A
Anonymous
Guest
Hi All,
I installed a sub woofer with an in built amplifier in the boot of my RCZ a few months ago. In the absence of any obvious source, I connected the remote/switch wire (the one that turns the amp on and off, usually at the same time as the head unit/radio itself - and usually a thin blue wire) to the cigarette lighter. Whilst this functioned just fine, it did have an annoying side effect. It made the subwoofer pop as it turned on and off (similar to 80s hi-fi's as they're turned on and off - not great for a modern car).
Most people would live with it, but I'm super fussy. So, after plenty of research involving wiring diagrams (see below) I've identified the switch wire that turns on/off the manufacturer's amplifier in the boot (for those of you that have the optional extra JBL speaker pack). The amplifier is on the right hand side of the boot and can be accessed by prizing out the small carpet panel (I assume this is meant to help one access the rear light bulbs) near the boot light.
It's the green wire (circled in red in the below photo). I identified it using a multimeter.
Splice into it; use a stanley-knife to peel off some of the plastic sheath, wrap your own remote/switch wire (connected at the other end to your amp/sub) around the exposed copper wire and then use either heat shrink or electrical tape to cover up and insulate the joint.
Unlike the cigarette lighter, this green wire goes live when you unlock the car (not when you turn on the ignition - therefore if there is any popping, which I doubt there will be, you won't be in the car to hear it) and it turns off 20seconds after you lock the car.
I haven't spliced it yet, but I expect to do that next weekend.
I installed a sub woofer with an in built amplifier in the boot of my RCZ a few months ago. In the absence of any obvious source, I connected the remote/switch wire (the one that turns the amp on and off, usually at the same time as the head unit/radio itself - and usually a thin blue wire) to the cigarette lighter. Whilst this functioned just fine, it did have an annoying side effect. It made the subwoofer pop as it turned on and off (similar to 80s hi-fi's as they're turned on and off - not great for a modern car).
Most people would live with it, but I'm super fussy. So, after plenty of research involving wiring diagrams (see below) I've identified the switch wire that turns on/off the manufacturer's amplifier in the boot (for those of you that have the optional extra JBL speaker pack). The amplifier is on the right hand side of the boot and can be accessed by prizing out the small carpet panel (I assume this is meant to help one access the rear light bulbs) near the boot light.
It's the green wire (circled in red in the below photo). I identified it using a multimeter.
Splice into it; use a stanley-knife to peel off some of the plastic sheath, wrap your own remote/switch wire (connected at the other end to your amp/sub) around the exposed copper wire and then use either heat shrink or electrical tape to cover up and insulate the joint.
Unlike the cigarette lighter, this green wire goes live when you unlock the car (not when you turn on the ignition - therefore if there is any popping, which I doubt there will be, you won't be in the car to hear it) and it turns off 20seconds after you lock the car.
I haven't spliced it yet, but I expect to do that next weekend.
