G23 stereo help
 

I have replaced the factory amps in my G23 with a JL MHD 750/1 and MHD 900/5 and now I have an odd problem where my factory clarion head unit turns off or basically resets itself (which also causes my amps to reset themselves since remote turn on is wired to the HU). The amps are powered by the 4 ga factory wiring. The problem only happens at high volume levels. The amp gains were set using test tone cd and voltmeter per the JL manual. If I turn down the gain on the sub channel the problem goes away. I'm thinking that the amps are drawing too much power causing the voltage to drop below spec for the head unit? Any thoughts on this?


Another unrelated problem I'm having is static and poor sound quality through the HU aux input. I have plugged directly into the aux rcas to rule out a bad 3.5 mm jack or noise due to improperly run rcas and still had static and poor sound quality. When I hook my iPhone up though the USB port the sound quality is great. HU is factory Clarion CMD8 I think. Any suggestions please help....

For starters, a single 4-gauge is required for both individual amplifiers.
Hopefully the 900/5 is not driving more than a total of four in-boat coaxials.
If you think that the voltage is dropping below the HU operational voltage then measure it across those terminals with a multimeter at the moment the HU shuts off. It beats speculation.
Low voltage can also be created by a poor HU ground or a HU ground not shared with the two amplifiers.

Yes each amp has it's own 4 ga that is fed from the nautique power distribution center. The HU is grounded to the same ground as the 900/5. I figured I would just throw this out there to see if anyone else had this issue. Can a voltage drop even cause the HU to reset itself? Typically if there was a power drain on the system most HUs just dim not actually shut off.

Also why is it bad to run more than 4 in boat speakers? Yes the power drops to 75 watts per channel at 2 ohms but the amp is rated to run at 2 ohms...

And, how are your batteries?

G23 stereo help
 

Batteries are fine. The boat is only a few months old. I think they are deka marine starting for both. Boat came factory with batteries running 2ga to the battery switch and output of battery switch to a distribution bus then to blue sea 60 amp breakers (one for each amp) then 4ga to the amps.

So 400 watts (4X100) is 100 watts per each of four speakers. 300 watts (4X75) is 37.5 watts per each of six speakers once you balance the output levels of all speakers. That's a major power drop off.
Normally a strictly regulated amplifier has a number of advantages. In the case of the HD600/4 the impedance load of any two channels will not bias the output of the other two channels because it has dual power supplies. The HD900/5 also has dual power supplies but one is for the highpass/fullrange four channels and the other is for the sub/mono channel. Thus, the front and rear channels cannot operate in total independence related to the power supply. There just isn't enough real estate in that chassis for triple power supplies. So the HD900/5 is the premier multi-channel amplifier as long as you run four symmetrical 4-ohm fullrange speakers and any 1.5 to 4-ohm sub combination. For a six coaxial set-up there are better choices.
IMO, adding a small XD200/2 for the bow speakers would set this right giving you 267% more power to each of the four cockpit coaxials.

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I still have the factory Polk speakers in boat and they sound pretty good the wY it's hooked up now. If I change those out to something with higher power I will probably rewire per your suggestion. The current setup is night and day better than the factory setup (I'm running a w6 off the 900/5 and a pair of rev 10s off the 750/1)

Hey I had the same problem on my G23. The problem is in the factory wiring. From the power buss to the circuit breaker is a 10guage jumper wire. It is only 4 gauge from the breaker to the amp. To get to it remove the cover under the dash and look towards the walk way. You will see what I'm talking about. Replace it and you will be fine

It's a lost cause. You should sell it to someone you know for salvage value, and make room for the $h!t box in the slip. I know a guy in your area.

Did you ever fix the problem? If so what was it?
My take on the issue is that, I'm assuming you have only 1 battery and when your system starts pulling some amps the voltage dips to a low point where your head unit turns off. A 2nd or 3rd battery can help in voltage dips. My 2nd thought is that the factory head unit worked just fine with stock wiring. The power to the head unit could be drawing from a already taxed source. Try switching the source where your head unit gets it's power.

When I do a system I create a independent power distribution source. The only factory source I use is a Key'd "kick on" to turn relays on. These relays get power directly from the battery and DONT run or depend on power that comes from (who knows where) factory wires can be daisy chained 1 to another to power mulitable devices and causes issues.

So if you create a solid relayed power source that's good to go where you tap off of you won't have these types of problems in the future good luck and let us know

Not yet I've been out of town. I think superair's suggestion may fix it - I'll give that a try when I get home

Ok I fixed the problem. As suprair mentioned the is small gauge wire from the distribution bus to the circuit breaker. This is the wire http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/22/epajagez.jpg

I replaced both circuit breakers to 4 gauge. Here is a pic after I did the first one (wire loop on left):http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/22/vyta5uga.jpg

I thought for sure this had to be the problem but still same result - when I cranked the volume the HU turned off. I did some more troubleshooting and figured it had to be the HU ground. From the factory it is run to the cockpit amp ground. Reran a good ground to the HU and problem solved. This is not a 10k custom system but it sure does put the factory system to shame. A few pics: http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/22/3yheqeje.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/04/22/re7u7u9e.jpg

The factory sub is disconnected. I plan on having the new box rhino lined and then covered with seadeck to match the factory look inside.