My radio is feeding back voltage thru the ground when the key is off....

I need to know how to fix this...?

it took me part of a day to track it down to the radio but I believe its the Bat+ wire for feeding power to the radios memory and such...

it does NOT do it with the key on but with the key off there is a slight voltage on the ground side of things and this reeks havoc on ground switched controls...and everything works fine with the key ON but with the key OFF the Negative switch relays actually are energized...so everything negative switched runs with the key off...

I know some sort of Diode will work but it need to be a heavy Diode...

my radio is a Clarion with a built in Amp...so it has a 12 gauge ground wire and that is the common ground for the radio (except for the speakers they are all 2-wire each)

the Red + Ign wire is 12 gauge
the Black - Ground is 12 gauge
the Yellow Bat + wire is 16 gauge and goes direct to the battery...(its fused)

with the Key OFF I get the feedback...pull the ground off the radio and feedback is gone...so that means the battery wire that feeds the radios memory is leaking back to the ground...

what this does is energize ALL the ground with the battery disconnected...

If I unhook the Negative terminal OFF the battery and then use a test light from the Negative terminal to the ground wire the light lights up...

 

Actually, I don't think a diode will work there. A diode restricts positve and negative electrons from flowing. It flows negative one way and positive the other. If you put a diode in line on either your radio ground or memory (yellow) line then it's still going to back feed. If you are getting a slight voltage on the ground lead from the radio, there's something wrong with your radio. If you use a relay to "cut" the line and effectively isolate the circuit, you'll lose your presets, clock and audio settings every time you shut off your truck.

The best solution would be to get the radio fixed or buy a new radio.

If you decide to try a relay, you'll need a Single Pole Doube Throw (SPDT). Here's how you would wire it:



Doing it this way, it will "break" the ground or memory wire as soon as you turn off the ignition and reconnect it when you turn it back on.

 

eh'? dammit that not what I want to hear...

this SOB had me chasing back and forth over 2 vehicles comparing notes...

I wonder if the radio being Marine has anything to do with it?

I pulled every darn fuse and all master fuses and relays and still had the issue...I even pulled all the wires off the Solenoid and it finally quit...then I added them back 1 at a time until I found it was on a fuseable link that the bat+ wire is hooked to...

I unhooked the Alt to find out if it was an Alt diode that dies...negative...pulled the radio ground and the light went off...

I want to keep the radio wires working but there has to be some way to isolate it...

As soon as I pull the ground clamp off the battery it doesnt do it...but within 30 seconds it does...

I am 100% sure I have the radio wired right...as its been working this whole time...
But there must be some kind of capacitor in the radio as well...even with the battery out for 2 hours all the presets and settings are there...just the clock lost time...

oh well...might have to junk the Clarion and install the trusty AIWA...I like that one better....

 

i would have to agree radio sounds bad and wiring is right somewhat gosh its been a while since i wired one in i buy the plugs and plug into factory wiring ,,,, but yellow is key off voltage i always hunted in fuse box for a fuse that had power with key off and then looked to see what else ran off that fuse , dome light etc ...radio only needs 5 volts to keep memory in preset and clock.... the red wire was a key on voltage and i would use radio fuse for that...its strange its feeding back thou grd unless pre amp is bad or it too much voltage from staight from battery and needs to be filtered voltage regulator builted in alt and if you plug into fuse box just to see if it stops .. im very interested to see if you did that and it would stop marine radio is waterproofed better than regular radios to a certain point

 

well....

thats how I wire radios...I got the wiring connectors that plug into the factory connectors...I dont cut anything...I do it simply if I sell the truck I can install the factory radio back in it in less than 2 minutes...

I wired it according to the Clarion Directions and the Wiring directions on the connectors...the wiring colors were all standard and all matched up accordingly...

I know the Battery wire and the Ignition wire are right...the radio turns off with the key and holds the time in the clock...reversed it wouldnt...

 

dr im just saying sounds like youve did it right and its not you its the radio .. i like alpine myself ........

 

I know man but its like this....

I am not a very accepting person when it comes to flaws....it seems other people have thing that never have an issue...for me everything I own has issues...

doesnt matter what it is or if I buy it new it has issues...

even when I build it myself I am never happy with the outcome...there is always some flaw thats beyond my control...

maybe its Karma...lol

Hell I build computers in my spare time and I have never been 100% happy with any one build...there has always been some issue thats made it now 100%

its just life I guess...

 

lol my spare time i work on my familys rides and thats it ,, fish and hunt ....i built my comp too lol

 

Where is the radio grounded? Maybe a better ground might help.

 

the radios ground is to the original ground on the harness....

I tried grounding teh radio straight to the frame...same deal...

Now there is a Heavy Diode in the main relay box to protect something....