I have a civic ex. I hooked up a system today. Played fine for an hour straight. Then i turn it on later and everything shuts off. The amps, eq, headunit. I check my fuses and the radio/cigarette lighter was blown. I replaced that but right when i push it in it popped. I tried a 20 amp fuse instead of 15 and it did the same thing. Then i unhooked the wire under my hood that powers the amps. That should have illiminated it if it was a problem with the amps. Put a fuse in and it popped. Also when i am driving with lights on it makes the door ajar sound. Any suggestions. Could it be my hu?? i know its not the amps seeing as i diconnected them.


i thought i had fixed it by disconnecting illumination. should i change from the factory ground to a better one??? Should i run a new power wire but keep it on a swithch???

 

since you have both amps and an EQ in the system, you are obviously kinda serious with the system, so there are some things you might want to do differently:

1) when wiring up the headunit (HU) some professionals will suggest you use only the OEM ingition wire, and run the rest yourself. this is, of course, up to you, but in the long run may help prevent ground loop interference. so, run a FUSED hot from the battery, a ground straight to the chassis, and the RCA to your EQ input.

2) for the EQ (which im assuming is in the dash below the HU) wire its power straight off the battery also, but with another FUSE. and ground it in the same place or very close to the HU ground.

it sounds like you wired up something through the OEM radio wire, and your setup is drawing too many amps through that RADIO/CIG fuse. either that, or you have a short somewhere (which is very dangerous, DO NOT put a bigger than OEM fuse, and DO NOT jump the wire.) most aftermarket HU's have a 10 amp fuse on the back, and most EQ's will come with an inline 7.5 or 10 amp fuse. DO NOT ever exceed those ratings, or you run the risk of electrical fire.

if you can, draw up a schematic of how you installed the HU and EQ, and i will try and find your prob.

 

Well shit... can ya help me too? Mine keeps poppin like a popping noise thru the speaker... it seems to happen when i hit a bump..

 

ttt.

 

94civicb16 - you try any of that stuff? you fix the prob?

pinktools - im happy to help you with some stuff too, but i would suggest making ur own thread, i dont want to be disrespectful to the thread starter.

 

im not useing a head unit. im just running power to a eq through the factory harness. turns on when ignition on. i am running an ipod as a input. the fust only pops when i turn up the bass, obviously sucking power. i can play my highs and mids loud and nothing happens. when bass is up eq light dims and fuse pops. i think their is a short somewhere. i was going to run a fused wire from batt and put it on a switch so it dont stay on constantly. let me know if you can help. also should i run the other ground???

i tried something similar to what you said. i avoided using the harness. i ran a wire to the fuse box to the radio fuse. didnt use the harness at all. ran my own ground and tried it. i used the standard speaker wire to do this and instead of popping a fuse it started to smoke, i turned off the car and then seen that the ignition fuse popped?? odd. should i run a thicker wire to the battery and put a 30 amp fust on it?? but then how will i turn it off. the only way i know is through the ignition. but how??

also 2 gauges were hooked up to that wire, the power wires for the eq and the remote wire for the amp. i mean that wire melted when i ran a seperate wire. what would cause this. its a big headache

 

kinda sounds like a short somewhere

 

yea but i didnt even use the harness. why would it be only when i turn up the bass, i can play my highs loud all day

 

Ground, Ground, Ground!!!!!!!!!!!! , Is Your Eq A Passive Or Power Eq?
Use A Relay To Switch The Power On/off With The Ignition
Again I Bet It Is A Ground Issue

 

It's possible that there is a bad ground, but most likely the problem is that you are drawing too much current through a small fuse (pop) or a thin wire (melt). You need to get the EQ powered via a FUSED line from the battery, with the fuse as close to the battery as possible, and use the under-dash wire that WAS powering the EQ as a signal input to turn the EQ on. This pic should help.

Most EQs have a four-wire plug:
-a RED power in (fused +12v from the battery)
-a BLACK chassis ground (close to the EQ itself)
-a YELLOW remote input (from the CD player or other signal in)
-a BLUE remote output (to the amps)

Oh, and I am not liable for any damages or injuries that may result from miswiring or mistakes.