Most bizarre thing ever - why are all my amps and WS420 on while boat is off?

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  • flaudia402
    • Jul 2008
    • 198

    • Orlando, FL


    Most bizarre thing ever - why are all my amps and WS420 on while boat is off?

    So had a rude awakening last night to my dog going off. I woke up and it sounded like gun shots going off in my backyard. Walked out to the dock and to my surprise it was my tower speakers popping on my '06 SAN 220. The boat was completely off, the switch under the steering wheel was in the off position. Alarmed, I quickly unplugged the quick connects at the tower speakers to get the popping to stop. I looked at the amplifiers and noticed both Kickers were in auto-protect. My stock Clarion Amplifiers which power my interior speakers were also on. My Wet Sounds WS420 was also on.

    Now just to brief you on what equipment is in the boat.

    I have NVS Prodigy tower speakers which are powered by a Kicker ZX 850.4. I have a Kicker ZX1000.1 which currently doesn't have a subwoofer hooked up to it because I pulled it out about a month ago because the surround on it corroded (JL 12W7). My stock Clarion amps that came with the boat were rewired where the smaller one is powering the 2 speakers in the bow, and the larger Clarion amp (which originally powered the Polk Towers), now powers the 4 interiors in the rear. Everything is run to the Wetsounds WS420. I've had everything hooked up just like this since 2008. Absolutely no hiccups.

    I have two batteries dedicated to the stereo hooked up together, leaving the stock battery on the other side for my starter. I keep a Promariner triple bank charger always hooked up to the three batteries keeping them fully charged. The last time I was out, I must've forgotten to plug the charger back in. It had been about three weeks since I last took the boat out.

    After having disconnected the tower quick disconnects on the NVS's, I mistakingly plugged in the Promariner charger. Mistake - had loud popping/static noise from the interior speakers.

    I went to the back and turned the Pergo switch to off. I noticed my Clarion amps shut off, but my Wetsounds WS420 and the Kicker amps were still on. So, I went to my two dedicated stereo batteries and disconnected the stereo cables going to the one battery. Everything finally shut off.

    I checked the voltage on the boat and the batteries were showing roughly 9 amps (very low). I didn't want the batteries to be completely dead and wasn't sure how long the amps had been draining them at that point. After disconnecting the stereo wiring I turned the charger back on and have left it as such.

    It's about 3 a.m. here in Florida, so nothings open for me to call. I'm not sure who call first. Whether my local Nautique service guy will be able to track down the gremlin, or have a stereo shop make a house call to figure it out.

    Any suggestions, tips or advice from those more knowledgable about all things electrical would be most helpful. I'll be giving Odin over at Earmark a call later to maybe get some help since I've been in contact with him and David before.
  • nyryan2001
    1,000 Post Club Member
    • Mar 2013
    • 1993

    • Lake Anna


    #2
    Did you run your boat into a rainstorm? Did you boat get hit hard with rain?

    reason I ask is I had something very similiar happen to me a few years back from towing the boat uncovered thru a rainstorm.

    And something similiar happened from a cup holder dripping into an amp from water spray.
    2019 G23 450
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    2007 Yamaha AR210

    Comment

    • flaudia402
      • Jul 2008
      • 198

      • Orlando, FL


      #3
      Originally posted by nyryan2001 View Post
      Did you run your boat into a rainstorm? Did you boat get hit hard with rain?

      reason I ask is I had something very similiar happen to me a few years back from towing the boat uncovered thru a rainstorm.

      And something similiar happened from a cup holder dripping into an amp from water spray.
      Nope, I'm extremely vigil about getting the inside of the boat wet and it is kept in a fully enclosed boat house. It is completely shielded from the elements.

      However, I do live in Florida where it's extremely humid so moisture and condensation is an issue.

      How did you fix the problem?

      What's peculiar is ALL the amps were on along with the ws420. It wasn't just one amp - not sure if it's the heavy fuse block connected to the battery or what?

      Comment

      • hotrod508
        • May 2010
        • 64



        #4
        You are getting source voltage from somewhere to turn on the amps! My guess is a bad head unit! My to cents. I'd swap the head unit for a cheap fix

        Comment

        • MLA
          1,000 Post Club Member
          • Dec 2009
          • 1312

          • Lake Wylie NC Area


          #5
          Dissect the remote turn-on circuit junction and check each leg with a volt meter for voltage to see which one is the culprit.

          Comment

          • flaudia402
            • Jul 2008
            • 198

            • Orlando, FL


            #6
            Originally posted by hotrod508 View Post
            You are getting source voltage from somewhere to turn on the amps! My guess is a bad head unit! My to cents. I'd swap the head unit for a cheap fix
            I saw in my google searching that this was a suggestion. I'm crossing my fingers that this is the only problem since replacing a head unit is a much cheaper and easier problem to identify and fix than tracking other gremlins. It does seem quite plausible, because again - all five sources of equipment were on (four amps/WS420) - however I did notice that the in-dash remote to the Clarion that's on the left of the steering wheel was OFF. It wouldn't actually turn on.

            Comment

            • flaudia402
              • Jul 2008
              • 198

              • Orlando, FL


              #7
              Originally posted by MLA View Post
              Dissect the remote turn-on circuit junction and check each leg with a volt meter for voltage to see which one is the culprit.
              Can you clarify the "remote turn on circuit junction?" I looked (rather quickly) at the fuse box at the driver side footwell and didn't see any indication for the radio. Where should I look next?

              Comment

              • hotrod508
                • May 2010
                • 64



                #8
                I agree with the last post above ,I would check and see which one of your amp turn on leads have 12 bolts on when the boat is off. That's gotta be it!

                Comment

                • hotrod508
                  • May 2010
                  • 64



                  #9
                  Gonna be a blue wire...correct me if I'm wrong guys....coming of the back of the radio, my boats not here at the house.

                  Comment

                  • MLA
                    1,000 Post Club Member
                    • Dec 2009
                    • 1312

                    • Lake Wylie NC Area


                    #10
                    Originally posted by flaudia402 View Post
                    Can you clarify the "remote turn on circuit junction?" I looked (rather quickly) at the fuse box at the driver side footwell and didn't see any indication for the radio. Where should I look next?
                    The head-unit has a blue wire, typically with a white stripe, that supplies a 12V trigger to the amps and 420, when the head-unit is turned on. At some point, that wire will have a junction where it splits off to the amps and 420.

                    Somewhere, that wire is getting battery voltage with the head-unit off. Find that junction, separate it and check for voltage on each one individually.

                    Comment

                    • jonyb
                      • May 2014
                      • 5

                      • Paducah, KY


                      #11
                      I've seen this before with Kicker amps. Something happens with the Kicker amps that the remote turn-on circuit gets stuck on, so it's probably backfeeding voltage into the WS-420.

                      Comment

                      • darrell211
                        • Jul 2014
                        • 24

                        • Clear Lake

                        • 1998 196 open bow 2008 211v team

                        #12
                        I have also seen problems with kicker amps back feeding on the blue remote wire. Disconnect the small blue remote wire from the kicker and see if the other amp does not go off.

                        Comment

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