Amplifier grounding location?

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Kevin Mackey

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I have mine grounded here, but I am having so many noise issues I am wodering if this is not a good spot. Where do you guys ground your amp? (And yes, I scraped the paint away.)



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Where? Mine is grounded to the front post of the back 60 seat. No problems with noise. Of course mine is only on low pass for the subs. Is the noise high pitched (as in alternator noise)? If so, a ground loop isolator would help probably and is reasonably inexpensive.;)
 
Sorry Kevin, didn't relize you were the one I was trying to help last night with the speaker noise. Is it still doing the same thing? (just out of one speaker) The only thing I can think of is you may have a bad set of RCA cables, ground wire not correct gauge. What's the noise exactly? Is it the high pitched wine or just static?
 
change your ground to what stone said i have mine there and i have no noise at all. if you are running a pioneer deck i would ground the outer shield of the RCA. ever since they started using JFET transistors they went to shit. thank god in 2006 they switched back to MOSFET in the upper models and all models will follow in 2007.
 
Both static, and whine. Picks up alternator noise, and even noise when the ipod is changing. Also the speakers pop whenever I turn it on.



I went to take it in to have someone else install it all because I'm having so many problems, but it would cost around $150. I already have everything installed, its just that damn noise. (It's coming out of both speakers actually.)



By front post you mean where the seat bolts in to the floor?
 
Yeah. If you open the pass. rear door, mine is mounted to the front outer post right where it bolts to the floor. I took the nut off and dremmeled the paint off.;)
 
Did you sand the paint off the metal and thew coating off the screw???



I used the floor right under the rear seat....

Todd Z
 
Razn, how is your head unit grounded? I had the same issue in an old civic, turns out I had a bad ground on the headunit not the amp.
 
First I had it grounded to the wiring harness, I thought that may have been the problem, so I grounded it to the chasis on the car, nothing changed.



I'm about to go test out your suggestions now!
 
There were two bolts behind the rear 40 that the factory sub was mounted with. I used one of them and put an eye on the ground wire. No problems with noise, amp is set on low pass.
 
Do you have the power running down the same side as RCA cables? Thats one problem that might be creating this issue.



The ground for everything on your vehicle should be on the frame if possible. The ideal place as per other suggestions here is on the seat bolts into the frame.

 
The ground wire can not be longer than the power wire.



Also, the battery isnt your ground per say, its grounded to the chassis and engine.





 
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Why can't the ground wire be longer than the power wire? Who said it had to be?



A ground wire connected to the battery and bonded to the frame of the alternator would be the best it could get. The frame of the truck has higher resistance.
 
A ground wire shouldn't be longer then 3 feet. itcan pick up major noise if it was as long as the power wire:blink: i've never heard of anybody making it that long
 
Ground wire should be kept to no longer than 3 feet and it is usually recommended that it be no longer than 1.5 feet. The longer the ground wire the greater the possibility for introducing noise into your system. The ground and power wires should also be the same gauge.



I would also suggest checking rca's and making sure they are connected properly and snug. An rca that is not fully connected/inserted into the radio/amp WILL cause noise.

 

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