trickle charger if you want.

Of course you're spot on, but this electrical problem has been playing for about 10 years now, and the amount of bleeding nuckels and battery investments (some people up to 3 or 4 a year) i have seen passing by on .org makes the money for a trickle charger well spent

Hail to the king for whever fixes this permanently though

Edited by smiley, 27 July 2011 - 11:53 AM.

[turbobob]

Whilst trickle chargers are handy, I wouldn't rely on that. All that is going to do is mask the problem. I would want to understand what the issue is and rectify it. The use the trickle charger if you want.

Of course you're spot on, but this electrical problem has been playing for about 10 years now, and the amount of bleeding nuckels and battery investments (some people up to 3 or 4 a year) i have seen passing by on .org makes the money for a trickle charger well spent

Hail to the king for whever fixes this permanently though

I sincerely doubt there is a one fix fixes all solution to this. Electrics run throughout the car and I suspect will differ considerably.

Unfortunately it is a time consuming process that needs to follow a logical process to deduce where the power drain is.

[christhegasman]

Do I understand correctly from this that this is a commOn problem?