JL Stereo Follow Up

[shrfdeputy]

After having the new JL system installed this Spring and being able to get the boat out 5-6 times here are some takeaways and upcoming additions:

1. It's awesome. The sound is incredible. It's some of the best money I've ever spent in my life, and it makes our time on the lake much more fun.

2. We have an issue with the 800/8 JL amp we had installed. It is not shutting off so it will completely drain the batteries. Our installer is working with us and they will be installing a new amp tomorrow. He called JL to see what they thought was going on and they have no idea. Something isn't right though so it will be replaced under warranty.

3. The system uses more battery than I thought it would. That could be because of the amp not acting right or shutting off, but it needs to last all day regardless. While it is in tomorrow I'm having them add a third battery (2 on the 2 setting) along with a charger with a plug on the back of the boat. Our storage place doesn't have electricity unfortunately, but I usually bring the boat home the night before we go out so I'll plug it in all night and hopefully have 3 fully charged batteries.

4. I ordered these yesterday. We noticed several boats linked together in the party cove a while back and found out they use these to do it. My brother and I both have JL systems in our boats so this seemed like a cool way to pair the boats that won't involve 100' of cords. Has anyone used them?

[tgrace98]

Yeah I think the amp not shutting off is draining your battery. Or you are running it on kill all the time. I've got a very similar setup in my R7 and I charge my 2 batteries about every 16-20hrs of stereo use. I've got an acr switch so I just run it on ON. I do not select a battery.

[NautiGirl]

Yeah I think the amp not shutting off is draining your battery. Or you are running it on kill all the time. I've got a very similar setup in my R7 and I charge my 2 batteries about every 16-20hrs of stereo use. I've got an acr switch so I just run it on ON. I do not select a battery.

Agree. Either you have the volume turned to 11 or your amp not shutting off is really killing the battery.

We ran our similar setup at a "reasonable" volume for about 5 - 6 hours last Saturday. I say reasonable because it was still loud enough that people asked me to turn it down and I may have gotten in a bit of a dick measuring contest /w a boat on the other side of the cove. Out boat still started up with no problems at all. That was on a group 27 starting battery, no fancy deep cycles or AGMs here.

I have been pleased /w the power usage of the JL amps.

[Bamabonners]

I’d check the amp turn on. What did they use? If they used the radio, do you turn your switch to off so that the radio turns off too?

[shrfdeputy]

From what I understand they ran the amps directly to the battery, but they are supposed to turn off when the ignition is switched off. The one amp isn't playing nice so it is in getting switched out today. In the meantime they put an actual switch in that looks sort of like a battery switch to make sure that amp goes off. I'm hoping the amp was the problem, but I'm pushing ahead with adding the third battery so I know for sure I have enough juice.

[jhnmdahl]

Shrf, you always run lines direct from the battery to the amplifier, but there's usually a separate remote power signal line that carries almost no power (it's just a voltage signal) that comes from the head unit to the amplifier so the amplifier turns on and off along with the head unit.

First step in troubleshooting would be to see if the amp is connected to the head unit properly, and if it appears to shut off when you shut off the head unit. If the amp doesn't do that, and is correctly hooked up, it's probably time to try a different amp.

John

[shrfdeputy]

Shrf, you always run lines direct from the battery to the amplifier, but there's usually a separate remote power signal line that carries almost no power (it's just a voltage signal) that comes from the head unit to the amplifier so the amplifier turns on and off along with the head unit.

First step in troubleshooting would be to see if the amp is connected to the head unit properly, and if it appears to shut off when you shut off the head unit. If the amp doesn't do that, and is correctly hooked up, it's probably time to try a different amp.

John

See, that's why I hire that stuff out. Well that and I don't hardly have any time as it is. But, it is back in the shop having the amp warrantied. Supposedly JL is really interested in seeing the amp they pull out. The shop I am using is very reputable and a JL dealer.

[shrfdeputy]

Just picked the boat up. There was definitely something wrong with the amp. The JL rep was there yesterday and was able to see it was not turning off as it should. They also noted it was getting extremely hot. The subwoofer was also replaced. They originally did not see any issues with it, but when they removed it they found the spider was cracked. Both were replaced under warranty. The new battery, charger and plug in the transom all came out great. Hopefully this has us all fixed up.

[AsLan7]

Just picked the boat up. There was definitely something wrong with the amp. The JL rep was there yesterday and was able to see it was not turning off as it should. They also noted it was getting extremely hot. The subwoofer was also replaced. They originally did not see any issues with it, but when they removed it they found the spider was cracked. Both were replaced under warranty. The new battery, charger and plug in the transom all came out great. Hopefully this has us all fixed up.

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Pics please??

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[shrfdeputy]

I’ll post when I have a chance to take some.

[shrfdeputy]

Here are the pictures of the install.

[shrfdeputy]

I just realized I forgot to take pictures of the plug in the transom, but I suppose we've all seen or have those.