Negative to body/grounded

Power to 25A fuse then to battery? to alternator? to somewhere else?

Right now I have it going to the battery, but I think it might be draining it a bit, as my car seems to start like it's got a low battery now though I only installed it last night.

It's an infinity basslink, and it's supposedly got an autosense feature based on speaker level inputs to shut itself off (the power light does go off when the car is off, but it stays on if the radio is off).

I also installed a dual cold cathode setup to act as a trunk light (hooked to constant 12V source & trunk latch switch negative for ground, damn coupe never had one) as well last night, but I wouldn't think that would draw enough power if I left the trunk open with car off for 10-15 minutes to drain the battery down

I let it idle for a while this morning (maybe 30 minutes) and for a while last night (maybe 35 minutes) after I installed it to make sure the battery was charged up (it started rough last night after the install, and again this morning)

just thought I'd double check my install, first time I've wired in a sub/amp

will say, for its size, it does give a nice kick.

I replaced the stock rear speakers last night as well (original pioneer paper cone ftl) with some 3 way pioneers...

will be replacing the fronts tonight with some pioneers as well

 

Just to recap how to hook it up

12V to battery
Negative to chassis
Remote wire to ignition wire, or I usually hook it to the remote antenna off the stereo, or red wire off stereo

if you hook these up like this it will work fine, it sounds like it is good if it turns off when you turn the key off, it will stay on even if your radio is on as long as your key is on because it will be connected to a hot wire that is only hot when the key is on.

The other light you hooked up I couldn't tell if it is hooked up right, as long as it goes off when the door is shut.

Hope this helps

 

I agree. The unit itself wants a remote wire, since it has a port for one. I would advise just running the unit remote wire through a switch, which is not uncommon for people who don't have aftermarket head units.

If your factory stereo offers an antenna output, that will also work, it will turn off whenever the unit turns itself off. If it does not have this option, you can do like Armor mentioned and run the unit off of the ignition power, power thats not supplied when the car itself is off, and if you want to, run that through a dash mounted switch so that you can not only be sure the amp is off when your not in the car, but you can also have the added option of turning it on and off as you please whenever you decide to listen to some news casts, or talk radio. Sometimes that bass gets on your nerves with voice only radio.

Make sure you have a good ground, with no paint in between and metal to metal touching. Also make sure the connection to the battery is strong and tight, and the wire itself is not in some position where it may rub against metal and wear itself down to the copper core.

I would strongly suggest an in-line fuse, directly mounted to your battery, and then connected to the wire running to the unit. You can use a small 25A fuse there, to be sure that in case of a surge or short, you will have double the protection of salvaging your unit, not just trusting the unit's fuse. You can pick them up at Wal-mart, almost any car store, and even online for a few dollars.


As for the cathode, just make sure it's not staying on all the time. I don't think the power consumption over a day or two would really be much to worry about, but if its shorting somewhere, maybe the wiring or etc, you could be bleeding power unknowingly, even through the switch if its bad.

Looks like your off to a good start, Those units provide lots of power. I heard a 10" Infinity BassLink in a full size heavy duty Dodge pick-up one night, mounted under the rear seat, and it honestly jarred the truck, I was pretty impressed. You can't beat them for hiding either, they fit almost anywhere.

If you keep having the trouble, let us know, maybe we can figure it out. Just make sure everythings staying off when your not in the car, thats the biggest thing that I can think of!

 

use a big ol 4 or 6 gauge wire and wire that right to the battery with the fuse just a few inches from the battery. Then use the same big gauge wire and ground it to the chassis in the trunk of the car (or cloest to wherever the sub is). Then the remote/RCAs you can figure out yourself

 

anyone have a good link to the factory radio harness pinout? so I can figure a good remote wire?

 

In civics, there is a Yellow/Red wire comming from the ACC power, thats your perfect "car's on" remote.

It will only provide power to the amp when the key is in and its turned to ACC/ON.

You can also find that wire in the underdash fuse panel, its connected to a 10Amp fuse, probably labled Radio/Clock, or the Cig lighter/ACC would work too, but stick to the yellow/red wire if you can find it.

This is on my 97 civic, i don't know what your putting it in. Get a cheap tester if you have to and prod the wires on the harness, see what gives power flow on and off, and you will find what your looking for in minutes.

 

i'll be checking in and out of this post when i get the courage (stoopidity???) to put in my own amp. lol.

 

should be the same in mine... it's going in a 98 dx coupe

as for the battery, turned out it was dead... altenator is fine, and the starter is sluggish, but still turns the car over... means I'll eventually have to replae that.

I'll try and see if the remote wire works today, as I've got some daylight left to try and wire it up...

battery was really dead, even after a 4 hour drive

 

all setup, hooking to yellow wire/red stripe on the factory harness works.

car off, subwoofer off, car in acc, subwoofer on

so everything works.

thanks for the help guys. total time installing, about 3 hours, the most of it being spent ripping the rear trim out so I could get at the rear speakers, and harness for trunk light.

stu, you're right, the basslink has some serious kick for its size. enough I can shake the whole car.

will get pictures up sometime soon.

 

Sweet, we will look forward to it. Glad it all worked out for you.