today i noticed that sometimes my subs would make a ticking/tapping sound even when there is no music playing. it happens randomly and goes away within a few seconds. it sounds like a heartbeat. it never did that before and i've had it installed for about 6 months. my set up consists of two 12" subs, amp, digital cap, and an in dash. anybody know what could be causing this? obviously i'm gonna check all the wiring, but maybe someone knows the exact problem?

 

Check all your ground wires. Unplug the RCAs going into the amp and listen for a while to see if the problem persists. If it doesnt, plug the RCAs back in and wiggle them slightly at that connection.

My guess would be either a bad ground somewhere, amp rca input or amp itself is malfunctioning, rca wires have been damaged at either end of their terminations, the head unit is causing the problem.

 

I would think the problem area is RCAs. Check there first.. Make sure the connection are tight, and check espacially the connections behind the radio. Tape them up...

 

i have the head unit mounted under the passenger seat (shotgun). i'll check to see if one of my friends might have kicked an RCA wire loose. it was raining hard yesterday. hopefully they didnt get any water on it.

 

Do you have a GSM phone?
They produce EM interference like crazy when switching cells, and it sounds just like what you describe.

 

GSN phone...... yes that could do it... or check rca's

 

Might i ask why your head unit is mounted under you seat? Could you post pics?

 

Inconspicuous location, he may have the oem radio location used up by aftermarket guages and electronics.
I would be worried about all the dust under the seat and the possibility of some bigfoot bum damaging the wiring.

 

That's kinda what I was thinking, but that's a lot of gauges. I would like to see pics as I'm curious to see how it was done.

 

sorry i guess it's called a receiver unit. it's what i connect my audio and video connections for the in dash dvd player. but that's what i have mounted under my passenger seat it's not making the ticking noise anymore, but it sounds like the amp is turning on/off constantly. i'm gonna recheck my wiring again. it never used to do this and i've checked my grounding locations as well.

 

Is this a Pioneer unit???

 

I see. You had me thinking you were reaching under your seat to change cds, radio stations, and whatnot.

 

nah it's a Kenwood 819DVD