Wiring Questions

skinz · May 20, 2010, 09:42

Hi, couple of little questions about wiring.

Last night I was wiring up a basslink active sub, after scrapping my wrists of the battery for about 10mins- I managed to get the wires through the grommet into the passenger side bin. So all wiring should be in place s:)

s:)

However...
1.I was unable to locate a suitable earthing point for the sub, so I have just ran this to the battery negative. Is it ok to do this?

2. My aerial no longer works when the new head unit is turned on s:(

s:( - am I correct in saying (from reading previous threads) that this is to do with the blue cable from the toyota wiring loom which connects to the headunit?

3. The basslink requires connection from battery, and an earthing point, but there is also a remote turn on bit (which I though was optional, as it states that it can sense voltage from the speaker cables running from the HU - but this doesnt seem to work), therefore would it be ok just to hook this up to the batteruy as well? - so that the sub is just powered on when the car is on?

Thanks in advance (hopefully going to finish this tonight, but need to get some more crimping connections - as a couple didn't work last night, and I dont trust the wires that are currently wrapped round terminals.)

skinz · May 20, 2010, 10:42

By remote turn on bit - I mean the remote wire - as the sub doesnt seem to be sensing the voltage throught the speakers cables (maybe I have connected these wrong?)

cclarke99 · May 20, 2010, 11:27

1. It's OK to connect direct to battery negative, provided you put the extra connection on top of the exisitng, so it doesn't affect the other circuits, like the starter motor

2. The headunit should have an output which will opeate the aerial. According to my Toyota info this is a black wire.

3. The automatic switch on will be looking for the audio signals on the speakers so if it doesn't operate then that may be because there isn't anything coming out of the headunit? I'd wire the remote on/off to the same output as you use for the antena up/down, so it comes on with the headunit. You definately need to make sure that it turns off when not in use otherwise it will flatten the battery if the car is not used for a few days.

skinz · May 20, 2010, 12:01

Quote from: "cclarke99"1. It's OK to connect direct to battery negative, provided you put the extra connection on top of the exisitng, so it doesn't affect the other circuits, like the starter motor

2. The headunit should have an output which will opeate the aerial. According to my Toyota info this is a black wire.

3. The automatic switch on will be looking for the audio signals on the speakers so if it doesn't operate then that may be because there isn't anything coming out of the headunit? I'd wire the remote on/off to the same output as you use for the antena up/down, so it comes on with the headunit. You definately need to make sure that it turns off when not in use otherwise it will flatten the battery if the car is not used for a few days.

Thanks for info, will have another bash at it tonight - after I buy a set of crimpers and do this right :p

Do you mean that your toyota info means that the output on the headunit wiring will be black - or the toyota loom will have a black cable for aerial?

The headunit is playing through the speakers, so I think there must be something wrong with the speaker cables to sub (will have a look at these, would much prefer it turining on through output from headunit rather than using a remote wire- if this makes sense)

Also just to double check, when I disconnect from battery tonight - I disconnect from live first, then ground - then when I reconnect, its ground first then live ??
Cheers

cclarke99 · May 20, 2010, 13:25

Black wire is from Toyota loom

I might have misunderstood the bit about the on/off function. Does it work by detecting the signal going to the speakers or through a dedicated wire between headunit and sub? If you're using the speaker signal, make sure it is connected the right way round.

Disconect the ground first and reconnect it last. The hazard is that you accidently touch the body with the spanner - if it's the ground; or if it's the live side, but the ground is disconnected, it won't matter.

Good idea to buy a proper crimp tool - even the very cheap ones do a much better job than pliers, vice, etc.

skinz · May 20, 2010, 14:08

Thanks for the advice, yeh seeminly the sub shoudl detect the voltage from head unit - most likely these wires may be the wrong way round - Hopefully :p

Will try and work out the wiring for aerial, but if i cant sort it out, ill upload some pics tonight - im kind of a novice with electrical stuff, you your advice is extremely helpful and grately appreciated.

Thanks

JiMR2 · May 20, 2010, 14:17

I had that issue with my aerial after fitting a new HU... the new HU had a specific cable for the aerial, seperate from the block. I just added a length of cable to it and put the other end into the "unused" blocks of the original HU with the HU powered on until the aerial popped up. Then just hooked it up. Didnt take 5 mins...

Benefit of this is you can quickly fit a rocker switch to control the aerial at the same time!

skinz · May 21, 2010, 00:51

Hi,

Good news - Managed to get Basslink all wired up - was in shock after I played with the settings - this sub is immense - nice crystal clear bass with new headunit s:)

s:) - Im well chuffed. Made sense of the remote contol - so no dodgey wiring

Got some crimpers and went over eveythn again, so now I know its safe. Still can't work out this whole wiring thing for the aerial, so will post some pics up tomorrow of what the wires are like- and see if someone can make it easy to understand for me s:)

s:) - think I wana go with a switch for it tho - just for the extra freedom of control.

Apart from problems securing the sub atm, I would highly reccommend one of these - will keep my sunday free to try and wind a better solution for a snug fit, rather than just stuffing sheets n stuff down the sides :p

Thanks to everyone thats helped out

uktotty · May 21, 2010, 09:09

I put my sub volume knob in the spare blank to the left of the steering wheel. Did you manage to put yours anywhere?

skinz · May 21, 2010, 10:17

Had some rolls of velcro i garage, so cut little bits and got it located on the centre console between the bin doors - think this makes this sub even better - no faffing about with controls on the woofer.

Think im going to wire aerial up with rocker switch so will use the blank next to steering wheel for this, will upload some pics of connections as I'm not to sure what ones to connect for aerial operation

Wiring Questions

uktotty