PDA

View Full Version : AMP is still on when car is off...


outatime
22-12-2007, 01:04 PM
Hi,

when my car is switch off, the amplifier is still sucking power from the battery. the amp is wired directly to the battery...

is there a way to switch off the amp when i turn off the ignition?

thanks.
amurray
22-12-2007, 01:06 PM
what is the Trigger wire wired 2?.... also there will always be current flowing through to your amps even when they are off.
EuroDude
22-12-2007, 01:11 PM
You need to connect the "Remote-In" wire from the Amp to a 12volt power source that is only powered when the Ignition is on. For example the Ciggy Lighter.

Or if your Head Unit has a Remote-Out wire/connection (its usually a blue wire), you can connect that straight into the Amp's Remote-In connector.
outatime
22-12-2007, 01:34 PM
what is the Trigger wire wired 2?.... also there will always be current flowing through to your amps even when they are off.

what is a trigger wire? lol all i know that the wire from the amp is wired straight to the battery...

the thing is if i don't use my car for several days, the battery would be completely drained. it happened once when i went to Melbourne for a week.. the battery died on me when i came back. i will be going on holidays soon and i wanna make sure that this time the battery won't die on me..
outatime
22-12-2007, 01:36 PM
You need to connect the "Remote-In" wire from the Amp to a 12volt power source that is only powered when the Ignition is on. For example the Ciggy Lighter.

Or if your Head Unit has a Remote-Out wire/connection (its usually a blue wire), you can connect that straight into the Amp's Remote-In connector.

is that a relay switch you're talking about?
EuroDude
22-12-2007, 01:57 PM
is that a relay switch you're talking about?

Its the Remote-In (trigger), which is basically a relay built into the Amp to toggle the Power. Your head unit should have a blue wire that plugs into the Amp.

In the pic below, you can see the Blue Remote wire going from the head unit to the amp. This blue wire is only powered when the keys are in the ignition, and the Ingnition is on ( the keys are set to the ON position). Your Amp should have a small connector called "Remote" or similar. All you do is insert the Remote wire into the connector on the Amp (or screw the wire down if its a screw style connector). You dont need to buy a relay or anything.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/5316/image1by8.gif
teaseR
22-12-2007, 03:25 PM
nice diagram!!!
EuroDude
22-12-2007, 04:05 PM
nice diagram!!!

thanks, mspaint ftw lol


@outatime, make sure you have a fuse on the 12v battery line, as close to the battery as possible for safety reasons.
outatime
22-12-2007, 10:01 PM
thanks, mspaint ftw lol


@outatime, make sure you have a fuse on the 12v battery line, as close to the battery as possible for safety reasons.

thanks a lot dude! much appreciated!

btw what is a fuse? do i need to buy that? lol
solitz
22-12-2007, 10:29 PM
u need to fuse to protect the amp from electrial surges/power spikes so u dont blow it up and die

to know what fuse u ahve u might wanna look at ur manaul for the amp and it will tell u to use a reccomened rated fuse (60-80amps) and yeah like eurodude said is to place the fuse as close to the battery as possible.
outatime
22-12-2007, 11:47 PM
oh in case my head unit didn't come with that blue remote wire, what type of wire is that so I can buy it from an electronic store?
amurray
23-12-2007, 12:42 AM
just a small gauge singe wire 24 gauge will be fine... you can get from anywhere... just go to JB or WoW or any car audio place and ask them for 5 or so meters of wire that u can use for trigger wire
EuroDude
23-12-2007, 03:08 AM
There should be a Fuse in the Amp, so have a look at it and use the same rating for the fuse near the battery (its probably around 30Amps). You can buy Fuse holders at Auto shops (AutoOne, SuperCheap, JayCar etc..) pretty cheap.

i.e.
http://www.watsons-streetworks.com/images/new_items/L46H_STD.JPG
http://www.streetwires.com/images/productLargeFH8AGUB.jpg

A fuse on the 12v line near the battery will protect the Amp's Positive power cable from heating up and causing a fire incase of a short or malfunction. Worst case senario, your car will go up in flames.

Having a fuse on the Amp only is no good, because if there is a short, the power cable traveling between the battery and the Amp's fuse will get extremely hot and melt the cable, which would expose the cable to the chassis/carpet and possibly catch alight. Thats why you need a fuse as close to the battery as possible so the fuse blows before it can heat up the power cable and do damage.

And yeah you can use a thin cable for the remote it. Its 12v, but it draws very little Amps so you can use 1mm/2mm wire safely (about the same size as the stock speaker wires).

The 12v power cable powering the Amp from the battery needs to be chucky (say 4 gauge or 8 gauge) because it needs to carry high Amperage. The Amp's ground cable (connecting to the chassis) needs to be the same size or larger than the power cable.


check out http://www.bcae1.com/ and www.the12volt.com for more info