How come the FM radio occasionally fades in and out?
If this happens, don't worry. There usually is nothing wrong with your receiver. Unfortunately, due to the way FM is broadcasted, this is a common annoyance. AM signals are transmitted upward and bounce off the ionosphere (part of the earth's atmosphere) and back to earth. That's why you can pick up some of these stations up from quite a distance away.
FM transmissions travel across the surface of the earth, more line of sight. If there is something in between the source of transmission and your receiver, it may block the signal and cause it to fade in and out. If you ever drive around a downtown area that has many tall buildings in it, you'll see what I mean. Even the most expensive radios out there are going to be subject to this intermittent reception problem. Some indash units even feature a Diversity Tuning section which utilizes a dual antenna set-up to combat this problem. This type of arrangement places an antenna (generally a strip design) in the front and rear of the vehicle. The tuner will use whichever antenna has a strong signal. Back To Top
I'm going to install my new receiver. What's the best way to connect the wires together?
You always want to insulate any wire connection to make sure they don't come into contact with anything else. One method is to use Electrical Tape (least recommended). Most installation shops refrain from this practice because it can be undependable. Changing hot and cold weather conditions may cause this type of insulation to fall off eventually. The most common method professional installers prefer is to use Crimp Caps (most recommended). These are small plastic caps with a metal sleeve inside them. Strip the wire insulation back the length of the cap. After twisting the wires together to make a connection, you slide the sleeve over that connection, making sure the cap completely covers any exposed wire. Then squeeze the sleeve around the wires using a crimping tool. Pliers don't work well for this application. These crimping tools are relatively inexpensive (unless you want professional grade crimpers) and available at most local hardware stores or anywhere that carries electrical supplies. Crimping tools usually have wire strippers built into them also. The third method is to Solder the wire connection and insulate it with Shrink Wrap. This method is used in some high end installations, when the installer wants the absolute best conductivity across the connection. This method can be very difficult to do in tight quarters and requires some soldering expertise, so it's not used that often. One final note, use an Installation Harness when putting in your new receiver. It's the best way to make sure you connect to the correct wires in the vehicle which will insure you get top performance out of your new equipment. Back To Top
Everything works OK after I installed my stereo, but the bass sounds very weak. What's wrong?
It sounds like one of your speakers are not in Phase . If your speakers are out of phase, it causes something called Cancellation . This happens when the polarity (+ and –) is reversed on one of the speakers in a pair. Set your fader control to the front. Try going from left to right on your balance control. If the bass level drops when it's in the center, one of those speakers is out of phase. If panning the balance control doesn't produce the problem, the two front speakers are in phase with each other. Now set the fader to the rear and pan the balance from left to right. Again, if the bass drops in the center, you have a speaker out of phase. If it still doesn't duplicate the problem, the two rear speakers should be in phase with each other. Now with the balance set in the center, fade from front to rear. If the bass drops now, one of the pairs (front or rear) is out of phase with the other pair. If that's the case, recheck the wiring to the speakers. Back To Top
What's a Battery Pop Test?
You may see the term “ Battery Pop Test ” referred to often in our Tech FAQs. It's a test performed using a common household battery, AAA up to D cell size. If you were to take the ends of a two conductor wire that's hooked to a speaker and touch them briefly to a battery, one wire on each pole, it will cause the speaker to make a slight “pop”. You can use this test identify the wires that go to Speaker Locations in your vehicle. You can also use a battery to determine Polarity on a speaker (which speaker terminal is positive or negative). Watch the cone of the speaker and touch the wires again to the battery. It will move in or out when you do so. If the cone moves out, the wire touched on the positive end of the battery will be your positive wire. If the cone moves in, the wire on the negative end of the battery is the positive wire. Back To Top
One of my speakers has no sound. What's wrong?
Several things may cause this. First, check your balance and fader controls. Make sure they haven't accidentally been readjusted. Try going left to right and front to rear to confirm if this is the problem. If that doesn't resolve your problem, the speaker may have come disconnected. A simple way to test if a speaker's unhooked without removing it is to use a common battery (AAA to D cell). Take the wires that are supposedly hooked to the speaker and touch them briefly to the battery, one wire to positive pole and one wire to negative pole. If it's connected you'll hear a slight pop. If it's become disconnected, it will make no noise. Pull the speaker and check the connections. If it is connected, but produces no sound with the Battery Pop Test , your speaker is probably blown. Replace the speaker with a working one. Back To Top
Why is my display hard to read in bright sunlight?
First check your manual and see if your unit has an adjustment for display brightness. If it does, turn up the brightness. Some displays are hard to see or “wash out” in direct sunlight due to the nature of the panel. This is normal and no cause for concern.
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I installed my stereo and it powers up, but it doesn't have any output. What do I need to check?
Several conditions could cause this problem. One might be a damaged speaker. You also may have a problem with the speaker wiring. Most receivers have circuitry build into them to protect the amplifier section in the case for a short. A short happens when the positive and negative paths of a speaker wire make a connection somewhere. If a speaker is bad, a damaged voice coil could cause a short to happen. A short could also exist in the speaker wiring. This could be caused insulation damaged by wires pinched between the speaker and the metal surface it's mounted to, stray strands of wire from both positive and negative wires touching at the speaker connection or one of the speaker wires coming into contact with the chassis ground of the vehicle somewhere. Any of these situations will make the protection circuitry in the receiver engage, resulting in no output. With your receiver off, try disconnecting all but one of the speakers at your indash unit. Make sure none of the unconnected wires touch each other or a chassis ground and turn your receiver back on. If you get output with just the one speaker hooked up, turn the indash back off and reconnect the other speakers one at a time, testing for output after each one is connected. This will help you determine which speaker is causing the short and where you need to start checking for problems. You may need to run new speaker wire to the problem speaker(s) to solve this. A third possible cause for this problem is your vehicle may have a factory amplifier in it. Many vehicles with “Premium” factory audio systems have outboard amplifiers. Make sure that the “Remote” wire is connected on your installation harness. If you don't have a lead labeled remote try hooking up the “power antenna” lead if it's not already, some vehicles use this wire to turn on factory amps. If you get output after trying this, but it's distorted, you may need an interface designed to make your factory amp compatible with your receiver. There are also harnesses available to allow you to bypass some of the factory amplifiers if you're getting distorted output. If no interfaces or bypass harnesses are available, you will have to run new speaker wire from your receiver directly to the speakers to eliminate the factory amp. Back To Top
