I bought a alpine 9851 and I'm getting it installed by Best Buy in a couple of hours. I was just reading something about the power having to go to the battery? I'm not sure they're going to know this. What is the reason for having to have it setup like this? I'm a bit nervous having them do the install, I'm hoping they know what they are doing.

 

chances are they DONT know what they are doing, but their work is warranted, so if anything goes wrong, you can blame them and get a new radio....

 

Let me know how you like it....I am installing the same HU in a few weeks

 

I was thinking the exact thing! I was hoping to have some information going into it though

 

the thing about Best Buy is that they are certified installers by Alpine. If they screw anythign up, as long as you keep the receipt, they will fix it. I almost thought it worth the piece of mind to pay them $45 to install the radio, just for the lifetime warranty.

 

I am not sure I want some 18yr old trainee tearing into my interior, but that's another issue.

The issue with the power is that the HU is rated high enough to need larger guage wire than the stock wiring is. Wheneven you push current through a wire, it's like water through a hose. If you have a trickle of water, you can use either a straw or a garden hose or a fire hose to direct it without a problem. When you increase the flow of the water it won't work with the straw anymore, and if you REALLY increase the flow the garden hose won't work either.

The result on a car is melted wiring, and a POSSIBLE fire hazard. (Good thing you'd get a new HU if your car burns down, huh?)

If they are authorized Alpine installers they SHOULD know what guage wire they need, and they SHOULD run the extra wire. Be sure to talk to the manager AND the technician working on your car to make sure that gets done.

ALL that said. I have seen reports from people on here that they did NOT run a new power lead, and they have not burned their car down.

Personally: I say do it right the first time.

 

Alpine also requires a constant hot feed...i think....I do not understand the rational of this. If there is a constant hot feed, if you forget to turn it off, it will kill your battery (won't it?). I was just going to use the stock wiring.

thanks

John

 

Most (if not all) car stereos have a hot feed used to keep its memory intact (station presets, where in the CD you were playing when you shut off the car, clock, blah blah blah). I doubt this feed will keep the stereo playing, though.

Think of it this way... the factory HU in your S2000 has a code that makes it work only with your car (anti-theft). When you disconnect the battery, you have to enter the 5-digit code to get it to work again. If there wasn't a hot feed, then you'd have to enter that 5-digit code everytime you push the red button.

The Engine Start, not the Hazard...

-Mike

 

well he was about 25 and you are correct, they didn't know anything about running the larger guage wire. I would argue with them but I don't think I want them in the car doing anything else. I have my 4 channel amp and infiniti 6.1 perfects yet to be installed. That I was going to get done by a reputal shop. I knew the deck was a no brainer but I guess they didn't know anything about this power thing.

I'll probably have the stereo shop that does the install for my amp and components just run the power for my deck.

I'm debating calling them about this, especially since they are supposed to be an authorized installer. What am I going to say to them, "You guys installed my stereo wrong and I'm too afraid to have your bonehead techs touch my car again"

At any rate, this is something that I should have done a looong time ago. I always thought it wouldn't make much of a difference because your speakers would still be the weakest link. Well they are however they sound much better being powered from this Alpine unit, 100% better. I can't wait to see how my infiniti perfects perform with that mbquart reference amp.

 

Hey-

My buddy said that there is supposed to be a power wire to the battery, but that is for the clock and internal functions. Just a stanard Honda wire should be able to carry that amerage / watts.

John