Hi I'm a newbie at wiring stereos so please bear
with me. On my boat I installed a new Kenwood receiver and a new Sony
CD changer. Connected to an older (6 yr.) Kenwood equalizer ans Sony
3040 that's the name amp. I've installed new speakers outside, checked
and upgraded all my speaker wires and connections but there is a buzz
in both sets and wasn't there in the old system. I've connected a
ground wire from the stereo power neg busway to a copper strip which
runs all thought out the boat. I've checked the resistance on the
copper by setting my meter to 20K touch both prongs together and get
0.03 rating. I then placed both prongs on the copper wire and the
resistance reads 0.03 but still the buzz. If I disconnect this #16
ground wire it of course gets louder. I've tried a heaver ground wire
#8 no change still the buzz.The power wires +/- to the amp are #8


Where next do I get better RCA cables than Radio Shack and if I need a
separate ground for the amp where do I attach it....to one of the
mounting screws holding the amp to the boats wood interior? The buzz
is making me crazy trying to get rid of it in both the radio or CD's.
I've also turned off at the panel board all other items, no motor and
still the buzz. Today I cleaned and tightened all battery connections
you guess it still there

"Chris" wrote in message oups.com...
Hi I'm a newbie at wiring stereos so please bear
with me. On my boat I installed a new Kenwood receiver and a new Sony
CD changer. Connected to an older (6 yr.) Kenwood equalizer ans Sony
3040 that's the name amp. I've installed new speakers outside, checked
and upgraded all my speaker wires and connections but there is a buzz
in both sets and wasn't there in the old system. I've connected a
ground wire from the stereo power neg busway to a copper strip which
runs all thought out the boat. I've checked the resistance on the
copper by setting my meter to 20K touch both prongs together and get
0.03 rating. I then placed both prongs on the copper wire and the
resistance reads 0.03 but still the buzz. If I disconnect this #16
ground wire it of course gets louder. I've tried a heaver ground wire
#8 no change still the buzz.The power wires +/- to the amp are #8


Where next do I get better RCA cables than Radio Shack and if I need a
separate ground for the amp where do I attach it....to one of the
mounting screws holding the amp to the boats wood interior? The buzz
is making me crazy trying to get rid of it in both the radio or CD's.
I've also turned off at the panel board all other items, no motor and
still the buzz. Today I cleaned and tightened all battery connections
you guess it still there


Try turning off the refrigerator.

CN

You have to try a few things to isolate the problem. For instance,
are you running any other gear? Shut everything down and disconnect
shore power and the buzz should go away. Add things back until the
buzz appears. Also, is the source FM, AM or a CD? Can you remove the
equalizer from the circuit? Its unlikely that cheap cables are the
problem unless they are actually broken. For more likely is
interference coming in a power line, which can be solved with a filter.


Chris wrote:
Hi I'm a newbie at wiring stereos so please bear
with me. On my boat I installed a new Kenwood receiver and a new Sony
CD changer. Connected to an older (6 yr.) Kenwood equalizer ans Sony
3040 that's the name amp. I've installed new speakers outside, checked
and upgraded all my speaker wires and connections but there is a buzz
in both sets and wasn't there in the old system. I've connected a
ground wire from the stereo power neg busway to a copper strip which
runs all thought out the boat. I've checked the resistance on the
copper by setting my meter to 20K touch both prongs together and get
0.03 rating. I then placed both prongs on the copper wire and the
resistance reads 0.03 but still the buzz. If I disconnect this #16
ground wire it of course gets louder. I've tried a heaver ground wire
#8 no change still the buzz.The power wires +/- to the amp are #8


Where next do I get better RCA cables than Radio Shack and if I need a
separate ground for the amp where do I attach it....to one of the
mounting screws holding the amp to the boats wood interior? The buzz
is making me crazy trying to get rid of it in both the radio or CD's.
I've also turned off at the panel board all other items, no motor and
still the buzz. Today I cleaned and tightened all battery connections
you guess it still there

All good advice and most things I've checked, refer is off has been for
a while and I had shut everything off at the panel no change in the
buzzing so turned on items 1 by 1 still nothing different. Disconnected
the dock power battery charger etc no change. The buzz is the same for
CD's or FM radio and no on the equalizer as the system design is that
from the receiver connects to the equalizer which connects RCA cables
to the amp.Cables aren't broken and forgot maybe to mention but this
system worked great for years while I cruised the Caribbean and
elsewhere just recently lack of use I guess the receiver just quit. It
was cheaper to replace than try and fix but the new receiver wouldn't
accept the old CD player so I replaced that and somewhere along this
process I got buzzing speakers to boot. I think its in the ground did
you read my testing resistance on the copper stripping and anything
wrong there?
"I've connected a ground wire from the stereo power neg busway to a
copper strip which
runs all thought out the boat. I've checked the resistance on the
copper by setting my meter to 20K touch both prongs together and get
0.03 rating. I then placed both prongs on the copper wire and the
resistance reads 0.03 but still the buzz. If I disconnect this #16
ground wire it of course gets louder".

"Chris" wrote in message oups.com...
All good advice and most things I've checked, refer is off has been for
a while and I had shut everything off at the panel no change in the
buzzing so turned on items 1 by 1 still nothing different. Disconnected
the dock power battery charger etc no change. The buzz is the same for
CD's or FM radio and no on the equalizer as the system design is that
from the receiver connects to the equalizer which connects RCA cables
to the amp.Cables aren't broken and forgot maybe to mention but this
system worked great for years while I cruised the Caribbean and
elsewhere just recently lack of use I guess the receiver just quit. It
was cheaper to replace than try and fix but the new receiver wouldn't
accept the old CD player so I replaced that and somewhere along this
process I got buzzing speakers to boot. I think its in the ground did
you read my testing resistance on the copper stripping and anything
wrong there?
"I've connected a ground wire from the stereo power neg busway to a
copper strip which
runs all thought out the boat. I've checked the resistance on the
copper by setting my meter to 20K touch both prongs together and get
0.03 rating. I then placed both prongs on the copper wire and the
resistance reads 0.03 but still the buzz. If I disconnect this #16
ground wire it of course gets louder".


Do you have an inverter running? If so try unplugging it. My inverter
makes a helluva buzz on the radio, especially AM stations.

CN

No the inverter isn't running I'm dockside and this is a new problem as
for years no buzzing with the old system. Even cleaned all the battery
terminals....When I remove the ground I have the buzzing gets worse
when replace its less but still there. I've even tried a larger ga
ground wire still there.

"Chris" wrote in message oups.com...
No the inverter isn't running I'm dockside and this is a new problem as
for years no buzzing with the old system. Even cleaned all the battery
terminals....When I remove the ground I have the buzzing gets worse
when replace its less but still there. I've even tried a larger ga
ground wire still there.


Maybe the new stereo is defective? Seems like you've about ruled
out everything else. Unless, of course, there's a new vessel in a slip
on either side of you that is broadcasting interference. Get a portable
little radio and walk around the dock close to neighboring vessels
and see if you get the buzz.

CN

Neighbors are the same powerboats and nobody home.....If it is the new
receiver which I got on eBay then I'll just live with it. Seems every
time you upgrade on small piece of equipment you have to change a lot
of things....isn't technology great. I'm still convinced something
isn't grounded right maybe the amp but not sure where to attach another
ground except to the mounting screws

"Chris" wrote in message ups.com...
Neighbors are the same powerboats and nobody home.....If it is the new
receiver which I got on eBay then I'll just live with it. Seems every
time you upgrade on small piece of equipment you have to change a lot
of things....isn't technology great. I'm still convinced something
isn't grounded right maybe the amp but not sure where to attach another
ground except to the mounting screws


Yes, you should definitely ground the metal case. The ground wire for the
current (usually black) is not enough. There should be a screw or pin
on the metal case where you can connect a ground.

CN

"Chris" wrote in message
oups.com...
All good advice and most things I've checked, refer is off has been for
a while and I had shut everything off at the panel no change in the
buzzing so turned on items 1 by 1 still nothing different. Disconnected
the dock power battery charger etc no change. The buzz is the same for
CD's or FM radio and no on the equalizer as the system design is that
from the receiver connects to the equalizer which connects RCA cables
to the amp.Cables aren't broken and forgot maybe to mention but this
system worked great for years while I cruised the Caribbean and
elsewhere just recently lack of use I guess the receiver just quit. It
was cheaper to replace than try and fix but the new receiver wouldn't
accept the old CD player so I replaced that and somewhere along this
process I got buzzing speakers to boot. I think its in the ground did
you read my testing resistance on the copper stripping and anything
wrong there?
"I've connected a ground wire from the stereo power neg busway to a
copper strip which
runs all thought out the boat. I've checked the resistance on the
copper by setting my meter to 20K touch both prongs together and get
0.03 rating. I then placed both prongs on the copper wire and the
resistance reads 0.03 but still the buzz. If I disconnect this #16
ground wire it of course gets louder".


It sounds like a grounding problem or possibly a cable that isn't completely
tightened down. I'm not expert on this, but I had a similar experience with
a home system. Turned out it was an inline component cable not being on
tight. The buzz would certainly get worse if you remove grounding cables,
but I did the same experiment on my system, and that didn't narrow it down.