radiojon
New Member
Went out to the boat to work on a few projects and an intermittent problem from last year has re-appeared. Whenever I turn on the cockpit stereo on my 320DA, I get this very annoying static/hiss in one of the starboard speakers (the one mounted on the radar arch). The intensity will vary -- sometimes softer, sometimes louder -- but it won't go away. I've changed out speakers and the static still appears in just that one location, so it's not a speaker issue. The static can also be heard in the small tweeter speaker in just that location, as well; everywhere else, the sound is great.
I tried tracing the route of the speaker wire, but it just seems to disappear straight down the arch and below deck. I have no idea how it's routed back to the radio in the cabin and/or the amps below my salon sofa. I did find what looked like a negative bus bar labeled "cockpit stereo" on the forward wall of the engine room below the battery charger, but all of those connections seemed to be very secure.
The only change I've ever made to the stereo system is adding an "aux" connection next to the cockpit remote stereo controls at the helm; I routed that RCA cable back through the starboard side of the boat behind the DC panel in the salon and attached to the existing Clarion AUX connectors. But the static wasn't an issue in the beginning at all. It only started appearing late last summer.
Not sure if it's related, but I did notice that my stereo memory presets were somehow reset sometime between late fall and when I went to the boat yesterday ... as if the batteries had been disconnected and re-attached. I've had my boat on shore power in the slip the whole winter with the battery charger on and no power outages (I get an automatic email if the boat sensors don't "check-in" over 4 hours). I disconnected the cockpit refrigerator in the fall to replace it, but I only remember turning off the single breaker for the frig on the DC panel in the engine room for that, so I can't imagine how the stereo presets disappeared.
Any idea on where to look for the culprit? Thanks! Sure can't wait for boating season again!
- Mark
I tried tracing the route of the speaker wire, but it just seems to disappear straight down the arch and below deck. I have no idea how it's routed back to the radio in the cabin and/or the amps below my salon sofa. I did find what looked like a negative bus bar labeled "cockpit stereo" on the forward wall of the engine room below the battery charger, but all of those connections seemed to be very secure.
The only change I've ever made to the stereo system is adding an "aux" connection next to the cockpit remote stereo controls at the helm; I routed that RCA cable back through the starboard side of the boat behind the DC panel in the salon and attached to the existing Clarion AUX connectors. But the static wasn't an issue in the beginning at all. It only started appearing late last summer.
Not sure if it's related, but I did notice that my stereo memory presets were somehow reset sometime between late fall and when I went to the boat yesterday ... as if the batteries had been disconnected and re-attached. I've had my boat on shore power in the slip the whole winter with the battery charger on and no power outages (I get an automatic email if the boat sensors don't "check-in" over 4 hours). I disconnected the cockpit refrigerator in the fall to replace it, but I only remember turning off the single breaker for the frig on the DC panel in the engine room for that, so I can't imagine how the stereo presets disappeared.
Any idea on where to look for the culprit? Thanks! Sure can't wait for boating season again!
- Mark
