Amp Installation, ground loops and more...

I just got my car back from the shop where the amplifier that was stolen out of my car was replaced. The first time, around three months ago, I installed everything myself, and it all worked perfectly. Now, I got it back today and it whines whenever I turn the lights on...

When I first got in the car and started in engine, I noticed a whine that was only there when the car was on. So, back into the shop, tell them there's a problem. Because they didn't replace the distribution block, the power wire is 4 gauge, and the ground is 8 gauge. I point out this might be the problem, they say they'll put a noise filter on and see if that'll solve it. So they put the noise filter on, and it seems to fix it (i hadn't tried the headlights yet)...

So, as soon as I left I pulled into a parking lot (I won't work on my car near my appartment any more...), and begin to check out what they've done, aside from really screwing up the amp settings... They've cut the ends off one of my RCA's and out of a wad of electrical tape emerges a new set. Any Idea why? I'll ask for a new set tomorrow. They've also moved the ground to a far more flimsy peice of metal, for some unknown reason. The wierd thing is that I can't for the life of me find the "noise filter" they claim to have put on. What should it look like? Would it affect the sound quality?

Anyways, I guess this is mostly a rant. I'll call the shop tomorrow, and take my car back. Next time I'm doing it myself.

Matthew

They may have put a noise filter on the empeg's power line... I may be doing this myself today but am not too sure where to ground it... back on the harnesses ground? To the inside of the dash? I assume this is car specific? If so, I'll head over to i-club.com and see...

Yikes. Tell us the name and address of this shop so people can avoid it in the future.

I have similar rants about the idiots who charged me 150 bucks just to A: disconnect my tuner module, B: take really high quality audio cable and splice it with trash... C: claim the fixed my ground loop when really all they'd done was turn my gains down almost all the way...

My lesson and advice... even though it's a pain your almost guaranteed a professional job by doing it yourself, the difference being, you actually give a S### about your installation. My reasoning, I'm sure there are really good stereo installers out there but good luck finding one. Your normal everyday stereo shop might have a guy with the IQ of a chimp doing installations

Best Auto Radio on Shattuck in Berkeley. It's right accross the street from the honda dealer.

I'm debating if I should leave my car there tomorrow, or just ask for a distribution block and a new set of RCA's. I think I'll go find a well lit parking lot tonight and reground the amp to where it was before. I'd be willing to bet that'll fix the ground loop problem.

I always assumed the reason you'd have a profession installation would be that they'd tune it and set the crossovers correctly and such, but this seemed to be a job where they just whipped it out because the insurance company was paying.

Matthew

Hrmmm... Methinks the problem is that the're hiring grease monkeys to do the install. They're really good at pulling out seats, dashes, and such, not so good at actual electronics.