Stereo Problem (Dual Battery)

[MattHSN]

Hello all. I recently bought a SeaRay 180 and the first time I took it out on the water, the stereo stopped working almost immediately. I'm a novice when it comes to electrical systems so I've been searching and troubleshooting, but to no avail.

The problem: I cannot get my amp to turn on while the boat is running.

The facts:
-It's got a dual battery system, which I understand usually has a switch and/or circuit breaker in between the two batteries--this one does not, it's just hardwired.
-I've tested both batteries, they are both in good working order. The amp is brand new out of the box, I bought it earlier this week.
-I've visually inspected all the wiring from deck to amp to battery and back again, it all appears to be in good order. There are two fuses on the large wire that runs from the amp to the battery, which also appear to be in good order.
-There is a switch on the dash that activates the stereo deck, it has a two wires that run to the positive side of both batteries, and one wire that is grounded on the port battery.
-The most interesting/baffling part: when only the starboard battery is hooked up, the amp turns on every time. The second you hook up the port battery, it goes dead. My conclusion to this was that it must be a problem in the connection between the batteries, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

:huh:

I've tried hooking all connections up to one battery, I've tried switching the batteries, I bought the new amp, I've been fussing with it for three days straight now...what could I be missing? Any help from you scholars would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Boat Guy]

How are the batteries connected together? Maybe take a picture?

"it has a two wires that run to the positive side of both batteries" What wires? What colors? (Usually Red & Yellow )

"one wire that is grounded on the port battery" --- I would think you would want to ground on the same battery as the power leads.

Personally, I would look for a fuse block or circuit breaker to connect the power leads to.... I would also connect the ground to a ground block. I'm not sure connecting directly to the battery is best.

Usually the receiver has a lead that sends a signal to power the amp. I think it's a blue/white wire.

 

[MattHSN]

Thank you, I'll try a different ground tomorrow. I looked for a fuse block, circuit breaker, switch, or something that the battery runs to, and I haven't been able to find anything.

I can take a picture tomorrow if you like, but the batteries are connected by one red positive cable that runs from the positive of one battery to the positive of the other, and one black ground cable that runs from the negative of one battery to the negative of the other.

From the switch, there is one wire that runs to each battery, they are both red, there's also a ground wire on the port battery from the switch. Is your suggestion to ground the switch on the same battery as the amp power wire? If so I can try that tomorrow.

 

[Mike Blake]

How about using a test light or a volt meter?

 

[BryanOnTheBay]

Thank you, I'll try a different ground tomorrow. I looked for a fuse block, circuit breaker, switch, or something that the battery runs to, and I haven't been able to find anything.

I can take a picture tomorrow if you like, but the batteries are connected by one red positive cable that runs from the positive of one battery to the positive of the other, and one black ground cable that runs from the negative of one battery to the negative of the other.

From the switch, there is one wire that runs to each battery, they are both red, there's also a ground wire on the port battery from the switch. Is your suggestion to ground the switch on the same battery as the amp power wire? If so I can try that tomorrow.

Take pictures, LOTS of pictures and post them using a Photobucket account due to the limitations on the size you can upload here.

You are describing two batteries hooked up in parallel. Essentially they are one battery as far as you are concerned. In the future, I would look into separating them with a battery switch, for many reasons that you can dig into on this forum.

With the pictures, there are MANY on this forum who can lead you through what you are doing wrong. I would also check out this thread, http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/65115-Official-Aftica-Stereo-Install-thread, which has an incredibly thorough and detailed description of installing a stereo system over the months of planning and installation. I know the thread author would be more than happy to help you.

Bryan

 

[ZZ13]

To simplify it you have three potential paths that would kill the sound.

1. Power/ground to the head unit
2. Power/ground to the amp
3. Turn-on wire from head unit to amp

For 2 and 3, the head unit would still light up, just no sound. So if the head unit is not lighting up then the problem is #1. In that case check out that switch with a meter and/or bypass it and see if the head unit powers.