OK, I dusted off some top of the line, 20 year old Car Audio equipment and installed it in the GC. It still rocks like it did when I took it out after all these years, and boy did it bring back some painful memories by the time I was finished. I very clearly remember why I got out of the the custom business. 2 beers, 4 Advil and a neck rub later I thought I was done. Started up the Jeep this morning and holy crapola what a whine from the alternator! I threw every filter I could lay my hands on and just barley knocked the racket down a little.

What are you guys using to silence the alternator noise?

Ron

 

good ground, make sure your rca cables are away from power cables

 

Been down that road, its not ground loop, already fixed that.
Its not positive loop, already fixed that.
Its alternator whine. As I mentioned I threw a few filters at it, and made it better, but its still there.

Ron

 

Maybe it's just old gear showing its age. You never know, it could be....thats my two coppers

 

My alternator doesn't make a peep. I've got a 1000 watt system in my GC with a 1 farad capacitor for the subs and the amps. I also put in a new 90 amp alternator after I had it installed (the original one was toast). Might try that route. I actually need to put in another cap cuz' I've been listening to my system so loud lately that it's starting to pull on the battery too, even with the cap. Just a thought.

 

Then it may be ur altenator, they send some weird frequencies when they are dieing.

 

Are you SURE you didn't run your RCA cables down the same side as the power cable? How many watts? What gauge power wire? How long is the ground coming off the amp(s)?
As mentioned it may just be your alternator as mentioned.

 

I'm currently working in the car audio industry and I agree with you on it making you sore from installing stuff! What's even worse is installing remote starts! Now getting on topic; a way you may be able to silence the alternator whine would be to run a dual battery setup. Buy a fully sealed motorcycle or ATV battery, and run your amp off that. For some strange reason, running a separate battery for your stereo usually gets rid of alternator whine.

 

X2 in car audio for 20 plus years

 

The amps are run on a 10 gauge wire from the fuse block, as they are fused at 5 amps each, that's plenty...so dont head down the wire gauge size. Im going to rewire the amps to the battery tomorrow anyway.

ALSO
Im going to fiddle with the RCA wiring to see if the noise is coming in before or after the EQ. I suspect its between the EQ and the amps.

The grounds are all connected together, and then to a bolt under the dash. I then ran a separate chassis ground from a bolt/screw on each piece of equipment (except the antenna) and connected these to each other.

Ron

 

What is the rms of the amps? What size fuses are in the amps? From the fuse block? The amp power wire should be connected to the battery not fuse block

 

shorten the ground wire to the amps that will help also

 

Just 50 watt amps RMS. Fused at 5 amps each.

I have noticed that the tweeter amp (about 10 watts, 3 amp fuse) does not have the whine. This amp is actually "Y"ed off of the front amp.
Whether are not I take the power from the battery or the hot side of the fuse block, at least in this case is a mute point. The alternator is still the origin of the power.

BUT
I dont like the current set up, so I have run a 12 gauge wire directly to the battery. Fused within 6 inches of the battery. With a little thought I should be able to keep the RCA cables 6 inches or so away from the power.

Ron

 

why another cap.... You sir need a better alternator for your set up another cap wont do anything. Caps really are pointless... If you have a good alternator there wouldnt be a need for a cap in the first place. just bump up to a 136 from a grand cherokee....


your amps I would run 8awg min 4awg if you can if you can directly to the battery and fused within 18" of the battery (i always do a min of 3-9")

your stereo should be wired through the factory harness and then your RCA should be away from your power and shielded.

sounds like you need better grounds too.

your grounds for the amps should be the same gauge wire or even bigger and as short as possible. (18" max)

sounds to me like your power and grounds for your amps are not up to par

 

With respect, I don't need 8 gauge wire.
For a 10 foot length of wire @ #8 gauge (My battery wire is 10 feet long) I would be able to pull 150 amps or 900 watts. The entire system, head unit, EQ, 3 amplifiers, antenna booster and accessory relay is only 20 amps. So if I duplicate the system 7 times over, I would approach maxing the wire out.

My 10 feet of #10 gauge wire is good for 100 amps. Im pulling 10 amps to the amplifiers.

You are DEAD on with your comments on the capacitors!

Info on the amps is the bottom chart:
http://www.rbeelectronics.com/wtable.htm

Ron