Radio looses preset channels when boat powers down
- Thread starter rkkoeb
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slaizer2000
Active Member
most stereos have 2 power cables. 1 for power when it's turned on. One that's directly wired to the battery in order to preserve your presets. When you turn off power to the boat then you should not be able to turn the stereo on. However that 2nd wire should always have constant power. If it doesn't then it didn't get connected right, got loose or isn't connected to the correct wire. Yellow is usually the constant power wire that is wired directly to the battery or a wire that id directly connected to the battery. A meter on that wire should prove if it gets power regadless of if your battery switch is on or off. You'd want to check the stereo end to make sure it got connected properly to the correct constant power line. Also possibly someone moved the end that attaches to the battery. I've seen people when they put in a battery switch move everything from the battery connector to the battery selector switch. If that occurred then you would loose the constant power when you turned the battery off.
slaizer2000
Active Member
That is correct. That yellow wire is an always live wire so you don't loose your presets. You could connect a wire from battery to that wire first and then turn off the battery switch just to test if it properly functions before going through the work of stringing a wire through the boat.
I used something similar to this to run new speaker wires through the boat. Also use it to run cables in the house. If there isn't much distance to cover you can also use a metal hanger. I've also at times attached a nut to a piece of string, dropped it down a hole, attached wire to the string and then pulled the wire through. I just don't know how much space or distance you need to thread the wire through. Also if there is already another wire in the same place you are going to run the new wire you can disconnect it, attach a string, pull it trough then connect the new wire and pull both wires back through.
https://www.amazon.com/Puller-Throu...d=1&keywords=snake+line&qid=1586273232&sr=8-7
or these
https://www.amazon.com/Fiberglass-P...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=
https://www.amazon.com/Noodler-Fibe...5&sr=1-2-22d05c05-1231-4126-b7c4-3e7a9c0027d0
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ski-d00
Well-Known Member
You didn't wire your radio correctly when you replaced it. Your boat should have a couple wires that run directly from the battery side of the battery switch and bypass the battery switch, should be orange wire with a 1A fuse that goes to the radio. They will have inline fuse holders at the battery switch. One runs the bilge and the other runs the radio presets/clock. Just use your voltmeter with the battery off and you should find it behind the radio, orange wire.
rkkoeb
Active Member
I am pretty sure it was wired correctly. I pulled that radio out last weekend and going to replace it with a Kenwood radio. Attach is the pic from the boat harness and if you look at the orange wire you can see that the wire that was attached from the radio was orange/white. Maybe my fuse by the disconnect to blown?
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ski-d00
Well-Known Member
Don't worry about colors. SeaDoo uses random colors that goes against industry standards all the time. The orange wire in the radio world is a positive wire for illumination that can be brighter or dim. This is not what the seadoo orange wire does. The radio wire you want will be the yellow wire which is 12v constant all the time and not switched. This will go to the 12v wire from the battery on the seadoo.
beergut
Well-Known Member
EXACTLY!! this is sooo simple! I could do this half drunk while sleep walking! go to walmart, buy a cheap $7 DVM, disconnect the stupid radio- turn boat ignition off and find +12v constant supply. turn ignition on and find the accessory 12v. then attach the black (ground) wire to any ground point under the helm. DONE! and if you cant do that, then run a new wire from the battery and connect all 3 (12v feed (yellow) & 12 v acc (red) and 12 v illumination (orange) to it- and don't forget to turn your radio off when leaving the boat. if you cant do any of that, then sell the boat and buy a helmet because you shouldn't own a boat and need to be properly supervised in a padded room!
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slaizer2000
Active Member
Before you start check the wires connected to the battery shut off switch. I’ve seen people move them all to the switch which would cause everything to turn off. If you find the correct one it might be as easy as running that cable from the battery switch to the battery for always on power.
rkkoeb
Active Member
So I spent some time working on the boat this week. Using my test light I tested all wires when the switch was both on and off. What I found is there was NO power going to the dash for the radio when the switch is off. With that said I ran a new wire straight from the battery to the radio so I no longer lose the preset channels
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