I've just noticed that my empeg still has power (I can turn it on) in the car, even if I remove the keys. No sound comes out the speakers as the amp is not on, but the empeg is. I'm assuming that this is not correct, and could be why I have blown a fuse twice in about 6 months.

I'm guessing that I've got my wires crossed somewhere. Can anyone give me some pointers?

Thanks.

I'm guessing that I've got my wires crossed somewhere. Can anyone give me some pointers?

Yes, it sounds like you might have some wires crossed somewhere. Here is how it should be connected (assuming you have an empeg mark 2 or a Rio Car):

The yellow wire on the docking sled should be connected to a constant 12-volt source of power. This is sometimes called the "memory" wire. This should get 12 volts whether the key is on or not.

The orange wire on the docking sled should be connected to a source of 12-volt power that is only on when the key is on. This is sometimes called the "ignition" wire, and if you are using an adapter harness, it is often indicated by a red color on the adapter.

The blue wire on the docking sled should be connected only to the blue remote-turn-on wire from your amplifier, and should not be connecting to any 12 volt power sources in your car at all.

The power for the amplifier should be coming directly from the car's battery terminal (through a proper weatherproof fuse block close to the battery), and should not be connected to the adapter harness.

Your description makes it sound like your amplifier might be connected to the ignition wire, and that the wires supplying the power to the empeg are not connected right.

It could be something else, such as this, or one of the other things listed in that section.

Thanks Tony. I'll rip my dash apart (again) and take a look.

I thought this was normal behavior for the empeg to be able to turn on while in standby mode (ignition off). In fact i like this 'feature'.

It sounds like furtive's problem is the amp is on switched power rather than to the battery (as described by Tony).

Yes mine works like this. The player goes into standby for like 60 seconds before it completely shuts down after the ignition is turned off. During that 60 sec I can take it out of standby (with the igniton still off) and my amp will switch on, too. But once it is completly shut down (After it's been in standby for 60 sec) i have to turn the ignition on if I want to turn the player back on.

yeah, thats by design. but the rest of his components (amp, speakers) don't turn on. thats the problem.

I assumed he knew the expected behavior of "standby mode" and was saying that the player was always able to fire up in the car regardless of the standby timeout value.

Furtive, the correct behavior is listed in the FAQ here.

Hmm. It seems my "problem" is actually normal then.

Sorry about that.

You still have a problem if the amplifier doesn't turn on in this case. When you wake up the player from standby, it should turn on the amplifier and make sound. So at the very least, the amp is wired wrong.

Does the player eventually drop out of standby mode and fully power off?

The amps are part of the car factory fitted and not installed separately. I haven't touched the way they are connected (it's very complicated)

Not sure if the empeg completely powers down - never waited long enough to find out.

You can set the standby time in Emplode. Mine is 5 seconds.

Yep, that's why then.

I set the standby time to 5 seconds and can confirm that it powers down completely after this time, so everything seems to be wired correctly.