Another stereo speaker question......

Sean&SuzieWkndr · 03-20-2013, 11:28 PM

We own a 2001 27 foot Bunk House Sierra TT. When we purchased the trailer the factory stereo was missing, leaving just a cubby hole where it would have been. The wiring was intact, just no stereo. Well, this weekend I located an extra car stereo I had laying around and decided to install it in the trailer where the stereo used to be.

Two things that seemed odd after completing the power wiring for the stereo:

1. When I plugged in the stereo to its harness that I had just spliced into the power connections for the factory stereo, all the 12V lighting for the trailer got brighter. When I unplugged the stereo, all the lights got dimmer.

2. I can't seem to get any of the speakers to work. It doesn't matter which connections on the stereo I use, or which speaker I try to test for sound, nothing happens.

My next step is to remove one of the speakers from the ceiling and check for good continuity end to end with a multimeter. Is there anything that I should look for or watch out for? The original stereo system wasn't some kind of self amplified speaker system, was it?

Thanks in advance.

Sean&Suzie

puff · 03-21-2013, 12:10 AM

..sounds like some funky wiring going on...maybe thats why there was no stereo..?

I would be following your idea of pulling a speaker and looking for common wires to the mounting area. Short of that have you tried a speaker thats not already mounted as a test dummy to check the connections..?

dmf564 · 03-21-2013, 12:17 AM

If they took the stereo, they may have taken the speakers too. If the speakers are there you can make sure they aren't blown.
Next I would make sure the head unit is putting out. Make sure it has all channels functioning.
The whole lights getting brighter thing is puzzling to say the least.

Sean&SuzieWkndr · 03-21-2013, 02:45 AM

I'll be on the lookout in my garage for another speaker to use for testing this weekend. Unfortunately, I'm using the trailer as housing during my work week, as I work about 120 miles from home. I barely had enough wiring supplies with me to get the power hooked up to the radio. I'm still going to check the wiring for continuity, but checking the head unit for output will have to wait until I can return from home with an extra speaker. The trailer has four 6 or 8 inch speakers in the ceiling, and I have some extra 6x9s and 4x10s in my garage. They'll work for testing, but I can't use them for replacements.

Thanks for the replies! I'll let you know what I find!

TomStacey616 · 03-21-2013, 07:07 AM

The last camper we had (outback 21rs) I found that the speakers were wired in series, not normal parallel. If you find you do have speakers, check that. Also, the power thing, sounds like the same thing i did... i had connected both the HOT (fused link) AND the ACC power leads to the "POWER" lead from the camper... i had a similar response. I found i only attached the 'fused' line to the camper power.

Helmsey · 03-21-2013, 02:10 PM

Take a multimeter and check the resistance on the speakers at the speaker wire behind the head unit. That will be easier than pulling the speakers and testing that way.
Another tip: To figure out what speaker wire goes to what speaker in the spaghetti of wires behind the head unit, you can take a 9v battery and put the + and - speaker wires on it, the speaker will pop and you can find it easily. Most of the time that is MUCH easier than tryiny to chase down wires.

Sean&SuzieWkndr · 06-14-2013, 11:37 PM

Sorry it has been a while.

I found that there are speakers installed in the trailer.

I located some extra 4x10 speakers in my garage and tried hooking them up to the stereo I was going to install. No sound from the extra speakers either. The radio seems to be the problem.

Now I'm on the lookout for a stereo head unit that actually outputs sound!

Thanks for the responses.

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