Electrical Question

[luvmy82]

I recently installed a new Kenwood reciever in my car along with 4 new speakers and an Infinity 200 amp self powered subwoofer. Here's where it gets spooky....

I had the stereo system installed in early March, within the last few days the 2 year old battery fried (wouldn't hold a charge) the window switches went bad (little poofs of smoke came out from underneath when you rolled the windows up and down) and the fuse for the rear defogger (which I've never used) was nuked/melted and I replaced.

Is all of this just coincidence, or do you think that the stereo system and these subsequent problems are related?

If anyone out there has experience with stereo systems, or can tell me what's going on, I'd love to hear your opinions because I'm having financial hardships trying to keep up with electrical things being fried out on my Vette.

 

[c4ever]

Hard to say. Did you do power/load calcs on the amplified sub-woofer? Where did you tap in for power? It seems somewhat of a stretch for all these items to relate to the stereo install but these cars are not set up real well for additional power loads without modifications to charging/power systems. Was the system professionally installed?
Just some thoughts

 

[luvmy82]

Yeppers, it was professionally installed. I actually had to shop around for a car stereo installer that I felt comfortable with. I didn't want some inexperienced 18 year old kid working on my car. Found this guy who must be in his 50's and has done stereo installations for over 15 years. He strictly installs stereo systems in Vettes and motorcycles. That's it. I did call him up and query about my related electrical problems and he said that the radio only draws 10 amps (which has its own circuit) and the subwoofer draws 20 amps (which draws it from the battery) and should not be the source of the problem.

So, either it's bad karma and "stuff happens" or I still cannot figure out why I'm having problems. As it stands now, nothing has blown up, fizzled out or fried and the car started right up this morning with the brand spanking new Delco high end battery.

 

[sac001]

My concern would be any damage done to the already fragile wiring in the center console area. Remember that stuff is 20 years old, and while maybe the new stereo didn't blow it out, there could be other wiring issues lurking. Perhaps a good visual inspection of the wiring in the affected areas would put your mind at ease.

Steve

 

[c4ever]

I agree with Steve, especially if he removed the console to chase wiring to the rear. Worth a look. Buy the way, seems like there's quite a bit of additional draw on the car. Any effects? Is battery properly charging?
Carlo