Is My Car Stereo Headunit Overheating
Posted in Car Electronics | Asked on Jan 22, 2012
Orginally I had a Sony Xplod car stereo but my fuse kept blowing. After going for several troubleshooting services. The cords weren’t crimped right (still blew), the stereo is overheating unplug it then buy a new one from us (still blew when unplugged), but third time they put the clock and stereo on separate power source or something like that (fuse doesn’t blow).
Cool so I decide to buy a new headunit since apparently by old stereo was overheating and was a fire hazard. I said this must be true because when I put my hand on the back of the HU it burns not enough to burn skin but enough that it’s uncomfortable and can’t keep it there for more than a split second.
So I purchased a new one $80 and still same heat. returned and purchased a third one $150 and still same strong heat.
Is this head a problem or is it normal. I qA thinking the inspectOR was looking for an excuse for why the fuse was blowing or I have a wiring problem that sends too much power to the headunits or something.
Should I
a. check the wire
b. install old HU because it’s most likely fine
c. keep that current HU and stop being cheap
d. open answer
BTW, a fourth time I took it to bestbuy. He hooked a machine to the current I guess and said it was getting enough power. Didn’t mention anything out the ordinary. I’m sure he would have said something if amps or volts were too high. Or maybe he didn’t use the right instrument to test the wiring.
All great answers, I’m sure the deck has been running at the same temperature for all these years. It has been the same setup for over 5 years. Not sire if it was ever a fire hazard. I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t at danger listening to the radio. I would be self conscience if I installed the old one back and thought me or my friends were at risk.
It obviously wasn’t the HU, I just wasn’t sure how necessary it was to check out the wiring further.
There are 3 Answers for "Is My Car Stereo Headunit Overheating"
Maybe there are some wires touching… thats the most likely thing to b happening
Re-check all your wiring to make sure nothing is being grounded out also it could be your stereo is needing more power so you may need to add a bigger ground and power. also try making to where your memory wire is connect Straight to the battery. it will make it to where you no longer need to turn your key to turn it on(it will turn on the second you hit the power the Button) but it could be your ignition’s wire is messed up.
If I understand you correctly, there was a point when the head unit was unplugged but the fuse was still blowing? If this is correct, then clearly the head unit wasn’t causing the fuse problem.
It’s common for the back of the head unit to get hot when it’s playing. Usually the internal amplifier is mounted right the back wall of the deck, and the rear chassis acts as a heat sink. In any case, a heat problem in a head unit might be caused by a speaker problem, and not any internal problem in the deck at all–if you have a shorted speaker wire, or the speaker impedance is lower than recommended, then it can cause the deck to overheat.