Note: For more than 4 speakers connect them pair-wise in PARALLEL! NOT in SERIES! This way you can connect as many speakers as your amplifier has the power to drive. If power is an issue go buy an external amplifier. :)
Great video, question, can I connect the 12v constant and the 12v switched to the ignition wire so that when I turn off the boat the radio turns off as well, so that I don’t have to manually shut off the radio even when the boat is off?
Hi Elvis De Santos, thanks for watching and comment, Your Radio should shut off when you turn your key to the off position with the setup shown in the video. The constant 12V wire is to keep your programed station and clock. If you connect the constant 12V with the 12V switched together, every time your turn your key to the off position and turn your radio back on it will be in default mode so clock will flash 12:00 and all your programs station will be gone. As soon as the Constant 12V wire doesn’t have 12V (so disconnected from your battery) you will lose your programming ang clock (unless your radio has internal battery).
Hi Matt Much, thanks for watching, some radio will not work if your don’t the yellow. Your radio pre-sets and time will not be kept if you don’t connect the yellow wire.
Hi Joe, nice video, thanks. I have a spa with a MIL-PRV22 marine receiver. It has 4 speaker outs, but six speakers. It appears to have two speakers run in series rather than parallel on the two rear channels. It also appears to have a digital bass with its own single banana plug. It's the only thing making sound, the six speakers on the four channels are all silent. No voltage on any pair. Does that mean my source unit is dead? I got this used when we bought the house and am trying to get it working again. Speakers are all 4 ohm and the wiring is good, but several of the speakers were dead, cones torn and reading infinite ohms. Appreciate any advice, thanks!
Hi Glen campi, thanks for watching. I would remove all speakers from radio, might be causing amplifier not to work (Circuit protection). Test your best-looking speaker only on one channel and see if you have any sound. Or even better if you have another speaker that you know works just test it on one channel. If nothing is there’s no sound, there's a very good chance your output is blown ☹ Good luck
Hi EL KARAKAS, thanks for watching and nice comment, yes it’s better to connect a fuse. In case you get some kind of surge, for whatever reason, the fuse will blow and protect your radio.
Hi Stevekemer, thanks for watching. For testing purpose, yes you can. Your yellow wire is the one that keeps all your pre-set. If you cut power to yellow, you will lose your pre-sets and the radio will load as default every time.
GDay and thanks for the video. If I turn my boat ignition on (but dont start the engine) I get a constant beep. Obviously I want to listen to the stereo when the engine is off without the constant beep when the boat is anchored so can I connect the ignition wire to the constant wire so the stereo is on when the ignition is off? My boat has a battery isolator switch when the boat is not in use so that would shut down all accessories including the stereo...
Hi Yannih1782, Thanks for watching. In your case yes you can absolutely do what you said. The reason we have it on ignition only on turn on key is to not accidentally drain the batteries. But in your case since you have a battery isolator you can connect the ignition wire to the constant wire so you can listen to the stereo when the engine is off without the constant beep LOL.... hope this resolve your problem :)
Don't connect the illumination wire to 12v if you don't have an illum wire in your vehicle. Applying 12v to this wire only dims your display constantly.
Yes your right but at night it might be really bright. Unless you connect it to the stern light wire. That would be the best solution. Unless your stern light doesn’t have a switch.
I only have two wires ran on current set up, a black and a red running I assume from the battery that hooked to the old stereo, two more wires for speakers. Possible to not have a 12V switched? Or 12V constant?
Hi James Watson. Thanks for watching, what model radio do you have? If people can't find a 12V switch wire (12 volts in ignition) they connect the constant, switched and illumination wire on the + of the battery. I personally don't like that way. Sometimes it works fine and some other times it can be problematic. If you plug constant and switched wire on + of battery and you forget to turn your radio off when not using vehicle your battery will drain.
Which wire goes with the blue wire? Between the big wire , the pink ignition wire,white and brown wires, green wires, light blue wires, and yellow and brown wires? I found the navy blue wire lose and the radio does not give off sound. There is one black wire connected to the big brown wire.
Hi nombulelonkaki, thanks for watching. lets see if i can help - Red Power + 12V Accessory Power (Key in Ignition Position) - Yellow Power + 12V Constant Power to Keep Memory Alive (Ind of Key Pos) - Black Power - Chassis Ground - Blue Power / Antenna + Antenna Power - Blue / White Stripe Power / Amplifier + Amplifier Turn ON - Orange Power / Illum + Illum Wire. 0V when ext lights are OFF. 12V when are ON. - Orange / White Stripe Power / Dimmer + Dimmer Wire. 0 - 12V for Adj Dim. - Gray Speaker + Right Front Speaker - Gray / Black Stripe Speaker - Right Front Speaker - White Speaker + Left Front Speaker - White / Black Stripe Speaker - Left Front Speaker - Purple Speaker + Right Rear Speaker - Purple / Black Stripe Speaker - Right Rear Speaker - Green Speaker + Left Rear Speaker - Green / Black Stripe Speaker - Left Rear Speaker - Brown Misc. + Audio Mute (Not Used Frequently) - Light Green Misc. - Parking Brake - Light Violet Misc. + Reverse Gear Trigger - Pink Misc. + Vehicle Speed Sense (PWM) Let me know if this helps also check you radio wire diagram sometimes they change some colors. But most of the time the colors I gave you are pretty standard :)
I have a question, my car by default came like this: Red wire is constant 12V, Yellow is ignition, Black Ground, i have checked it with the multimeter. Unfortunately while dissasembling i touched bare Red Wire( constant 12V) to the chasis of the radio, it made a spark and a fuse blew out. I've chose proper fuse and replaced it, checked fuse on the radio, checked all the fuses in my car fuse box and they are all fine. I have checked if I have power going into my radio. Yes i have power, both constant, and Acc (ignition) but it wont turn on. Ive tried with different radio that im 99% sure it works but still nothing, i dunno. Evrything else in the car work except radio. Any thoughts? Thanks
Hi HeroClaws, thanks for watching. Ok I don’t see your set up so I’m going with what I read. Make sure your radio is well grounded also some older radio would use the radio chassis for ground. So if it’s the case make sure your radio frame (metal) is grounded with car chassis. I’m just throwing ideas out there. Let me know 👍
I touched the chassis of my radio (with Constant 12V) while every other necessary wire was connected to my radio so yeah i'll try that, if that doesn't work i guess i must have burnt some connection with the GND pin of my radio and the rest GND of my radio, and I'll gonna need to get that GND connection back somehow. Good point. Im gonna try that in a couple of hours and gonna get back to you. Thanks!
Usually the fuse is supposed to blow before any wire is damaged. Unless smaller gauge wire was installed or weak connection to connector. A short can cause so much but I’m sure you will find it. 👍 if you have any suspicions on your radio, try plugins it on another battery. Independent, not in your car.
@@joetheboatguy5394 Yea i kinda guessed that, if i had shorted something, fuse would have blow. Haven't tried and i don't really have other car to test it. I have ATX power supply from my Computer that i've transformed into like 12V, 5V, 3V outputs, can i test it without the car somehow? Once again, thank you for your answers!
@@joetheboatguy5394 I found a way to test it outside, gonna use my ATX, join ACC and Const. 12V , hook them up to the positive 12V, and GND to GND or try the chassis. That i think should do the trick to see if it's my radio fault. What do u think?
Hi albertodolbeth1, thanks for watching. Does your radio have the light option? Maybe you only have light on or off no dimmer option. Connect everything like the video except the orange. Hope this helps 👍
My stereo head unit is only turning on sometimes and when it does it doesn’t stay on long. I checked the fuse behind the unit and the wires don’t seem to be loose. What is your advice on how to fix this?
Hi Kate-iq3lm, thanks for watching. When it’s on, does it play sound? If your fuse and power wire are good, then I would check the ground wire. If the ground wire is not well connected or not well grounded that can cut off your stereo. Some people connect on their ground on the chassis over the paint that can cause for bad ground. That would be my first check, Let us know 👍
Hi williamdavis892, thanks for watching. Yes, you can, but don’t forget that wire already has something its powering and you are adding to its load. Make sure you have the right gauge wire and fuse from existing wire. 95% of people tap on existing ignition wire. hope this helps :)
I am confused. Please step by step describe the complete routing and connection(s) of the red switched wire. The drawing is not totally clear to me. My fault not the drawing. Thank you!
I put a switch on the red wire just to show that it has to be an ignition wire. The ignition wire is a wire that has 12 V only when you turn the key on ignition position.. when the key is on the off position the wire will have 0 V.
The way my stereo speakers would be connected in you're diagram would be 2 colors for positive and one color for negative the ends for speakers have connectors on them already
Hi BeneZStev, thanks for watching, The blue wire will carries a low-voltage signal that switches the amp or the sub on and off with the radio unit. The remote turn-on wire is usually blue or blue with a white stripe, but it may vary depending on the manufacturer.
Hi Coffeedollsvp, thanks for watching. To test a speaker connection with a multimeter, touch the leads to both the positive and negative terminal. If the speaker shows a very low or very high Ohm reading, you either have a short or a bad connection. On the other hand, if the reading is close or accurate, the speaker is fine.
Hi chaoticcountryhomest, thank for watching, no you never connect any direct “12v” current to a speaker. Did you mean amplifier instead of speaker? Let me know 👍
@joetheboatguy5394 you are video states that red 12v is 'usually connected to ignition'. I guess I'm confused by that. I'm trying to hook up a boat radio. I can see how yellow is attached but red is throwing me off.
Ok I think I just got what you were saying , i got confused when you said red speaker wire. The yellow wire is connected straight to the + of the battery and the red is connected on a 12v that is only on when you turn your key like a car.let me know if this helps 👍
@joetheboatguy5394 . I do not have a orange. Can I splice red and yellow together and connect them to terminal block under boat helm? Will this drain battery even when it is turned off? Thanks
Hello, No it shouldn’t drain the battery but if you leave your radio on and turn your ignition off your radio will still stay on then it will drain the battery. But if you turn you radio off manually then your fine. Sorry for the delay I was gone fishing 🎣
Hi shawnburnett, thanks for watching, the fuse needed depends on the specs of your radio. Some demand more power so higher fuse. If it’s a simple average radio then a 5 amp fuse should be enough. Hope this helps 🙂
hi newmixmedina, thanks for watching. One should be orange wire which is illumination wire. The other one should be orange with a white line on it. That should be the dim wire. Let me know if this is what you have :)
The Illumination wire puts out +12v anytime your gauges are lit up (when the running lights or headlights are on) regardless of the brightness level you turn the headlight. The Dimmer wire puts out between 0v and +12v depending on the brightness you have the headlight turned to. This allows the radio to dim with the rest of the indicator lights. You don't need to connect it if you don"t need it.
hi newmixmedina, What radio do you have? Give me the model. I will look at what it needs. Some radio will not work if you don't connect some wire by protection. With the model i can look it up. We will figure it out
Hi anghiggy, Thanks for watching. Unless your radio requires a fuse on yellow then you can put a fuse. The yellow wire is the one that will keep all your setting in the radio like your favorite radio stations and what ever can be saved. So yes, with an extreme long time it will drain your battery (we are talking months here). You if have a battery draining problem this would not be my first suspicion. Hope this helps :)
@@joetheboatguy5394 OK. Thanks, it was only a week, we thought it was a little strange, but it is the only thing we have changed. The battery stayed up all winter. Installed new radio to existing wires except this one had the yellow wire where the old one only had the red fused.
Make sure all your connections are good if one wire does not have good connection. It can creates resistance which more amperage passes, which makes the battery work more. If you really suspect that wire, you can unplug it and see if the battery keeps up for a week.
@@joetheboatguy5394 I so appreciate you conversing with me. That is my plan is just to disconnect the yellow wire, we don't really need the memory. But yes, all my connections are good. I left one thing out on my last comment. On the video I watched to help me change out the radio it said to tie the yellow wire in with the red wire. You show them connected separately. Do you think that can make the difference? I've seen a few things since the battery got drained that said not to twist them together. Your help is much appreciated!!
yes, the yellow and the red both come from the batterie. The difference is, on the red wire there’s a switch so basically you connected the red wire on a wire that ONLY has power when the key is turned. So, radio shouldn’t go ON if the ignition key in not turned on. So red wire should have 0V if key is not turned (OFF position) and 12V if key is turned.
Hi j.l.daltoin2238, thanks for watching. No i didn't mention the amp rate fuse because depending on the radio you buy it might be different. Look on your radio specification, you will have a Max amp rating (might be written behind radio also). Hope this helps :)
Hi Jesus Z Prieto, thanks for watching, for the blue wire I talk about it at 1:29min in the video. Its reserved to let the Amplifier know that the radio is on.
Your Amplifier will have a connector called REM, (Usually between GND and +12V connector). The remote wire is used to turn the amp on when the head unit is on so that the head unit can feed signal to the amp, which amplifies the signal and sends it to your speakers. Some newer amps don't need a remote turn on wire because they can sense the signal coming from the head unit thru the RCA inputs on the amp.
Nice video, I was looking for another option for the ignition switch wire. I have had issues with the coil powering up while the ignition is on for the radio resulting in a weak coil which causes flooding in the carb. Not sure if you ever ran into this scenario?
Hi Anthony Konkle, Thanks for watching. Not sure if it's your ignition wire that is causing the problem. Usually, the ignition wire for radio will not take much amperage so shouldn’t be the cause any power loss. What you can do is take another ignition wire that is available and try that one.
I’m having a brain freeze mom not sure hat do I hook my blue wire to if I have it from a 4 channel amp and a under the seat sub woofer to make sure it turns off and on from a car play single din
Hi lejend69, thanks for watching, on your amplifier do you have a connection called “remote or turn on lead”? Give me the connection you have available on amplifier. 👍
I have a remote blue wire from the amp went to know when I’m in the back of the radio harness do I do the other blue wire or the power antenna wire or splice it some where else ?
In your radio harnessed, you should have a blue wire that only has 12 V on it when you turn on the radio that’s the one you connect on the blue wire or the amp. 👍
Hi AtwoodBoxing, thanks for watching. Do you have a multimeter to measure the voltage between the red and the black wire of course after the fuse make sure there’s 12 V.. If there’s no 12 V, make sure your fuses is good and that you’re grounded correctly. Start with that and let me know 👍
Ok found your unit. You need to make sure you have 12v at the yellow after the fuse and red wire. What is your power source? A battery? Also when measuring your voltage, make sure you’re using your radio ground (black wire).
