I'm trying to wrap up my Z1 install in my F150, and I get a thump in the subwoofer when I turn the truck on.

I followed instructions for a 5v regulator installation, but then I found this post:

http://avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... er&start=0

I wanted to see if someone could put in newbie terms the correct way to install this reducer?

My initial understanding is that I solder the input, output, then solder a ground wire that I hook up to the ground on my HU harness...

Well, I started selling those:

http://www.sminntech.com/ampinterface.html

My instructions are for the unit I sell, but this might clear some things up:

http://www.sminntech.com/aiinstall.html

It's just this:

http://www.sminntech.com/techai.html

The "input" of this regulator is the Z1's remote turn on. The "output" is the wire going to your amp. And ground is ground.

My initial understanding is that I solder the input, output, then solder a ground wire that I hook up to the ground on my HU harness...

That's pretty much correct.

Thanks ducatiboy. I'm going to head out to Radio Shack and get the stuff.

I purchased a couple of the 5v regulators yesterday - but just hooking that inline is not the "right" way. I'll show that datasheet to the folks at the store.

Thanks ducatiboy. I'm going to head out to Radio Shack and get the stuff.

 

I purchased a couple of the 5v regulators yesterday - but just hooking that inline is not the "right" way. I'll show that datasheet to the folks at the store.

Just out of curiosity, what regulators did you buy? You want to be careful about the input voltage tolerance, some 5V regulators will only take 10V as an input voltage, some take up in the 30V or 45V range. Also look at the amount of current the regulator can put out.

For this application, I would generally say to stay away from packages that look like this:

and

And go with one that looks like this:

or

Those will have higher current ratings and generally higher voltage tolerances. Better safe than sorry. With the way this is hooking up to the supply of the Z1, not the car's electrical system, you should be pretty safe. But the remote out is rated for 300mA. I don't know how much the amp in the vehicle draws, I never measured it. But the second set of pics is rated for 1A, the first set usually is 100mA. I hate putting in something weaker in the line, so I like overkill just in case.

Here is a pic I have of a part which was "undersized for the application".

http://www.avic411.com/forum/viewtopic. ... 30&start=5

When in doubt, check the data sheet specs for the parts you are putting in to your vehicle!

Yep - I had planned on going with the second set you have pictured.

I might just order one from you, as I am confused on the cap part. If I hook up the sub as is now, and install that later - will I do any harm?

Thanks

By the way - I was noticing a hum when I had the sub connected. I looked at the factory sub harness and the Crutchfield harness, and noticed that the black ground wire on the factory harness was not lining up with the two shield ground wires on the CF sub harness. So I moved the location of the CF subharness grounds to match.

This eliminated the constant hum, but now I notice that when I shut off the power, i get a quick, like 1 second, hum.

I do NOT have any regulator installed at the moment - should a regulator help that as well as the initial thump?

Yep - I had planned on going with the second set you have pictured.

 

I might just order one from you, as I am confused on the cap part. If I hook up the sub as is now, and install that later - will I do any harm?

 

Thanks

Don't be too worried about the cap part. Just get a 50V Ceramic (non-electrolytic) cap. Get a 0.1uF

Like this one:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2103630

and put it between ground and the output and get a 0.33uF and put it between the ground and the input. The caps have 2 leads and they are interchangeable (can go either direction, there is no + or -). If you can only find 0.1uF, stick on on the output and 3 of them on the input. It's not an "important" value. And you can always go a little bigger or a little smaller. These capacity of the cap is not real critical. The voltage it can handle is more critical.

If you hook up the sub it shouldn't hurt it, it's a real pain to hear the pop... and I'm sure it's not great for it. But I ran with it like that for a day or so till I figured out I needed to regulate the voltage down to 5V.

By the way - I was noticing a hum when I had the sub connected.

Maybe it doesn't know the words.

I looked at the factory sub harness and the Crutchfield harness, and noticed that the black ground wire on the factory harness was not lining up with the two shield ground wires on the CF sub harness. So I moved the location of the CF subharness grounds to match.

The "CF" sub harness? It's weird that the wires didn't line up.

This eliminated the constant hum, but now I notice that when I shut off the power, i get a quick, like 1 second, hum.

Without knowing what exactly those wires were and what you moved where, I don't know why you would get that.

I do NOT have any regulator installed at the moment - should a regulator help that as well as the initial thump?

It could be a byproduct of too much voltage on the input line and when you shut off the vehicle the voltage drops down slowly and that causes the hum. I would not bet the farm on it, but it's possible that it would fix it. Again, I'm not really clear what you had (wire harness wise) and what you moved to where so I can't make too much of an educated guess.

Sorry for being vague - not real experienced with this stuff - but learning as I go along.

The connection supplied with the Pioneer unit that has the sub output plugs into this Crutchfield wiring harness adapter:

If you look at the shield ground wires on the back of this harness, in what I'll call column 2...

When I look at the factory harness that the crutchfield adaptor plugs into, the black ground wire is in, say, position 3.

So i took the two small black wires in the picture above and moved them over one position. I hooked everything back up again today and it had eliminated the constant hum from the subwoofer.

Make sense? I'm sorry if I am creating confusion...

When you moved that wire, does the sub still work? Or is there no hum cause the sub is not making any sounds anymore?

I would also need the wiring diagram and pinouts of wires for the car's harness this is plugging into. Maybe one of the guys here has access to the wiring diagram and pinouts of that connector.

Was nothing connected to the harness where those wires were hooked up?

Also you can call crutchfield. If you bought the radio from them and the harness from them, you get free tech support. Pick their brain, it's worth a phone call.

Is this what you are needing to see? Yes - when I moved the wire, the sub still worked.

I spoke to Crutchfield last night - they suggested moving the wires. I didnt think they would have built their harness wrong?

so you basically moved the subwoofer negative rca connection to the amp ground. That seems weird. I would think that I might want to move it back and hook up the ground with regular ground. They might be electronically correct, but maybe not. That's weird.

I had an 05 f150 that used sub out of the d1 unit. It had a hum when opening the door.. presumably due to dome light or something similar. I didnt keep the vehicle long enough to determine 100% but would bet that if a new clean common ground was made for the head unit that that might correct the hum. I would guess that the oem harness and ground is interconnected with other things and probably not a direct or clean ground, because it seemed to hum with the dimming of the interior lights. Just my 2 cents on the hum.

Here is a picture of the CF sub harness after I made the wire switch:

I moved the two black wires over one spot. This was an instruction from crutchfield. Now, the black wires line up with the black ground wire on the truck factory harness. Still seem weird?

As for the regulator, I went ahead and purchased what I needed earlier today - and tried to seek some help from the radio shack guys on how to build. Not much luck...

I connect a wire to the input, ground, and output. How do I connect the caps?

Excellent choice on the regulator. It's the same kind I use, the 7805 is a standard but the A is the extra range. Not that it wouldn't work without it, but the non-A model is rated down to 0 deg C which I know it gets colder than that every morning at my house

The middle pin as you show in the pic is ground. The pin on the left is the input and goes to the remote turn on wire from the Z1, and the pin on the right is it's output and goes to the turn on wire going to the amp.

Take 3 caps and stack them so that the one lead from each of the 3 caps touches together and twist them together. Then take the other lead from each of the 3 caps and twist those together. So you have 1 lead from each cap connected and the other lead from each cap twisted together. So you have 3 sandwitched together. Then one set of twists goes to the left pin on the regulator and the other side goes to the middle pin. Then take the last cap and one lead goes to the middle pin and the other one goes to the right pin of the regulator.

As for the connector, since the stock connector only used pins 1 - 4 and not pins 5 - 8. I would take one of the RCA jacks and put them back in pins 1 and 2. Then I would take the black wire from the RCA connector in pins 5 and 6 and put it in pin 3 and then ground it to a really good ground.

So the RCA connector for the sub out is in the sub +/- connectors and then ground is really a good ground and then the output of the regulator goes to the blue/white wire in pin 4.