Stereo and GPS - Maxum Boat Owners Club

MaxumNewbie · 10-19-2006, 06:40 PM

I got onto my boat yesterday (2300SC), and the I turned the stereo on, the stereo power was on, but there was no sound coming out of the speakers. My gps didnt turn on either. The fuses are fine...

Any Ideas?

seapuppy · 10-19-2006, 09:48 PM

did the radio lights come on??..gps boot up or is it dead..no pwr..??

did you check your main switch that controls the batt's??...or the main breaker on the engine..the 50 amp one...make sure those are working properly....

MaxumNewbie · 10-20-2006, 07:03 AM

The gps power was dead (wasnt turning on).. The stereo power was on it was fully functional theres just no sound coming out the speakers (not fuzzy or anything) theres no sound at all.

Franco_2100SC · 10-20-2006, 11:51 AM

We are all just guessing here since there's not enough information to go on. Here's my guess.

Faulty or poor ground connection.

Rationale:
Stereo, might still light up with less than 12 volts, but amps wouldn't operate, GPS is going to be more sensitive to low voltage.

This is presuming all fuses are good.

You didn't indicate if the motor was running, I would fire it up and see if you get the same results. Next a really good VOM meter might be useful in checking out power, another "Easter egg" trick I've used is to bring along a small 12volt battery , like a motorcycle battery. Make sure its fully charged. Use this to power devices that are suspect. Just disconnect at the red fuse and use your alternate power. For radio's the case is usually a good negative side. For the GPS you may need to get both power leads and disconnect them reconnecting with your carry on battery. Its usually a good idea to make up short power leads from this temp battery, just be careful not to short them out.

KKKKFL

MaxumNewbie · 10-20-2006, 11:24 PM

This was while the motor was running. I set the power switch to use both batteries at the same time to make sure and still same results. I'm also thinking ots a poor ground connection.

Thanks for that 12v battery idea, thats great!

seapuppy · 10-21-2006, 03:45 AM

I have to agree with franco on this one....check all connections and use a volt/ohm mtr....it sure sounds like low voltage going to the stereo and gps......let us know what you come up with....

MaxumNewbie · 10-23-2006, 04:38 PM

Used a meter, couldnt find any faulty wires.. I got the gps running, it was a bad ground I think.. I disconnected the gps wire from the panel and cleaned it off and reatached and it worked..

Cant figure out the stereo, the speaker wire is all fine. I pulled the stereo out and it looked alittle coroded inside the actual stereo.. I dont belive that its a marine stereo, I think whoever had the boat before me put a regular stereo in there and im thinking it got ruined from when I wash down the boat every night.

I want to get a new stereo anyway with sirius radio. i should have it in a day or 2 so when I plug it in I guess i'll find out if its the stereo or if its a wire I may have missed.

Franco_2100SC · 10-23-2006, 05:20 PM

I have been looking at Marine audio units since I want to replace the JBL unit that came stock in my boat. JBL is chinese junk and I hope you didn't go that route. Actually, in my research I have found that Seaworth, JBL are the same, and I won't have another one of them... going on one each season.

The two best units I have found are Sony, and Clarion 455. The 455 has the input lines and front panel to support Satellite radio if you want that and its the unit I'm going with for the start of next season. It also has a remote switch that is the same size as the JBL so I won't have a messy hole in the back to cover up.

KKKKFL

MaxumNewbie · 10-23-2006, 06:02 PM

OK good to know. My boat had a jvc in it, so it definately wasnt a marine radio, since ive started searching for stereos I havent seen one jvc, so i really hope thats what the problem is.

I just checked out the clarion m455a looks like a great unit. but i was curious when reading about it, it said "CeNET control for connecting a Clarion 6-disc CD changer or SIRIUS satellite radio tuner" does that mean ill need a separate tuner for sirius or is the tuner built in?

Franco_2100SC · 10-23-2006, 06:42 PM

Almost all the radios that I have found use a seperate 3x5x1/2 inch box that is the actual sat receiver. This receiver also has a small hockey puck type satellite antenna(I think 4 or 5 foot cable between puck and Rx). Kinda like the Lowrance units. The cable from the actual receiver then plugs into the back of your head unit, and the actual head unit which looks like the 455 has the controls and displays for satellite radio. The clarion makes both XM and Serius sat boxes, and my guess is that the approach allows them to use the same head unit.

Rivermarine is the best place to purchase price wise, at least so far...

KKKKFL

MaxumNewbie · 10-23-2006, 07:54 PM

http://www.etronics.com/planding.asp?dp ... me=30&CA=Y

MaxumNewbie · 10-24-2006, 04:19 AM

I ended up ordering the clarion, it seems like theres 2 different ones, theres a M455 and M455A, not sure what the differences are but it seems like the "a" is the newest model. Will be puting in on thursday, i'll let you know how it is. ( I hope I was right with the stereo being the problem and not the wiring).

Franco_2100SC · 10-24-2006, 11:50 AM

You can't go wrong with a new unit... Just make certain you have a good 12 volt connection. Here's what I did to ensure good ground especially for the radio. I went to the Stereo store and purchased the Monster cable, about 25 feet used for high end audio installations. It is as big around as your little finger for one lead, it has a clear outer cover and you can see the copper wire which is almost the size of a number 2 pencil. From the back of my electronics panel, I ran this wire to a center drain pipe that runs for to aft all the way back to the brass drain in the transom. It took some doing, but I was able to feed it all the way back. The drain pipe is the size of a quarter in my boat. I then pulled it through and up near the power steering pump where I had a small hole in a bracket, I took my dremel and ground down til shiny a spot where I could bolt with screw and nut. I soldered a spade on the end of the Monster wire and bolted it to the engine block. There was some Dielectric grease to prevent corrosion. With this heavy duty ground buss, I have never had a problem and it improved reception for the radio. You can tie in other equipment you add, but I highly recommend that you not rely on physical joints alone. Solder, solder, solder.. wherever possible.

KKKKFL
PS I'm gonna have to shrink wrap mine this weekend so I'll be interested in your report.

MaxumNewbie · 10-29-2006, 04:57 AM

Thanks for the advice franco, however I am sort of an amateur when it comes to wiring, so I just hooked it up up regular by attaching its wires to the way it was already connected. I didnt purchase the sirius antenna yet considering my boat is coming out of the water in about 3 weeks.

The system itself is awesome, as far as I know no other pieces are necessary for sirius hookup, just the antenna. The only downside to this clarion is if you listen to fm radio you would have to set your pre-sets cause the to buttons to switch stations are tiny and hard to reach (difficult while driving)...

Otherwise, I highly recommend...

So it actually turned out to be the actual stereo that was the problem, not a bad ground or anything.. The fool that had the boat before me put in a regular non-marine stereo which was probably destroyed by the water.