excercise in futility anyone....car electronics/stereo rant

I got home today and decided to install new speaker wire of a larger gauge then stock in my integra, I got the drivers side done with a minor snafu, but solved it. Today I moved onto the passenger side, should be an easy job only an hour or so. I started at about noon thirty and just walked in 5 minutes ago. First it was one thing then another, fuses blowing twice, then my amp blew because I accidentally shorted it when moving cables around, then installed another amp I had lying around, then the radio stopped working, the connections on the back were pulled out of the crimp connectors when I was fiddling with it. I couldn't find the tools I needed I know I have them but cannot locate them.

Does everyone else work like this or is it just me? I swear that it takes me twice as long as it should to do some simple tasks, mostly because I cannot find where i left the 10mm socket, 3/8 wrench or something stupid like that.

Andrew

Pull a battery cable when working on car electronics. Hang stuff up. When I don't tidy up after myself things always go worse.

Yeah, learned that. Now I need to get my amp fixed atleast zed audio still fixes all their own amps.

learn to solder

I've never had good luck with crimp connectors.

I actually use Posi-Twist connectors on car audio connectors:

Was there a reason for putting in bigger wire? Speakers don't exactly draw a lot of current.

POSI-TWIST/POSI-LOCK ARE THE E36M3! Where do you get them now? Autozone where I am no longer carries them. I should probably just order a big bucket of them online or something.

About the tool "thing"....I have 2 hammers that are exactly the same. Why? I knew I had 1 but could not find it and when I bought the "new" one it was a twin to the old one. Also have many duplicates of screwdrivers (length AND bit type) because I never seem to be able to locate them.

My last car was an Integra, and often think about getting another, but never had the problems you had when I installed my replacement head unit. The previous owner had removed the head unit, for some reason and the speakers were all blown/rattled. Hondas, at least the older ones were always so easy to work on....new ones? not so much.

integraguy wrote: About the tool "thing"....I have 2 hammers that are exactly the same. Why? I knew I had 1 but could not find it and when I bought the "new" one it was a twin to the old one. Also have many duplicates of screwdrivers (length AND bit type) because I never seem to be able to locate them.

I need a screwdriver to get some staples out of a door panel...I've bought many but I can't find anything but phillips and jeweler's sized flat.

I am proud of my recent hammer purchase though. I knew I would need one to get the old brake rotors off my 83 RX7. I picked up a 2.5lb little sledge at harbor freight and was able to find it exactly when I needed it.

Just so I'm not threadjacking: I'm pretty sure I will want to use that hammer when I get around to installing a radio in that same RX7.

stuart in mn wrote: Was there a reason for putting in bigger wire? Speakers don't exactly draw a lot of current.

+1

I solder everything and keep a lot of spare tools around.

I too have learned my lesson on car audio. I solder/heatshrink everything. Tried using bullet connectors on one install. Never again...

My problem is that my garage is always so messy that its a nightmare getting the tools together for a simple job. If the garage were clean I could always grab the tools I need and get started right away.

+1 for Posi-Twist

plus they make a weather proof connector too, or you can use RTV on the end caps

To the question that keeps coming up about "why bigger wire to a speaker" larger gauge higher quality wire = much better sound reproduction (in conjunction with better than stock components)

To the OPs point. I feel your pain. It seems I can never find anything when I need it. This past summer I finally upgraded to a very large toolbox which allowed me to organize better. While I was out of town this past week my wife needed a screwdriver and even sent me an email to say she finally understands why I wanted that toolbox so badly. She was able to find what she needed right away with no hunting, something she'd never been able to do before.

Now I still have a bunch of specialty tools that dont fit in there that I still cant seem to find when I need them but Im slowly progressing toward organization (its only taken 40 years to get this far)

JThw8 wrote: To the question that keeps coming up about "why bigger wire to a speaker" larger gauge higher quality wire = much better sound reproduction (in conjunction with better than stock components)

I still doubt this, but it isn't relevant.

tuna55 wrote:

JThw8 wrote: To the question that keeps coming up about "why bigger wire to a speaker" larger gauge higher quality wire = much better sound reproduction (in conjunction with better than stock components)

I still doubt this, but it isn't relevant.

Although I'm no expert on the subject I've been around folks that are and learned what I can from them and its not conjecture, wire quality can and will effect the quality of sound but its not the only factor in the equation. And note I said quality, not just size, there is of course a point of diminishing returns with size.

My hearing is so messed up it wouldnt matter to me, and honestly I think most people wont notice the difference as much as they want to believe but there is a difference.

A lot of the difference in wire has to do with the new CCA, copper-clad aluminum junk. Gauge for gauge, it can't support the same current as its pure copper cousin can.

And as far as running new wires in the doors of a 3g teggy correctly, there very few cars that are harder. Kudos.

later, matt

Josh wrote: POSI-TWIST/POSI-LOCK ARE THE E36M3! Where do you get them now? Autozone where I am no longer carries them. I should probably just order a big bucket of them online or something.

i've seen them at Wal Mart.. but after trying them out one time i've decided to leave the variations on wire nuts for people wiring houses and just crimp using good uninsulated butt splices and shrink wrap from NAPA. it makes for a cleaner harness that will hold together forever without any problems.

I use a soldering iron and heat shrink. No crimp or twist connectors thank you very much! It's the only way to be sure your wiring will still be in one piece years down the road. I've actually had a new owner of one of my cars call me and compliment me on a wiring repair I did.

tuna55 wrote:

JThw8 wrote: To the question that keeps coming up about "why bigger wire to a speaker" larger gauge higher quality wire = much better sound reproduction (in conjunction with better than stock components)

I still doubt this, but it isn't relevant.

And you wouldn't be wrong.

Unless there is some extreme involved (crazy huge amp/really poor OEM wire), it will make no difference.

NO reason properly sized, used, and crimped connectors wont work and hold long term. Use good quality connectors of the correct size, preferably aircraft grade, NOT AutPepZone crap. Use good quality crimping tools, again NOT AutPepZone crap. A good set of crimpers will cost $50.00- $150.00 and should match the size and style of crimp connectors.

That being said I use quality crimp connectors when I am in a hurry or making a repair in a tight spot. When building from scratch I will solder, put liquid electrical tape from 3M on the joint then heat shrink over that.

Crimp connectors are better for car audio application then solder. I like solder, but its a PITA as well soldering inside a car, and some of the connections I couldn't not solder inside the car. Yes, just replacing the stock head unit, or upgrading the head unit is pretty easy in an integra, hardest part being that you need to remove the entire center console to get to the area to remove the radio. It takes longer then most cars, isn't the most straight forward either.

The problem I ran into in this car was drilling through the molex, or more exactly I was able to drill through the molex plug easily, 1 of the 2 the back plastic connectors on the molex plug itself decided to snap off when I removed the plug from the door. i wired everything up fine and the plug would work if I held it in. I tried multiple techniques for fixing the problem but eventually got fed up and ran the wires directly to the to one another, no more molex plug. I ran 14gauge wires from the amps to the front doors.

The larger the gauge to the speakers atleast to a point is better, stock is 20guage for my integra, which limits the clean sound I can play, especially since I upgraded to 300 watts per side for the front sound stage.

I have multiple hammers, screw drivers and such(eg: basic woodworking tools), I need to get multiple set of mechanic tools, ratchet sets, etc. My tool storage is lacking as well, I have a basic craftsman standard width tool box, I'm hoping to upgrade to a bigger tool box, most likely a HF one rather soon.

I've installed and removed numerous car stereos. ran new speaker wire too. haven't had issues with any of them and I just twist the wires together tape them up individually and then wrap the multiple wires together. makes a solid connection in my experience.

Yeah, I wouldn't just twist the wires and then use tape, even wire nuts would be a better option then just tape. Especially now that I added a new 18" sub, everything vibrates, but Chopin and Bach sound damn nice on the new sub, the lows really bump when the pipe organ kicks into the song. And my ghetto neighbors think i'm listening to rap half the time.