A funny thing happened when I connected the radio..

[rhubarbe]

So, I've noticed that everybody these days begins every sentence with the word, so.

So I won't.

When I bought Urby's GS it had the radio disconnected because he had an isolator switch installed in the boot in order not to drain the battery during periods of non-use. He told me that when you turn the radio on after un isolating the isolator switch you have to wait 3700 seconds before you can put the code in, so he had the radio disconnected.

So I thought I'd be patient and wait the 3700 seconds; how long can it be, I thought, as I am not using the isolator switch.

So, I bought the radio removal kit and determined that I needed to use the ones with the little hooks on, badged Skoda.

The radio shot out, and after it I managed to pull out the wires and untangle them

So, sorry, I connected the grey power bit of the ISO and the radio popped and banged and switched on. I connected the other bit of the ISO (the one that connects to the speakers I believe using info gleaned from these forums) and the crackling and popping continued. I thought this strange as the car has an amplifier and CD changer in the boot but as yet I had not even connected the blue/grey/yellow Becker cable to the radio. How can I get sound from (mainly the rear shelf) speakers if I've not connected the amp?

The radio announced 3533 seconds left before the code could be entered but I chickened out as I was worried about blowing the speakers with the popping, banging and cracking that was still constantly occurring. I pulled the connectors and left the dash minus radio.

As a corollary I had better say at this point that a tried to connect a Pioneer sph-20dab but with the two ISO connectors from the loom into the convertor and then plugged into the radio the Pioneer remained resolutely dead, nada, yet plugging these same cables into the Becker radio had resulted in it turning on and crackling and popping.

Am I missing something? Has my amp been bypassed? Is my amp faulty? Is my radio faulty? Is my wiring loom faulty?

If I ask Urby he will say ask on the forum, so I am.

Help!

 

[CatmanV2]

Was there cracking and popping before you connected the *outputs* from the head to the loom? If so I rather suspect there's something wrong with the input / output of the amp (which drives the speakers, hence, I think, the immediate popping)

C

 

[rhubarbe]

There's two 8 pin connectors the go into the back of the Becker. One is definitely grey. As soon as you plug that into the head unit you get the popping and cracking and the head unit turns on, even though I hadn't turned it on. If you turn the radio off with the on/off button the cracking and popping turns off

 

[CatmanV2]

There's two 8 pin connectors the go into the back of the Becker. One is definitely grey. As soon as you plug that into the head unit you get the popping and cracking and the head unit turns on, even though I hadn't turned it on. If you turn the radio off with the on/off button the cracking and popping turns off

Hmm, interesting. Can you send a photo of the grey plug?

C

 

[rhubarbe]

Oh dear, my poor F1 relay.

I'll send in a bit.

 

[Oneball]

So I think from my time playing with the amp on my 3200, the amp has a switched power feed from the radio. So when you turn the radio on the amp powers up.

So I’d go with C’s suggestion that it’s the amp.

So if a GS is like a 4200 you bypass the amp on to see if that eliminates the crackling (you can’t on a 3200)

Speakers shorting was also a problem I had but they need power in the first place to do that.

 

[Oneball]

Maseratis can be right so and sos!!

 

[rhubarbe]

If it is the amp is it better to buy a new amp, either same or different type, or would I be better just putting in an aftermarket unit and using its internal amp? There's a Sony high power unit that does everything I need but I'm not sure how to wire up the speakers if I'm not using the amp in the boot.

I have just tracked down (and paid for) a Becker Grand Prix BE7990 which has integrated Bluetooth to replace the original Becker Entertainment which has no Bluetooth.

 

[Oneball]

You can’t get the Auditorium amps new and they’ve got their own specific wiring plug. I rewiried mine on the 3200 to work with a different amp as there’s no simple way to bypass the amp on them.

On the 4200 you can just bypass the amp assuming that’s the same on a GS that’s what I’d do. I don’t think you need an amp even with the standard Becker.

 

[CatmanV2]

So I think from my time playing with the amp on my 3200, the amp has a switched power feed from the radio. So when you turn the radio on the amp powers up.

So I’d go with C’s suggestion that it’s the amp.

So if a GS is like a 4200 you bypass the amp on to see if that eliminates the crackling (you can’t on a 3200)

Speakers shorting was also a problem I had but they need power in the first place to do that.

I'm actually going to reserve judgement for a bit. For reasons which may, or may not, become apparent

C

 

[rhubarbe]

The Grand Prix I have just ordered has 4 x 18W RMS plus a sub channel. Do you think that's enough without an amp?

 

[rhubarbe]

Here's the wires I've got

 

[CatmanV2]

So you *just* plug in the black (grey) plug, and all the noise starts? And the head unit switches on? That would be very odd as that black plug (assuming ISO standard) should be speakers only. The white should be providing the power so I can't see why the head unit would be turning on. Unless the Becker uses some weird pin out and / or someone's re-wired that grey connector. Which Becker model is it?


ISO pin outs. You can see that the 'B' plug (with the key in the middle) should only be speakers where as your white plug, with the key at the bottom should be the one with power on it....

C

 

[rhubarbe]

No, I was working from memory. Its the clear plug I put in first. It only goes one way due to its shape. As soon as the clear plug inserted the unit switches on and the popping starts.

 

[CatmanV2]

No, I was working from memory. Its the clear plug I put in first. It only goes one way due to its shape. As soon as the clear plug inserted the unit switches on and the popping starts.

OK that makes more sense. My bet is the amp is fritzed. It's getting turned on by the remote signal from the head (I'm assuming that you have the ignition on when this happens)

The speaker (really high level) output from the head goes into and input on the amp which then should make it bigger and send it to the speakers. So if the amp is damaged, it's quite capable of making the speakers do stuff without any other connections, as long as it has power...

C

 

[rhubarbe]

But that's odd. At no point did I even put they key in the ignition and yet it still powered up the Becker head unit.

I did put the key into the ignition and turned it when I was trying to see if I could get the Pioneer Sph-20dab to power up, but it didn't no matter what I did. Maybe that unit has a hidden on/off switched nit mentioned in the very sparse manual.

 

[CatmanV2]

But that's odd. At no point did I even put they key in the ignition and yet it still powered up the Becker head unit.

There's a couple of ways that might be due to power routing between the amp and the head. Unusual, to be sure, but certainly not impossible (especially if someone has bridged ACC and +ve....

Did the head come on without the ignition on?

C

 

[rhubarbe]

Yes it did

 

[Oneball]

From memory you can turn the standard Becker on with the ignition off. It has a permanent live and a switched live.

 

[rhubarbe]

Most car radios I've had over the years can be used without the key in ignition