Battery Terminals

[J_Red33]

Hi guys, wasn't sure weather or not to put this in here or general maintenance, but since car audio seems to have the greatest demand when it comes to the electrical system I thought this was ideal.

A while ago I had to change my battery for my R33 S2 as I was getting engine noise in my stereo system. After changing the battery the noise seemed to go away for a bit but then it returned. I have come to the point now where I am going to have to rewire some of my audio system as I think this may be the cause.

However before I do this I want to be sure it's not the standard battery terminals causing issues as they have been somewhat butchered to fit the new battery. My question is what battery terminals do you audio experts recommend? I'm currently looking at getting a pair of gold plated ones from Jaycar that have the multiple cable fittings as these are the best I've been able to find.

Cheers

Edited January 1, 2007 by JazzaR33

[sunnycoast]

I recently bought an R33 GTST and had WOW put in a $900 odd dollar stero system....my whole audio system has engine noise.

They have tried installing all new parts and wiring.....still nothing happens...although it is now only in one speaker...or should i say RCA line....and it has been changed twice now.... seems to be worse when i go into higher RPM..

Ummm...try turing your frequency filter on your amp down lower (As this made nearly all of my problem go away)....

Let me know, as i hope this helps you.

Christian

Edited January 1, 2007 by SunnyCoast

[RANDY]

Turning the gain down helped mine a lot, but eventually I took the speakers off the amp and only ran the sub off it.

I've changed almost everything while diagnosing. Read tons of sites, including www.caraudioaustralia.com and stuff like that. There are tons of fixes, but none of them work for me. Head unit is the last thing for me to try, but I CBF now that it's hooked up and working.

As for battery terminals, the extra holes are always a good thing, and the gold-plated ones from Jaycar have always worked well for me.

They sell one with extra terminal holes AND a voltage display built-in. I think that could come in handy one day! $30 I think?

[GreddyGo]

I have also used the JayCar gold plated one's, I find the extra holes very helpful for all those extra goodies!

As Randy said, turn your gain down and use more volume from your headunit and see what that brings you.

Cheers

Josh

[J_Red33]

Thanks guys. I didn't have a problem with the Sony system I bought the car with, but no amp was in there at the time. It's also possibly to do with the fact that 2 of my RCA leads are wedged underneath the fuel pump relay. The Amp really should have been installed the opposite way around with the RCA inputs away from the major electricals (thanks a lot for your crap install Complete Audio)

I think I'll give the Jaycar terminals a go, have to be better than the standard ones. Don't think I'll bother going for the one with the volt meter on it though as you wouldn't even be able to read it when it's connected. Just something extra to go wrong.

I was also considering re-wiring the head unit & using a terminal block so I can power bits like an EBC off of it later so that may be the go. Going to do the terminals first though & see what happens.

Cheers

[Chris Rogers]

I recently bought an R33 GTST and had WOW put in a $900 odd dollar stero system....my whole audio system has engine noise.

They have tried installing all new parts and wiring.....still nothing happens...although it is now only in one speaker...or should i say RCA line....and it has been changed twice now.... seems to be worse when i go into higher RPM..

Ummm...try turing your frequency filter on your amp down lower (As this made nearly all of my problem go away)....

Let me know, as i hope this helps you.

Christian

drop by and I'll get rid of it.

[Midol]

Stinger battery terminals are my choice. Expensive, but look good and do the job damn well.

[J_Red33]

^^Ahh I'm glad I haven't bought any yet. Where can you get these??

[raz0r$harP.UK]

JB Hifi stock them..if they don't have they can order.

Marty @ FHRX Studios (www.fhrxstudios.com) can mail them to ya..

[Chris Rogers]

Stinger battery terminals are my choice. Expensive, but look good and do the job damn well.

they do. if you want a set - let me know.

Vijay- you have PM.

[J_Red33]

Thanks guys, actually went to Tonkins today the first place I thought would have them & they did, had already been to JB's & they had nothing but cheap shit. They really do look the goods. I managed to screw them down on the price by $7 a terminal too to $33 (for the type with top covers) since as I acted unsure about them. Got them on order.

Edited January 5, 2007 by JazzaR33

[Midol]

What'd you end up getting?

[sunnycoast]

drop by and I'll get rid of it.

PM SENT!!!!

[J_Red33]

What'd you end up getting?

I actually haven't got them yet. But I'm going to get stinger battery terminals. Was going to to for the type which has a plate covering the terminal, but I tried a hacked looking one that I was given to make sure it fits on the terminal properly & it's no good, so going to get the conventional open top type instead.

[Fry_33]

Just curious as to where the different wires were run in your car.

I put my RCA's down the passenger side. The Amp Remote Power and Speaker wire down the drivers side.

I haven't had a problem with signal noise. I have cheap battery terminals from Repco, blingless, but stinger and other brand names were too small for my battery terminals.

Would be good to sort out certain wiring configurations that will give noise probs and warn others.

[frx026]

Interestly enough the stinger stickers on the WILI ( chinese made) terminals fool most people into thinking they are superior.

There are only a couple of factories now that make bulk cables and battery terminals, they all use the same materials, the cables have different color jackets ( the insulated plastic) put on them with different names and the battery terminals have different stickers on them.

[J_Red33]

Just curious as to where the different wires were run in your car.

I put my RCA's down the passenger side. The Amp Remote Power and Speaker wire down the drivers side.

I haven't had a problem with signal noise. I have cheap battery terminals from Repco, blingless, but stinger and other brand names were too small for my battery terminals.

Would be good to sort out certain wiring configurations that will give noise probs and warn others.

Old thread now, but I'd thought I'd reply anyway since I was going to post on here.

My RCA's are running down the Passenger side at the moment, along with the speaker wires for both fronts (don't ask, wasn't my doing, something I have to fix). The main issue I think most face is with engine noise. It's doubtfull that keeping the speaker wires away from the RCA's will gain much.

I've now installed my stinger terminals after having to destroy the old ones. The positive cable was a bit think to fit into the 4 gauge fitting, not completely happy with it. As far as curing any engine noise it's done nothing, but I now suspect that the grounding of my RCA's (or the complete lack of) is the main issue. Also 2 of the RCA's are jammed under the fuel pump relay which is not helping things.

Going to be ripping appart half the car on the weekend I think to fix the wiring problems up.

[Chris Rogers]

get them AWAY from anything electrical.. that is a step inteh right direction.

[J_Red33]

^^^ Yep that's the plan, as well as grounding the RCA's properly. Between those I think I'll have the problem licked. Will update with results on how I go.

Edited February 1, 2007 by JazzaR33

[Fry_33]

As Chris said get the RCA's on their own. They run a very low voltage so it doesn't take too much external influences to alter them (add noise). As I said I ran my amp remote wire and speaker wires from the amp on the drivers side. The speaker wires have a much higher voltage running through them compared to the RCA's therefore they aren't really affected by electrical noise.

Don't worry too much about your terminals. Your system is only going to be as good as your weakest point I suppose, which at the moment is your RCA routing.

Good Luck