paradiSe

To all filled with knowledge-
I have a Pioneer DEH P-850mp head unit and its been in for half a year already(installed same time as amp and sub). I have hooked up to the deck is a kicker 4 channel amp that powers the tweeters and sub. Just the other day, my tweeter and subs went out! So i did all the checking on the amp and it's fine! I busted out the volt tester and none of the channels on the amp are giving out power. So reason being has to be the RCA's connecting the deck and amp. I tested the RCA cable from the amp and no power is coming to it, so i tested it from the deck RCA outputs and still no power! (unless the RCA's aren't supposed to give off power thus not lighting up the volt tester)
what do i do??

GamecockS2K

You've checked that your remote wire is still hooked up and getting power, right? Do lights come on the amp when it the stereo is turned on?

All grounds are ok?

Do you have a spare set of RCA's? They don't have to be nice, just long enough to get from the stereo, to the amp. Just throw them over the car (assuming your amp is in the trunk) and hook it up with those. If still, there's no sound, it's probably not an RCA issue, unless you have really bad luck!

This should help you get started. I'm sure PJK3 and some others can help you beyond this...

Good luck!
-Garrett

PJK3

[QUOTE]Originally posted by paradiSe
To all filled with knowledge-
I have a Pioneer DEH P-850mp head unit and its been in for half a year already(installed same time as amp and sub).

jocko2

I'm also wondering how you are attempting to check the voltage at the RCA terminals.

A suggestion:

I think you may be trying to measure DC voltage, which would not give you much of a result. Any signal coming out of the RCA's would be AC.

Does your voltmeter have a setting to switch from DC to AC? If so, give it a try, and you may see something.

paradiSe

Thanks for the replies, i guess i wasn't too detailed, so here it goes:
1)I first checked the amplifier. I checked the power, ground and remote wire and all are fine, current is running thru...using the pencil like tester. Fuses are okay. The light indicator on the amp is either green or red...green when on...and the light indicates green. The fuse on the amp is fine. All connections were never touched since the install.

2)The RCA cables, i used the same pencil like tester (without and ac/dc switch) to test the voltage but i assume that it doesn't work by your replies so i tried reconnecting them with different, RCA's and still no luck. And nope, i aint got a multi meter...maybe i gotta invest in one!

3)The head unit fuse is of course in tact and im not sure what else could be the problem.

I've never really had any alternator whine coming from the tweeters, only a little noise everytime it turns on and off, like a little squeek that lasts a second or two. Could that be a sign of something?

What i do remember like the few days before it stopped working was that i was getting some nasty feedback (weird noise and distortions) from the deck coming out through the tweeters...
Thanks Garret, PJK3 and jocko2 for your inputs

PJK3

jocko -- HU's can put out a voltage on the RCA's (in fact many advertise their 4 V outputs or 8 V outputs, etc.), and this can be measured using a voltmeter by measuring center pin to jacket.

paradiSe --
yeah, those pencil style voltage testers aren't sensitive enough to measure the lower voltages we're talking about.
with this kind of troubleshooting, i can't touch, see, or hear what i'm working on - so detail is important since you're my eyes, ears, and hands. often what will take us days here i could have performed w/in 20-30 minutes if i had it in front of me... it's the nature of the beast.

i'll need a model number for the amp, please.

1. ok. so, the amp is powering up? do you hear it click or switch in any way when you turn the power on?

2. there are other ways to test the RCA's... a meter is very useful, but even it has it's limits.
one great and easy way to test RCA outputs is to use headphones. RCA outs can produce a readily hearable signal for typical walkman type headphones. but you've got to have the right adapters... we need to get from a female RCA stereo to a female 1/8" stereo headphone plug. one way to do this would be to combine this RCA to 1/8\" (3.5mm)adapter with this 1/8\" to 1/8\" coupler. that would allow you to plug in some headphones. (don't buy these from PartsExpress. you should be able to easily get them from the Shack, but at a slight cost increase.)
either way -- once you can plug your headphones into the HU's outputs, you can turn up the volume and you should hear whatever music you're playing. if not, you've got RCA issues.
also, another test to check the amp is to use a portable CD player to input into the amp a signal into the RCA's. you'll have to make sure the amp is on, but you should be able to hear music from your speakers... just be careful - start w/ the volume on the portable CD player set very low.

3. ok -- looking at the Pioneer sheet for this HU, i see that it has a SLA (Source Level Adjuster) feature... does the radio play back?

4. weird noise and distortion? like what? did it relate at all to the engine's RPM's? or possibly some other in car source (AC fan, lights, etc.?)


let me know what you find, and we'll go from there.

jocko2

I know that you can measure voltage at the RCA's pin-to-jacket. My point was that this will be an AC voltage, so a meter that measures DC voltage would not give a useful result.

Unless I am wrong? Is there a DC voltage on the RCA's? This would make no sense.

When a unit specifies 4v or 8v output, I assumed (incorrectly?) that this is either the peak or RMS voltage of the music signal (which is an AC signal).

PJK3

i'm not 100% sure. i haven't used this technique in so long, i just don't remember.

typically, when i'm checking RCA signals, i cheat and use the headphone method... *shrug*

i might get motivated this weekend and look into this more...

paradiSe

thanks guys.
alright, got troubling news...i found out that it was the amp that was giving me the problems. Although the green indicator light was on as well as the led light, it wasn't working properly. I found this out by swiitchin my old amp in. the amp model number is kx600.4 its a kicker 2002 model i believe. that amp kinda sucks. the terminal to put the 4awg required power and ground wires are so small that its really difficult to connect the wires. And just so happens as i hooked that amp up again, put the neg back on the battery, i blow the deck! Reason being, part of the power wire was touching the remote terminal so one thing leads to another...stupid me! Tried switchin the fuses, thats a no go so im in the market for a new deck and amp once again.

The amp makes me wonder. According to the Kicker troubleshooting manual, when the light is green, it should be working but it doesn't.

I really appreciate your help guys

Shawn

jocko2

FYI--The power and ground terminals on the amp were not designed to accept the acutal wire. They are designed to be used with spade terminals (amp probably even came with some crimp-on ones). If you are trying to stuff 4 gauge wire into those terminals, I can see why you had a problem!

Sucks that you have to buy a new amp. I really don't think the KX series amps are that bad though...