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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

Anyone installed car CD-player before?

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Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Initially Posted - 03/16/2004 : 21:07:59

Hi All,

My wife went to one of those "Extravaganza!" sales this past weekend. Don't know if they have them in other cities, but we have them a few times a year at our state fairgrounds and there is a ton of stuff on sale there for cheap. Anyway, my wife bought a couple $40 car cd players, one for my F250 and one to replace the ol' Sparkomatic tapedeck on the boat.

Bear in mind, I'm not the most technically minded person. I'm not ashamed to say this, but my wife was the one who had to install the stereo in my truck. All I had to do was disconnect the negative on the battery and other "electrical" related stuff. (she didn't want to get shocked).

In looking at the old Sparkomatic though, there are only four wires coming out of the unit. A grey, a green, a red and a black. The new unit has a bunch of wires, which are labeled. A red (says Turn on +ACC), black (says ground), yellow (says must be conneccted to battery +12V), then the various speaker wires. The yellow and red confuse me. Can anyone tell me what I'm supposed to do with these? I mean, the yellow one says it goes to the battery, but if so, do I just tape up the red one and forget it?

Thanks all!

Ben
Beneteau 361
Viking Kitty
Columbus, Ohio

Edited by - on

Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 03/16/2004 : 21:52:47

It is probably a switched hot lead for a power antenna or a CD changer.

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jguyot
1st Mate

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USA
97 Posts

Response Posted - 03/16/2004 : 22:33:40

Hi Ben
The yellow wire is used to keep the "Clock" on time. If you don't wire it so that there is power to it at all times, then when you turn your radio on you will get the "Blinking" 12:00pm!! It may also save your station settings, but not sure of that part. If you don't care much about either, then attach the red and the yellow to each other and then to a "switched" +12volt power source (That way you won't run your battery down)The "Red" wire must be used......

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 03/16/2004 : 22:36:42

The extra power lead is most likely for a constant power supply so the radio will retain the station presets when the ignition is turned off in a car.

In your boat, you will connect the yellow wire to a constant 12Vdc with the red wire going to a switch on the power panel. With these connections, the radio can be turned off at the electrical panel, yet the station presets will be retained with the direct power from the yellow wire.

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 03/16/2004 : 22:37:38

Yellow is usually for an always-on battery voltage to keep the memory alive in the stereo (to remember your station settings, volume settings etc).

Red is the main system power lead and is energized when you turn the ignition key to the run or accessory positions.

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Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2004 : 07:20:52

Thanks All,

I love this place. You folks are the best.

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John V.
Admiral

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USA
559 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2004 : 14:12:45

don't worry about power loss from the yellow lead. The draw on that is so little it would take years to draw down a 105AH juice box. Those devices draw about the same as your wristwatch and you know how long those little batteries last. Just be sure the yellow goes unswitched to the battery lead.

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Ben
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1234 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2004 : 14:22:18

Thanks John. Now if we could get rid of this gosh darn snow that just fell in Ohio, I might be able to complete some of these boat projects!

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Waterboy
Navigator

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USA
204 Posts

Response Posted - 03/17/2004 : 21:46:33

I've installed a lot of car stereos over the years (and am working on a couple intalls now). It'd be good to pay attention to the gauges (thickness) of the yellow and red wires; if the head unit (the CD receiver) has any power at all, the yellow wire carries all the current to amplify the signal. This wire is unswitched, runs straight to the battery, is fused close close to both the battery and unit (or should be), and may be as large as 12 or even 10 gauge. It's true that it carries a constant load for memory and time, but these are secondary to the current carrying capacity and this constant load is inconsequential (a few milliamps) when the unit is off. The red wire is switched (goes off when the ignition or other switch goes off) and, among other things, triggers a high(er) current relay in the unit so the amp can draw some real juice. Black is traditionally a ground, and it's important to note that, on a fiberglass boat, it must be capable of carrying the same current load as yellow (some older units had chassis grounds to carry most of the current, and ground wires to (I think) minimize RF intereference). The other wires are (as folks have already said) for power antennas, auxilary CD players, cell phones, display dimming, etc. They're all pretty standard colors and I can get you the list if you'd like.

Anyhow it ain't rocket science ... and Arlyn can correct anything misleading I've said here!

Currently (no pun intended but what the heck ...) a design for a Very Low Draw Subwoofer ... hrm ...

Edited by - on

Alan Therrien
Navigator

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USA
113 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2004 : 09:29:32

Ben,

I shared your confusion a few weeks back. I bought a new Jensen Am/FM/CD unit and installed it in the boat. I connected the red and yellows together on a single line to the switch panel. (I wasn't concerned about losing the time setting or station presets) I found that the CD player did not function, and the sound level was somewhat less than I had expected from a 200 Watt unit.

After much deliberation, I ran a second line to the switch panel and place each of the red and yellow lines on their own switch. That solved all the problems. The CD player works fine, and I have mega power for the speakers. I assume that combining both the red and yellow lines on the same supply line to the switch panel was not carrying enough juice. As mentioned elsewhere - you might want to keep the red and yellows line separate, or else properly size their supply line if you combine the two.

Just my personal experience and two cents worth.

Alan Therrien
"Moonpenny"
C250K #418

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BJ Wagner
1st Mate

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USA
50 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2004 : 11:17:04

I too thought the yellow wire just maintained the time and station presets, so I wired it around the battery switch and included a 3.5 amp inline fuse for protection. I found out I was wrong when I cranked up the stereo while at anchor so those in the water swimming could hear, and the stereo went dark and quiet. I felt like such a fool.

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 03/21/2004 : 13:09:19

After consulting my brother-in-law, who has 15 years experience in the high end car audio business, he said that the red power wire is wired to a switched 12 Vdc (ACC) source and the yellow is for direct 12 Vdc power to maintain memory.

He said that some older higher-end Kenwoods and Yamahas had a second yellow wire that was larger than the yellow constant power memory wire, but newer systems don't have this additional wire.

As far as having both yellow and red wires attached to the same 12Vdc source, he said this will work as long as the wiring can handle the load, but you will lose the time/station presets if it is wired to a switched source. As a matter of fact, he said that when bench testing CD/receivers, both yellow and red wires are attached to the same 12 Vdc power supply.

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falco_esq
1st Mate

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USA
60 Posts

Response Posted - 04/11/2004 : 21:33:53

This is such a great website. I was given a Sony CD player, and these same questions ran through my head. So is it fair to say that I can just splice the same colored wires together, and then put the Yellow with the red?

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Kas
Deckhand

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USA
16 Posts

Response Posted - 08/05/2004 : 13:49:56

Hello All...

I hope I am doing this right. I had some questions about some things in the following thread and I figured that I could just tack it on instead of starting a new thread.
<hr noshade size="1">
In one post, Dlucier said <blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">"In your boat, you will connect the yellow wire to a constant 12Vdc with the red wire going to a switch on the power panel. With these connections, the radio can be turned off at the electrical panel, yet the station presets will be retained with the direct power from the yellow wire."]<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

How can I tell what a "constant 12Vdc" is, how do I tell if I already have a red wire going to a switch on the power panel and what switch is it on the panel?

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 08/05/2004 : 23:59:11

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by falco_esq
 So is it fair to say that I can just splice the same colored wires together, and then put the Yellow with the red?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Yes, in fact my own boat stereo (which is a JVC car stereo from Circuit City), is wired this way, with the yellow and red together. Next winter, I will probably reroute the yellow wire directly to the battery so the stereo will retain the clock and station settings even when the main battery switch is off.

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