Subwoofer not working?

[chrisbarnes]

Hey

Just wondering if any one out there could offer me some help as I'm about to loose the will to live! :x

The other day i brought a subwoofer and head unit from halfords. (fli active 12) and (sony CDX-GT26) for my twingo 1.2 extreme. with the promise it would all just fit together in 10 mins and work perfect!

so i set to work, took the old head unit out replaced with new one, works absolutely fine.

so i decided to start on the sub, ran the battery cable from the battery to the boot, wired it in, then the RCA's to the stereo and into the back of the head unit.

yet i don't seem to be getting anything, Apparently there is a light that should come on with the sub. yet i cant see anything.

I was just wondering if any one knows where i could be going wrong?

Any questions or help would be like HUGELY appreciated! thanks Chris

 

[Chicken]

Might get told differently but worth a check of the earth point as mine wouldn't work as it was on a painted area and had to take the paint of to get a good earth. Also could be worth using a circuit tester on the wires to make sure power is going through the cables.

 

[singlespeed]

Besides +12V supply (with a fuse next to the battery) and a good earth (as mentioned by chicken), you also need the amp remote wire from the stereo, so the amp switches on/off when the stereo is on/off.

RCA leads or speaker line level inputs for the actual audio feed

 

[singlespeed]

Just thought, if you have a fuse, is it in? or has it blown?

 

[chrisbarnes]

With the earth i bolted it on to the back of the boot, there was this kinda loop thing so i unbolted it and pushed it against, i scraped most of the paint off but maybe not enough! Will defiantly try that

Yes i have checked both fuses both seem to be fine.

There is a remote cable, i had it wired in but took it off to see if the sub would switch on but still no!

i think the circuit tester is a good idea i might see if i can borrow one from college tomorrow and do that!

One thing i was wondering, on the battery on the positive terminal there is this weird kinda splitter? i didn't want to touch it so i just undid the bolt on the main pin and pulled the whole lot off, and put the sub wire on the main pin.. if that makes any sense haha!

Thanks for all the quick reply's, first time on this forum its really good

 

[Chicken]

Where about's you from as a member reading this may be able to look and help. I put my live onto the splitter part i think when I had my extreme but I've slept a lot since then

 

[chrisbarnes]

Im from alton in hampshire Near guildford if thats a bit of a bigger place to recognise

Oh okay, that may be where i am going wrong, I will try and borrow a volt meter tomorrow and see if its anything to do with the power.

Also while I'm here what cable does the remote wire too?

 

[singlespeed]

With the earth i bolted it on to the back of the boot, there was this kinda loop thing so i unbolted it and pushed it against, i scraped most of the paint off but maybe not enough! Will defiantly try that
If you can get the tester, set it to ohms/resistance testing and put one test lead onto the battery -ve terminal and the other onto the cable where it connects to your amp... As your now testing through the earth connection you have made, this will confirm you have a good ground between the cable and body which is the route back to the battery. Should see 0.2-0.4 ohms or around that depending on your meter. Idealy it would be the same reading as just touching the two test probes togeher

Yes i have checked both fuses both seem to be fine.
multimeter across the fuses would confirm, set to ohms should read the same as it does if you touch the two test probes together

There is a remote cable, i had it wired in but took it off to see if the sub would switch on but still no! You will need this to switch the amp on/off when the stereo is on/off.


One thing i was wondering, on the battery on the positive terminal there is this weird kinda splitter? i didn't want to touch it so i just undid the bolt on the main pin and pulled the whole lot off, and put the sub wire on the main pin.. if that makes any sense haha!
That houses three or four larger fuses for various parts of the engine/body electrics. If your having an inline fuse in your amp supply cable, next to the battery, going onto the main post would be fine

Thanks for all the quick reply's, first time on this forum its really good

 

[chrisbarnes]

Thank you! Thats absolutely perfect advice! i went to halfords and asked and they were going to charge me 40 pounds to even verbally help me!

I will defiantly try that tomorrow! One last thing, if i want to check there is power actually going through the cable to the sub what do i do?

 

[singlespeed]

Do the above checks, to confirm you have good fuses and a good earth connection and it's almost a certainty you will have battery voltage at the amp. But...

Connect up the cables to the amp and insert the fuses, With the meter set to == VDC (not ~Vac) you should see 12-14V between the amp +12v feed and earth cables terminal. You should see a change in voltage between the Remote cable terminal on the amp and earth when the stereo is switched on/off as this i what powers the relay inside the amp to turn it on/off

 

[chrisbarnes]

Brought a multi meter today, 15 quid not bad haha! but the cables are pretty short on it so I'm going to have to take the sub out and put it next to the battery, didn't really want to do it in the rain today but will get back to you as soon as i have! unless there is a easier way?

 

[singlespeed]

for testing the earth resistance as above, a six foot length of wire firmly twisted onto one of the probes will be ok to act as an extention.

Not recomended for testing voltage though