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Radio wiring problems in Camper van

Miketheconn - 27/6/11 at 02:50 PM

All

T in the Park will be upon us in less than two weeks and I have tried to fit a new Radio to my horrible 1984 Renault Traffic Campervan.

When wiring the radio I used the wires that were already available from where a previous owner had had a Radio. I checked the earth, constant live and switched live with my trusty multi meter and wired up the Radio that I had pinched from my wifes VW beetle (Its been stood for for about two years waiting for me to finish off the welding I started when it failed its MOT) and nothing. The Radio wouldn't power on.

I assumed I had cooked the Radio whilst I had been welding the Bettle and went and bought another Radio.

Fitted that and same issue. Checked the feeds and the negative earth and all ok, but still nothing, so Itried wirring the permanent live to the switched input and still nothing, then , by mistake I rewired the switched live to the memory (permanent) live input and the permanent live to the switched live input and low and behold the radio powers on.

This is great apart from the fact that everytime I turn off the ignition I loose all the stations I painstakingly programmed. The Radio also looses power momentarily when I turn on my hazard lights (Iam guesing the hazards use the same feed as the cigar lighter which is what I thought a permanent live).

Whilst I know this is an inconvienience rather than a real issue I would like the Radio to retain its programmed channels. Anyone else had an issue similar. My trusty multi meter shows the same amount of volts on both switched and permanent feed so I dont know why the Radio works with thme one way aroun and not the other. should I messure the amps?

Yours confused

Mike

mookaloid - 27/6/11 at 02:58 PM

Put both permanent and switched live from the radio to a real permanent live on the van - then you can run it with the engine/ignition switched off. simples

SeaBass - 27/6/11 at 03:04 PM

I'd suspect a weak connection somewhere enabling you to see 12v when not under load. As soon as you try and draw more current it fails. Hazards sounds similar - failing when large current draw and all bulbs start to light.

Run new wires from the fusebox. Check the current draw of the radio. Some of the newer ones draw more than you think. I've fixed many friends radio installation where 2 or 3 po's have bodged wiring on top of one another. By the time you get there it's just a mess. I buy ISO car side connectors from eBay and solder and heat-shrink them in properly.

JC

loggyboy - 27/6/11 at 03:37 PM

Werent some campers/beetles positive earth? Maybe the stereo is compatible?

Miketheconn - 27/6/11 at 03:44 PM

quote:
Originally posted by mookaloid
Put both permanent and switched live from the radio to a real permanent live on the van - then you can run it with the engine/ignition switched off. simples

I tried that and it didn't work. In fact I was fairly perplexed that connecting both to the permanent live feed didn't work. How does the radio know and why wouldn't it work with the ffeds the right way round

Miketheconn - 27/6/11 at 03:50 PM

quote:
Originally posted by loggyboy
Werent some campers/beetles positive earth? Maybe the stereo is compatible?

But then it wouldn't work at all. The radio works when I use the switched feed to the permanent and the permanent to the switched.

I think I shall try what SeaBass has suggested and wire in some new feeds direct from the fuse box. trouble is i have no idea what is what in the fuse box. I'll have to see if I can get some sort of wiring diagram off google

ShaunB - 30/6/11 at 04:28 PM

No idea if you have solved this yet, but from reading your description I'd say the permananent +12 is not able to supply sufficient current probably due to a corroded or dodgy connection somewhere. Wire a new one (with fuse).

I had a very similar problem last night wiring in a LED striplight, multimeter said 12v, but leds were very dim. Turned out to be a bad crimp on the +12 supply wire, must have pushed insulation in too far and crimped that instead of the actual wire.

Shaun.