# can a loose ground cause a turn on / off pop?



## nervewrecker (Oct 5, 2009)

This morning I started getting a turn on / off pop from my bass amp. I interfered with the ground cable this weekend & swore I tightened it properly (to my surprise the ring terminal can be shifted a bit if I put some effort into it), can that be my problem? I do not have the tools to tighten the bolt at work so I am going to have to wait till I get home. 
I have a bad feeling the vibrations from my subwoofer has damaged the internals. :worried:


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## roduk (Sep 19, 2008)

A loose earth is one of the first things to check when you get a turn on pop..


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## nervewrecker (Oct 5, 2009)

oh thank god, I was thinking the amp may be damaged. I pray to god its just a slightly loose ground.


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## Rodolpho (Oct 3, 2011)

nervewrecker said:


> This morning I started getting a turn on / off pop from my bass amp. I interfered with the ground cable this weekend & swore I tightened it properly (to my surprise the ring terminal can be shifted a bit if I put some effort into it), can that be my problem? I do not have the tools to tighten the bolt at work so I am going to have to wait till I get home.
> I have a bad feeling the vibrations from my subwoofer has damaged the internals. :worried:


Do you only have the pop noise or have other noises too when the motor runs?


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## nervewrecker (Oct 5, 2009)

Heard it with the engine switched off, didnt try it with the engine on yet. 

Even switched off the sub from the head unit & turned the system off & on again, it was there. So I popped the trunk & turned it on & off, confirmed the small pop was coming from the sub.


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## dragonrage (Feb 14, 2007)

It can cause that, and it's easy to check, so check it. But, honestly, I don't expect it to be the problem. (Hopefully I'm wrong! Heh.)


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## nick650 (Feb 7, 2011)

Ground needs to be checked.

Make sure it is SANDED and connected to the floor of the car with the least amount of garbage under it (want a thin lair of sheet metal then all this sound deaden-er and additives)


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## nervewrecker (Oct 5, 2009)

pop still here. 

tightened the ground, sprayed some wd40 on it & its still here. 

barely audible & only on the subwoofer (the click that the amp makes when powering on is louder than the pop).


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## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

You and me both. I hate pops. I'm still troubleshooting mine. I need to rule out the amp first. Hook it up in another car or have a shop test it for you maybe to see if it pops?


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## andrave (Jan 20, 2011)

buy a mini jack to rca adaptor, plug your ipod directly into the amp, and see if the pop goes away. If it does, its in the signal.


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## minbari (Mar 3, 2011)

nervewrecker said:


> pop still here.
> 
> tightened the ground, sprayed some wd40 on it & its still here.
> 
> barely audible & only on the subwoofer (the click that the amp makes when powering on is louder than the pop).


I would clean that wd40 off. oil is an insulator, not gonna do yourself any favors with that. if you want to protect the metal get a conductive grease


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## nervewrecker (Oct 5, 2009)

Will do some more trouble shooting this weekend (looking to get some lithium grease while i'm at it). 

I just dont know where it appeared from all of a sudden. 

Most likely I will try the amp in someone else's car first to eliminate the amp as the problem.


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## prettysweetsounds (Jul 26, 2011)

nervewrecker said:


> This morning I started getting a turn on / off pop from my bass amp. I interfered with the ground cable this weekend & swore I tightened it properly (to my surprise the ring terminal can be shifted a bit if I put some effort into it), can that be my problem? I do not have the tools to tighten the bolt at work so I am going to have to wait till I get home.
> I have a bad feeling the vibrations from my subwoofer has damaged the internals. :worried:


If your ground was loose, you'd periodically loose power to that particular amp....which you don't say is happening.

Maybe just increase your turn on delay for that amp. That's why it's there.


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## andrave (Jan 20, 2011)

You don't really want any grease between your ground and the frame. Your best bet is to sand it with rough grit, use a wire brush to keep it clean, spray it with electrical contact cleaner (which should be kept in the tool box of any installer and used any time you touch RCA contacts and etc), and once you install the ground, smear dielectric grease over the connection to keep it corrosion free and clean. So many systems perform at a fraction of the capabilities because of quickie grounds where someone runs a sheetmetal screw into a painted section of floorpan.


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## nervewrecker (Oct 5, 2009)

ok, so the ground spot clean & connection tight. turn on pop still there. 

its not the head unit, I connected a wire from the amps +tive to remote & the pop is still there. 

could a ring terminal not be sufficient for the grounding of this amp?


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## nervewrecker (Oct 5, 2009)

nervewrecker said:


> ok, so the ground spot clean & connection tight. turn on pop still there.
> 
> its not the head unit, I connected a wire from the amps +tive to remote & the pop is still there.
> 
> could a ring terminal not be sufficient for the grounding of this amp?


bump


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## Dave1980 (Apr 25, 2011)

They make a 3.5mm to rca plug. Put a 50hz tone on your ipod, plug it into the amp and see if it still does it when you power the amp on. If it does its a problem with the amp if your 100% sure its not the ground.


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## nervewrecker (Oct 5, 2009)

can I play the 50hz tone from my head unit & use a piece of wire as a jumper from the +tive to remote on the amp to turn it on?


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## ecbmxer (Dec 1, 2010)

Check if the amp pops without the RCAs connected at all. Then you will know if it is amp or source related.


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## nervewrecker (Oct 5, 2009)

I will also try it without the rca's connected just to be sure.


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