I posted a thread a few months back about how I get intermittent sub hum. My empeg runs through the AUX in of my HU. When the empeg is out of the sled, no humming occurs at all. When the empeg is in the sled, the humming starts up and the level is sporadic.

Well, I haven't had much time to really diagnose the problem, but today as I was carrying the empeg back into my house, I noticed that the connector on the back (the one that connects to the one in the sled at the back) is kinda loose. it doesn't move a lot or anything, but it wiggles slightly. The 2 screws are tightened as I tried to tighten them more with no avail. I was wondering if this wiggling is normal and if this could possibly cause the varying humming noises??

Thanks.

In reply to:

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Well, I haven't had much time to really diagnose the problem, but today as I was carrying the empeg back into my house, I noticed that the connector on the back (the one that connects to the one in the sled at the back) is kinda loose. it doesn't move a lot or anything, but it wiggles slightly. The 2 screws are tightened as I tried to tighten them more with no avail. I was wondering if this wiggling is normal and if this could possibly cause the varying humming noises??

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That's normal.. That's so it can move slightly to correctly match up with the one in the harness, and dosn't bind..
I'm sure there's a FAQ entry, which someone else can point ya to.

Me.

I was wondering if this wiggling is normal and if this could possibly cause the varying humming noises??


The connector is supposed to be loose. It needs to have a bit of wiggle room to mate up properly with the matching connector in the sled. If it couldn't adjust its position slightly as you were inserting the player, it would bind up and possibly break something; or else it would stick so tightly you'd break the handle of the player trying to remove it.

Even with the screws fully tightened it will still move, because the screws are designed to bottom out before they actually contact the plug.

tanstaafl.

Edit: Damn, Foxtrot -- I guess i'll have to learn how to type faster! :-)

OK.. was just curious.. guess I'll have to actually figure out what's causing this intermittent humming.

All that being said, however, it's a good thing you tightened the screws. You can break your handle if the screws come out and your empeg gets stuck in your dash. <matthew heads over to check his screws right now>

Matthew

Edit: Damn, Foxtrot -- I guess i'll have to learn how to type faster! :-)

Muhahahaha! My Evil Invention, the "Pre-type Responce Maker" (or PRM) works perfectly!

Me.. In a lab coat and goggles.

Has someone been watching a bit of Dexter's Laboratory recently??? Or is this a random reference?

Has someone been watching a bit of Dexter's Laboratory recently??? Or is this a random reference?

Actually, yes. That, mixed with a gaggle of Girl Genius..

Me.
(Self Proclaimed Director of Mad Science Programming at work..)

[Edit: Oh, and where I got my degree from...]

...but DON'T overtighten them as they will shear off, leaving you with a big problem. Get them only finger tight, and then give a slight locking twist (less than 1/16th of a turn) to lock the screw fast. I use Loctite on these as standard.

PS It's not only that a sheared screw shank in the case which leaves you with a problem, but there are also very few remaining replacements available in the event you manage to get it successfully repaired - you have been warned.

Jeez, I go away for a weekend and you people all forget how to link directly to the FAQ.

Jbradshaw, the link to the FAQ entry everyone refers to about the wiggly docking connector is here.

Your hum is likely a ground loop. A description of ground loops is here, and there are links here that will help you diagnose and repair the ground loop. Go through all of them and try everything they say.

I fixed it!! Woohoo!!!

At first I thought it was because my ground on my HU and Empeg was not the same as my amp (ie, it wasnt wired straight to the chassis). So i did that and nothing changed. So I thought maybe the wire guage wasn't big (or smaller however you want to say it) enough so I wired the empeg and HU separately to the chassis. Still no go. So then I start to get worried as I'm now thinking I have someplace hidden in my car amongst the wiring that's causing it.

So just for kicks I go back to the amp and look at some settings and lo and behold, all my gains are at MAX. Apparently the person that help me set up my audio 2 years ago thought it was the "cool thing to do" to just max everything out on the amp. Well I zeroed out all the gains and wouldn't you know it, not one bit of noise or hum exists.. in fact I was able to remove the ground-loop isolater in path amongst the wiring since it wasn't needed anymore.

I was so happy that it's fixed that I just had to post about the good news! Now time to go kick my friend's ass that set up the audio!!