# Battery drains after aftermarket stereo install



## jettaboy13 (Mar 6, 2008)

I recently installed a Clarion DB285USB in my '01 Jetta, used the wiring harness from Crutchfield, and double checked all my connections to ensure I had everything right. Since the install my battery will drain, sometimes every couple days, sometimes over-night. When the car turns off, the stereo and my amp turns off with it. 
I was wondering if maybe the monsoon amp that is still powering the stock speakers is for some reason staying on due to the new HU. Can anybody shine some light on the subject or give any suggestions as to what the problem could be?


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## Non_Affiliated (Feb 12, 2002)

*Re: Battery drains after aftermarket stereo install (jettaboy13)*

If you have accesss to a Volt meter (be it Digital or analog) try checking the if the amp is still remaining on after you turn the car off and deck. I have heard stories of certain aftermarket HU's not turning off the Monsoon amps and draining batteries.


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## blazerpounds (Mar 19, 2008)

it really shouldnt be the factory amp staying on, as its signal sensing, but it is possible, but it shouldnt be drawing enough juice to kill a battery overnight. Have your battery checked out.
Another thing you could do is just unplug the factory amp overnight and see that way.


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## jettaboy13 (Mar 6, 2008)

*Re: (blazerpounds)*

I've got a multimeter, that's what I've been using to check the draw on the battery. I had replaced the battery with a new one thinkin' it might be that, but since it died last the stereo won't turn on and the draw is gone. I checked all fuses and don't know why the stereo isn't getting power anymore. This is suck a pain in the a$$.


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## 92rado2.8 (Jul 12, 2004)

*Re: (jettaboy13)*

Triple check all your wiring even with the battery, but if the radio is the only thing you changed all signs point to that.


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## crazymoforz (Jan 19, 2006)

*Re: (jettaboy13)*

check the fuse on the left panel. maybe its blown. pull the headunit out and check if anything is touching. if the wires are twisted with electrical tape i would recommend that you either use butt connectors or solder. i solder most of my connections with heatshrink. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif GL with the problem.


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## Non_Affiliated (Feb 12, 2002)

*Re: (crazymoforz)*

First thing to do, pull your battery and get it on a charger.


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## jettaboy13 (Mar 6, 2008)

*Re: (Non_Affiliated)*

I've been keeping the battery on a battery charger when it was draining dead. After the stereo quit working there isn't a drain anymore. I did a quick check in the fuse box and none of the fuses that I saw were blown. I may go through and pull each fuse 'til I find the one (or realize they're all fine and my car is possessed)


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## crazymoforz (Jan 19, 2006)

*Re: (jettaboy13)*

check the fuse on the unit.


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## outkastgti (Jul 20, 2004)

*Re: (crazymoforz)*

can you turn on your headunit with your keys out of the ignition?


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## BarakOBalla (Feb 11, 2009)

*Re: (outkastgti)*

You definitely need a higher output alternator, probably a better battery.


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## sgolf2000 (Mar 2, 2003)

*Re: (BarakOBalla)*

these vehicles require no additional connections to power the monsoon amp, different from say a bose equipped honda or a infinity chrysler. make sure the only wires you have connected are:from the aftermarket harness are the yellow, black, red to an acessory source (speakers: 2greens 2 whites 2grays 2 purple) and your blue/white to your amp remote, and tap your antenna adapter into blue, blue/white or red from the radio harness.


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## Non_Affiliated (Feb 12, 2002)

*Re: (BarakOBalla)*


_Quote, originally posted by *BarakOBalla* »_You definitely need a higher output alternator

NO! His alternator is probably fine.

_Quote, originally posted by *BarakOBalla* »_Probably a better battery.

Only after verifying the battery is bad.


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## jettaboy13 (Mar 6, 2008)

*Re: (Non_Affiliated)*

Battery is brand new, the alternator is giving more than enough juice, I've wired it right, and the radio only turns on with the ignition. I pulled the stereo and harness completely out and am checking to make sure all connections are good before I electrical tape over wiring connectors to ensure no shorts. We'll see how this works!!!


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## Non_Affiliated (Feb 12, 2002)

*Re: (jettaboy13)*

Wait?







. Have you checked to see where your drain is comming from?


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## blazerpounds (Mar 19, 2008)

yeah, did you do like i suggested, and first unplug the amp overnight, then unlpug the deck overnight and see which of the 2 it actually is?


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## jettaboy13 (Mar 6, 2008)

*Re: (blazerpounds)*

I checked and the drain was not from the amp, I figured it had to be from the stereo. I pulled the wiring adapter and wrapped all the connections with electrical tape. Hopefully that took care of any grounding wires. I'll let you guys know.


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## jettaboy13 (Mar 6, 2008)

*Re: (jettaboy13)*

After taping up all connections to the stereo the battery still drained. Started to second guess my checking of the monsoon amp. I unplugged the amp connectors and the drain has seemed to stop. Anybody got any ideas why the amp would be causing the battery to drain???


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## Non_Affiliated (Feb 12, 2002)

*Re: (jettaboy13)*

Me personally I would toss the monsoon system. But that is just me.


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## blazerpounds (Mar 19, 2008)

could be anything from here. start by pulling "blocks" of fuses at night, i would say set up 4 blocks, and when you find your drain goes away at night, start testing each of those in that "block" for drain with a multi meter.
Batteries do come from the stores bad, also, so I would suggest having that tested as well.


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## Non_Affiliated (Feb 12, 2002)

*Re: (blazerpounds)*

Ok if you just want to cut to the chase and try to figure out the drain, here.
Well we will start with the meter. How many amps can it measure safely? Usally most better brand meters with current functions can measure 10A. Better ones can sustain a 20 amp draw for short intervals. If your Multimetr doesn't measure 4A or better you may not want to perform the below test. As it may damage the meter.
To test what the amount of current draw is follow instructions below:
1.) Make sure everyting is turned off inside the car (ignition included), and pop the hood.
2.) Disconnect the positive lead.
3.) Plug the test leads into the highest range input on the DMM.
4.) Set the DMM to the highest Amp range.
5.) take the Positive test lead and connect it to the positive terminal on the battery.
6.) Now the negative test lead is HOT, don't go touching it to the body or ground ponts on the car.
7.) Touch the negative test lead to the positive battery cable clamp. The meter should read some amount of current. I would expect some current draw on the battery. Not much maybe a couple milliamps of current if good. I would consider anything over 3/4 amp to be an ecessive draw, but that may vary depending one what Make and model car, and how many gizmoes need to be powered on when everything is turned off.
8.) Sould you suspect a certain circuit is drawing too much current with the car off. Pull that circuits fuse, if the draw goes away you have found the cause of the current draw. If it doesn't go away then try another fuse. Granted that cars just sutting may draw soem current for ECU's memeory, or clocks and LCD displace in the dash.
Disclaimer: I am not responsable for any damage/injury to anyone or thier car. I am exempt from all liability, and the directions above are for use by people with a basic knowledge and safety precaustions for working with car electrical systems


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## Charles_Colfax (Jul 23, 2016)

jettaboy13 said:


> I recently installed a Clarion DB285USB in my '01 Jetta, used the wiring harness from Crutchfield, and double checked all my connections to ensure I had everything right. *Since the install my battery will drain, sometimes every couple days, sometimes over-night.* When the car turns off, the stereo and my amp turns off with it.
> I was wondering if* maybe the monsoon amp that is still powering the stock speakers is for some reason staying on due to the new HU.* Can anybody shine some light on the subject or give any suggestions as to what the problem could be?





Non_Affiliated said:


> If you have accesss to a Volt meter (be it Digital or analog) try checking the if the amp is still remaining on after you turn the car off and deck. *I have heard stories of certain aftermarket HU's not turning off the Monsoon amps and draining batteries*.





blazerpounds said:


> it really shouldnt be* the factory amp staying on, as its signal sensing*, but it is possible, but it shouldnt be drawing enough juice to kill a battery overnight. Have your battery checked out.
> Another thing you could do is just* unplug the factory amp overnight and see that way*.





sgolf2000 said:


> *these vehicles require no additional connections to power the monsoon amp*, different from say a bose equipped honda or a infinity chrysler. make sure the only wires you have connected are:from the aftermarket harness are the yellow, black, red to an acessory source (speakers: 2greens 2 whites 2grays 2 purple) and your blue/white to your amp remote, and tap your antenna adapter into blue, blue/white or red from the radio harness.





jettaboy13 said:


> After taping up all connections to the stereo the battery still drained. Started to second guess my checking of the monsoon amp. I *unplugged the amp connectors and the drain has seemed to stop*. Anybody got any ideas why the amp would be causing the battery to drain???


Resurrecting an old thread with a bit of info I pulled from TDIClub...

Since I am having a similar issue with my 01 Golf GLS.

It came with the Single Din Monsoon system, I pulled the HU and replaced it with an Alpine unit using the correct wiring harness adapter, still running the OE speakers thru the Monsoon amp.

Two days after HU swap battery is dead as a hammer.

Charge battery (with 250amp MATCO charger, not a little cheapo one), car starts right up, drives fine, on/off several times just fine.

Next day... dead as a hammer again.

Only change has been HU, so I dug in to the wiring diagram a bit; as has been mentioned, it seems the Monsoon amp does not have a traditional "power on" lead, but is "signal sensing" and gets that signal from the right rear speaker positive terminal.

According to what I picked up from TDIClub, most aftermarket head units go negative to ground and positive has constant power; so using the OE wiring to the Monsoon amp, the amp is constantly getting a signal so it stays "on"; thus draining the battery.



> *The factory monsoon amp in my 2001 golf did not have a remote trigger on wire like an aftermarket amp does. The monsoon amp is triggered on by sensing voltage on one of the ... speaker wires. ... The problem with some aftermarket head units it that the negative speaker wires are left in a grounded state when the head unit is turned off, this makes the monsoon amp believe it is being triggered on still and does not shut off*.


I unplugged all of the connectors at the Monsoon amp, charged battery, car starts right up, HU comes on (it is still hooked up and has both constant and switched 12v power), but as expected, no sound at all from the speakers... no signal from HU thru wiring harness to amp back to speakers.

Also from TDIClub:



> In the spirit of the original post...Problem solved!
> 
> Monsoon ......either replace or get rid of. I opted for get rid of...*now the Alpine (amp) is installed and wired into the OEM wiring* - all is well.


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## Charles_Colfax (Jul 23, 2016)

So here are the questions...

Is there a way to connect an aftermarket HU to the OE Monsoon amp?

(Say what you will about the Monsoon system, it doesn't sound bad, and it's not a competition system, just a upgrade in a commuter.)

Is there a way to swap in a small aftermarket amp to replace the OE Monsoon amp using the OE wiring harness (with little modification)?

Or am I stuck running a full amp install... power, ground, turn on and, all new speaker wires... which will TOTALLY bring the suck.

WAAAAAYYYYYY more work than I need / want to do right now; I've got a dozen other half finished projects...

TIA

-cmc-


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## MarkeyseJMundy (Aug 3, 2016)

Every time I have a aftermarket radio with a factory amp, if it is signal sensing, then I know that I can't leave that system completely as it is, as you are putting in something that isn't suppose to technically be in there. 

Signal sensing can be active by just sending a signal to the amp. Note this was made for your factory radio. Your aftermarket radio is built different. You've already determined that when you unplugged the amp, the issue went away (signal sensing not turning off the amp when there is no signal). So that is going to be your issue. 

Best thing for you to do, is to add a relay to the main power line of your amp, using the deck's turn-on lead to activate the relay. That way, when the deck is off, there is absolutely no power going to the amp, and when it is on, your get sound basically! 

I do this to most older VW's I have to install decks in with a monsoon amp!

It isn't going to be a fuse. When there is an issue relating to a fuse is when something isn't powering on.


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## MarkeyseJMundy (Aug 3, 2016)

Charles_Colfax said:


> So here are the questions...
> 
> Is there a way to connect an aftermarket HU to the OE Monsoon amp?
> 
> ...


 Yes, though I would suggest getting this professionally done!


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## Charles_Colfax (Jul 23, 2016)

MarkeyseJMundy said:


> Every time I have a aftermarket radio with a factory amp, if it is signal sensing, then I know that I can't leave that system completely as it is, as you are putting in something that isn't suppose to technically be in there.
> 
> *Signal sensing can be active by just sending a signal to the amp. Note this was made for your factory radio. Your aftermarket radio is built different. You've already determined that when you unplugged the amp, the issue went away (signal sensing not turning off the amp when there is no signal). So that is going to be your issue. *
> 
> ...


Running a relay off the HU's amp turn on lead is easy enough... any thoughts on how big of a relay? or where to mount (limited space in dash, lots of space by amp)?

I'll just have to dig thru schematics and wiring diagrams to figure out which wire in the OE harness plug is the main power lead...

Since the amp is signal sensing, and gets its signal from the RR positive I should still get full audio signal to the amp.

And THANKS!

-cmc-


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## Charles_Colfax (Jul 23, 2016)

Charles_Colfax said:


> So here are the questions...
> 
> Is there a way to connect an aftermarket HU to the OE Monsoon amp?
> 
> ...





MarkeyseJMundy said:


> Yes, though I would suggest getting this professionally done!


Yes to which part?


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## MarkeyseJMundy (Aug 3, 2016)

Charles_Colfax said:


> Running a relay off the HU's amp turn on lead is easy enough... any thoughts on how big of a relay? or where to mount (limited space in dash, lots of space by amp)?
> 
> I'll just have to dig thru schematics and wiring diagrams to figure out which wire in the OE harness plug is the main power lead...
> 
> ...


If it was me, I would run your relay to the rear to the trunk. Lots of space, and the factory amp connections will have all of what you need for the relay sans the turn-on lead you will need to extend from the deck. 

As for the relay, a regular BOSCH type SPDT 30/40a should do the trick.


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## MarkeyseJMundy (Aug 3, 2016)

Charles_Colfax said:


> Yes to which part?


Swamping out the Moonsoon amp. 

If you have experience with it, then cool! If not, then you could be in a world of hurt, and I've seen people that attempted it to come and have it even messed up more. Since you'll have to test every wire. So I would HIGHLY encourage getting a well known and professional (and Certified with a good track record) installer. 

If you want to do it, take your time. Read resources like http://www.the12volt.com/ and soak up as much info as possible. 

Here's a couple of amps you can go with;

http://www.kicker.com/42PXA3004
http://www.kenwood.com/usa/car/amplifiers/kac-m3004/
http://www.sony.com/electronics/car-amplifiers/xm-s400d
http://alpine-usa.com/product/view/ktp-445u


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## Charles_Colfax (Jul 23, 2016)

MarkeyseJMundy said:


> Swamping out the Moonsoon amp.
> 
> If you have experience with it, then cool! If not, then you could be in a world of hurt, and I've seen people that attempted it to come and have it even messed up more. *Since you'll have to test every wire*. So I would HIGHLY encourage getting a well known and professional (and Certified with a good track record) installer.
> 
> ...


Just getting back to exploring this... I've been rolling "radio-less" and chasing a CEL (Actually been driving my Suburban more).

It seems running the relay is much easier and more cost effective... and likely what I'll do for now. 

But I'd still be in the position of having to test multiple (all?) the wires on the factory harness to determine which is the main power for the OE amp.

(No, I haven't checked the Bentley or other resources for wiring diagrams and identifiers yet.)

Once I get everything powered back up I've got new speakers to swap in as well, which hopefully will not be "underpowered" by that OE amp.

I had actually looked at that Alpine amp previously for my MK3 Jetta (which is where the HU and speakers came from)!

If I eventually end up swapping amps I do have a very good, reputable, professional shop locally that I would trust.

THANKS!!!

CMC


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## MarkeyseJMundy (Aug 3, 2016)

Charles_Colfax said:


> Just getting back to exploring this... I've been rolling "radio-less" and chasing a CEL (Actually been driving my Suburban more).
> 
> It seems running the relay is much easier and more cost effective... and likely what I'll do for now.
> 
> ...


No worries. But yes you want to test all wires. Don't want to tap into the wrong ones you know!


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## Charles_Colfax (Jul 23, 2016)

MarkeyseJMundy said:


> No worries. But yes you want to test all wires. Don't want to tap into the wrong ones you know!


Anyone have a schematic that shows which wire is the main power feed to the factory Monsoon amp?

Will the low voltage turn on signal be enough to make it turn on?

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk


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## MarkeyseJMundy (Aug 3, 2016)

Charles_Colfax said:


> Anyone have a schematic that shows which wire is the main power feed to the factory Monsoon amp?
> 
> Will the low voltage turn on signal be enough to make it turn on?
> 
> Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk


No but usually your power cables are going to be the thickest cables out the bunch. Use your DMM (Digital Multimeter) to test it out. It should give you 12volts when the car is off! Usually it's by your ground, and you ground is usually going to be Brown.


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## cuppie (May 4, 2005)

Charles_Colfax said:


> Anyone have a schematic that shows which wire is the main power feed to the factory Monsoon amp?


 I could post a pic from my Passat Bentley - but, that would be silly. 
Two very large wires: Red = hot = positive; brown = earth = ground. It really is that simple.



> Will the low voltage turn on signal be enough to make it turn on?


 Not sure what you mean here. Clarify and expand on that? 
I hope that you aren't asking if you can wire the amp power supply to the HU's remote turn-on output.... That will, at best, not work; at worst, it'll burn out the REM output in the HU - instantly.


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## MarkeyseJMundy (Aug 3, 2016)

cuppie said:


> I could post a pic from my Passat Bentley - but, that would be silly.
> I hope that you aren't asking if you can wire the amp power supply to the HU's remote turn-on output.... That will, at best, not work; at worst, it'll burn out the REM output in the HU - instantly.


That's not what he meant. Turn on lead "Wakes up" the amp. And yes you can use it for the power as long as you wire it to a relay. All it's doing is triggering the relay to make the power connection.


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## cuppie (May 4, 2005)

MarkeyseJMundy said:


> That's not what he meant.


 Well, I'm not a mind reader. That's why I asked for clarification. 


> Turn on lead "Wakes up" the amp.


 Normally, yes. Quite aware of that, I am. But, not a Monsoon amp.


> And yes you can use it for the power as long as you wire it to a relay. All it's doing is triggering the relay to make the power connection.


 Absolutely. I agree. But, the way that I read Charles' last post, he could have meant "well, can't I just connect the amp power supply directly to the AMP_ON output from my head unit?" That would have been bad - a typical HU has a max of ~500mA output on that line. Triggers a relay (~50mA) just fine, can't power an amp (10-30A.) 

BTW: half-quoting a post does make it look like someone said something that they didn't. In your case, it just made me look like I was being snide.  
The main point of this:


> I could post a pic from my Passat Bentley - but, that would be silly.
> *Two very large wires: Red = hot = positive; brown = earth = ground.* It really is that simple


 is that there isn't a need to post a picture from anyone's manuals (which Charles asked for) - or, even, to break out the DVOM / DMM. It's screamingly obvious, just by looking at it, which wire is the power supply to the amp.


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## MarkeyseJMundy (Aug 3, 2016)

cuppie said:


> Well, I'm not a mind reader. That's why I asked for clarification.  Normally, yes. Quite aware of that, I am. But, not a Monsoon amp. Absolutely. I agree. But, the way that I read Charles' last post, he could have meant "well, can't I just connect the amp power supply directly to the AMP_ON output from my head unit?" That would have been bad - a typical HU has a max of ~500mA output on that line. Triggers a relay (~50mA) just fine, can't power an amp (10-30A.)
> 
> BTW: half-quoting a post does make it look like someone said something that they didn't. In your case, it just made me look like I was being snide.
> The main point of this: is that there isn't a need to post a picture from anyone's manuals (which Charles asked for) - or, even, to break out the DVOM / DMM. It's screamingly obvious, just by looking at it, which wire is the power supply to the amp.


Actually, A common automotive Bosch type SPDT Relay needs about 150mA (0.15A) to power up. He also never said he was connecting it straight. 

And just "looking" at the wires isn't a smart way to connect them. Especially in the newer vehicles.


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## cuppie (May 4, 2005)

MarkeyseJMundy said:


> Actually, A common automotive Bosch type SPDT Relay needs about 150mA (0.15A) to power up.


 Sorry, was off 100mA. But, not significant in this case.


> He also never said he was connecting it straight.


 I'm not sure that he said either way - that's why I asked for clarification.  



> And just "looking" at the wires isn't a smart way to connect them. Especially in the newer vehicles.


 Generally, I do agree with you on this. But, in _this specific case_, it really is okay. I do remember saying that the one (and, there's only one) big-a$$ red wire on the amp is the power supply (B+.) OP asked for a wiring diagram. Instead of the hoops needed to supply that, I simply said which wire he needs. 


So, now that we've probably scared poor Charles off, can we stop trying to flame each other?  
((shakes hands))


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## Dust101496 (Jul 31, 2017)

Ok not to comment on a dead post but im installing a clarion cx501 hu in my 01 jetta Wolfsburg edition using the crutchfield kit and i noticed that my head unit was leaving the monsoon amp on and draining the battery. Turns out, the rear right positive is the signal/switch. So does anybody know how to fix this problem?


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## cuppie (May 4, 2005)

Yes - with a relay. 
Install a relay in the amplifiers' power supply wire, and use the head unit's 'remote' output to trigger the relay.


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## MarkeyseJMundy (Aug 3, 2016)

Yea, Like Cuppie said. 

All you have to do is read the rest of this post! : D


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## smegun (Aug 31, 2020)

*monsoon kitty litter*

im waiting on the second factory harness adaptor that use rca's for inputs to the factory amp although ive read and can relatively hear that the factory monsoon amp can take speaker outs ive never had such luck on other setups probobly over driven im replacing speakers with split coils 4 already out of the 8 ive found .. the typical consideration is a 10 db out max .. anyway here is a link that a guy uses and im going try this method as ive isolated the wires and see what he is talking about by putting a relay in  .... that is if the second factory harness is going to fail which i assume it will because what were saying here is that the amp is taking down a speaker ground or something and is staying on it was warm after a night and a battery jump ..... 


try youtube .....How to turn off factory VW Monsoon Amp.



in a political sense is organization in times like these that lead to experimentation one may become frank with simple terminology in DC the black wire is negative in AC the black wire is hotter than


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## cuppie (May 4, 2005)

That amp is absolutely designed to take speaker-level inputs. 
Proof: Monsoon and non-Monsoon cars use the same head unit. 
Proof 2: How many of us have upgraded from the factory HU to aftermarket, without touching the amp. Myself included. Closing in on 5 years since I did it, still works just the same as when I installed the HU. 

The "aftermarket HU w/ Monsoon" issue is caused by some HUs, and how they shut down. MOST of them put the speaker outputs to 'open' when they turn off (just like the factory HU.) Amp is OK with this. 
SOME others ground their speaker outputs when off. With speakers connected, not an issue. Feeding an amp with a turn-on lead (say, older BMWs - amps were speaker-level input, amp used a turn-on lead), not an issue. But, feeding an amp with input-sensing turn-on (Monsoon!), it's a problem - the amp won't turn off. 

What brand HU are you installing? 

Oh, this is not always true:


> y in DC the black wire is negative


 It depends on the carmaker. Germans follow DIN standards - brown is ground. Not black. American carmakers each follow their own standards. 
It's been a while since I dealt with anything Asian, so I can't remember what their 'standard ground color' is.


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## smegun (Aug 31, 2020)

*small constant drains are bad for car batteries*



blazerpounds said:


> it really shouldn't be the factory amp staying on, as its signal sensing, but it is possible, but it shouldn't be drawing enough juice to kill a battery overnight. Have your battery checked out.
> Another thing you could do is just unplug the factory amp overnight and see that way.


those small drains are bad on batteries its bad enough the alarm is on told its worst thing for deep cycle acid battery it can never refresh itself people move to hybrids and even two batteries like weve had cap type quick charge batteries for a long time but the industry hasn't adopted it its like a good faith argument im stuck in a drift without what will ya do for heat or cool :snowcool: my Lincoln states somewhere that there wasn't enough battery to do what they wanted to do regarding extras and engine run time is now dependent they ended up putting the bat in the trunk the whole body is a negative ground issue


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## cuppie (May 4, 2005)

There's a lot to disassemble in that post....


> those small drains are bad on batteries


 Define 'small.' Pretty much any semi-modern car will have a rest-state power consumption of 15-40mA. It's unavoidable. Even a 70 Amp-hour battery will live for quite a while at that discharge rate. Battery life is determined by charge/discharge cycles (Ah in, Ah out), and is (negatively) affected by heat.


> its bad enough the alarm is on


Negligible part of the rest-state power budget


> told its worst thing for deep cycle acid battery it can never refresh itself


 Good news! Cars don't use deep-cycle LA batteries! Those are for boats and RVs.


> people move to hybrids


 Those still have a 12v battery. Main electrical is 12v. Shop I work at currently has three i3s sitting in the lot, waiting on a new 12v battery (backordered - thanks, East Penn, thanks, CoViD!)


> and even two batteries


How about three? That's a thing, too. So is a Li-Ion system (or supplemental) battery (depending on the car.) BTW: Li-Ion really, really hates deep discharge - even more than lead-acid or AGM does.


> ike weve had cap type quick charge batteries for a long time but the industry hasn't adopted it


Those always sucked for long-term durability. They also store poorly.


> my Lincoln states somewhere that there wasn't enough battery to do what they wanted to do regarding extras and engine run time is now dependent


Sounds like the battery is worn, and needs new. Car is doing its job - protecting startability. Comfort functions don't mean isht, if you can't start the engine. 


> hey ended up putting the bat in the trunk


 That's done for packaging (frees up space in the engine bay), weight distribution (a battery is heavy!), and to *protect the battery from heat*.


> the whole body is a negative ground issue


 Guess what? Doesn't matter where the battery is - the body is ALWAYS the ground. That's the point! That big hunk of steel is an excellent conductor!


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## smegun (Aug 31, 2020)

*Add a relay to the power feed*

adding a relay to the power feed going into the amp mine had 3 red leads going in to the connector but less than a foot up the merge into one red with white stripe wire there you can cut the wire ad terminal lugs and connect them to the throw of the relay there is a video on it off you tube


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## Charles_Colfax (Jul 23, 2016)

I love that this thread is still getting kicked around!

Sent from my HD1907 using Tapatalk


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