Stereo turning itself on and draining batteries

Hey folks, I am having some problem with our stereo. It was professionally installed by Liquid Trends about 2.5 years ago. Recently I had to replace the 24 month life batteries and since then the stereo turns itself on. The result has been drained batteries after about a week.

I know folks will be skeptical, so here are some pictures. The toggle on the dash is OFF. The ignition is off. It's a little hard to see, but the AMP is powered up, the face on the head unit is flashing on and off and there is a very slight buzz in the speakers.

Any idea what the problem could be? Is there anything I can chase down to test?

Christine!!!!

I had the same problem with my x star. The bateries were dead that's why my sterio kept doing the same thing as yours. Hope that helps

I have found that the MBquart head units fail in different ways... When it happens again, check the red wire on the back of the head unit to see if it has power. If It does not, it's prolly internal on the head unit, meaning a breach somewhere on the board from the constant. Just a guess..

Jeff - Give Dennis a call at LT. I think you got a head unit doing the freak dance. when amps turn on they are getting triggered. A couple possible causes for this, but if your head unit is flashing... I think the diagnosis starts at that point. If it doesnt get sorted out, hit me up and I'll assist.

-Brian
Exile Audio

Jeff,
Several theories have been presented here. Low voltage can confuse microprocessors and anything, while improbable, is possible. Also, water damage/deposits can cause a jumper between traces and a product to turn on unexpectedly.
A simple $10 voltmeter/multimeter will allow you to isolate without question in a few short minutes where the problem is originating.
Low voltage on the boat?
A trigger from the source unit when off?
A voltage present at the amplifier turn-on terminal?

David
Earmark Marine

Every boat should have a master disconnect. (AKA Perko)
I like a dead boat when I leave it. Only bilge pumps and stereo memory (yellow wire)) are allowed constant power by ABYC E-11 for a reason. What if it was a bad switch causing a ballast pump to run dry until it caught fire? A dead boat is safe boat.
Don't get me started with all the sloppy accessory wires and wing nuts on the battery posts I see every day.

I realize this 2 year old thread was revised in order to plug someones ebay store, but if the head-units yellow wire is battery direct, a short in the head-unit could still allow it to power up on its own and run the battery dead, just as the OP had back in 2/13. Or. a bad ignition switch put 12V on the head-unit IGN wire, bam, it turns on until the battery goes dead.

The head unit maybe but the amps would not power up even if triggered off the head.
Now I feel stupid for not looking at dates.

The head-unit wold trigger the amps as normal, but them actually turning on depends on how they are wired. Single battery boat or wired battery direct, and they would come on as normal. If wired through a main battery switch, then i agree, no they wont.