I've got the dreaded alternator whine and clicking after installing my empeg. I have a simple installation (for now). I have a double DIN slot which contains my head unit on the bottom and the empeg above it. The empeg feeds the AUX in of the head unit. I don't have external amps.

Interestingly, the more I can increase contact between the empeg and the sled the quieter the whine gets. If I pull the sled out a bit from the dash and squeeze it against the empeg, the whine completely goes away. I bent the tabs in a little bit and it helped a little bit, but not enough. If I pull the sled completely out of the dash then squeezing it against the empeg no longer matters.

I've read the posts and the sites commonly linked here about ground loops and alternator whine. So I understand the general techniques used to solve the problem. I can start down that path but I thought my specific symptoms might give some clue about how to solve it.

I'm using the factory wiring. Space is very tight behind my DIN slots so I don't have much choice about how I seperate the signal and power wires. Without taking apart my dash to give me better access I pretty much have to push them where they will fit. Something that I thought might be contributing to the problem is that I have an absurdly long signal cable between the empeg and my head unit. The only Aux cable for my head unit is 2 meters long and ends in a male miniplug. I then have this connected to another 1 meter cable that gives me the male RCA's I need for the empeg. I know it's ridiculous to have 3 meters of cabling between components that are inches apart but this was my only choice with off the shelf cables. I currently have the excess length bundled with a zip tie and pushed into a little nook behind the DIN slots.

Any help would be very appreciated. Thanks.

-Dylan

Hi,

This is just a guess, but if you do have very tight space behind your unit (how the .... do you fit 2M of cable in there if theres not much space??), perhaps the shield of the line-cable touches the empeg sled. This will explain why its not a problem when you remove the empeg and sled from the dash ...

If this is the case, insulate the line-cables with some tape, so they don't make a ground loop when pressed against the sled.

Alternatively solder a wire to the black wire (GROUND) going in the harness to the sled (there is a threaded hole in my sled, where a screw will fit nicely with a ground wire).


Happy hunting,


Lars

Check your ground wire from the empeg (black wire) is connected to the same ground as your head unit, it sounds like this connection is bad and it may be trying to ground through the audio outputs.

Hugo

I have this same issue also. I have emailed support about it. I'll let you know if I find a solution. Also, please post your solution if you find one.

Mk2/40GB/Blue

And we know what happens when the ground is almost gone ...

Lots of stuff die. :(




Lars

The only Aux cable for my head unit is 2 meters long and ends in a male miniplug. I then have this connected to another 1 meter cable that gives me the male RCA's I need for the empeg.

You can alleviate your excess cable problem a little bit with Radio Shack's part #42-2481, a "6-ft (1.82m) Y-adapter Audio Cable". This has a male mini-plug on one end, and the two male RCA plugs on the other. If you were clever with a soldering iron, you could cut five feet out of the middle of the cable, but be forewarned soldering co-axial cable can be tricky, and disruption of the shielding might cause noise problems. This cable sells for about $5.

tanstaafl.

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"