Unusual radio issue

[Sad Sack]

Late to the game...very late but is the red wire from the radio going to a harness adapter? If so, bypass the adapter and connect the red wire to an open IGN terminal in the fuse block and run an in-line fuse, to bypass the harness. Then does issue go away or stay the same?

 

[Jgonick]

what is the "on" just a screen lit up or actual audio and stuff all working
Maybe internally has a circuit that allows Retained Accessory Power behavior but its malfunctioning

very late but is the red wire from the radio going to a harness adapter? If so, bypass the adapter and connect the red wire to an open IGN terminal in the fuse

these trucks wouldnt surprise me if there wasnt a fair amount of ghost voltage in the wiring from miliamp level shorts at things

RetroSound radio -

I think you guys are correct. After digging deeper I've found that the working theory (by others with the problem) is a software glitch as the radio is shutting down caused by stray low voltage "ghost voltage" remaining on the ACC wire (red). Mine has only done this twice - It works fine 99.999% of the time so I am unable to really test it out. However both times I had been working under the dash earlier in the day when this occurred.

- the color wire I mentioned above is the aftermarket wire - GM yellow becomes Retro red - ACC/IGN & GM orange becomes Retro yellow - BAT. The radio is wired correctly.

 

[Beast496]

My Retrosound 4HD has done this a few times as well. It will be fine and then everything just freezes. No volume control, nothing, then stays on(audio and all) with key off until I reset the fuze or disconnect the positive cable on my main battery. Real fun when the sound is cranked up and you can't turn it down. I've noticed it only seems to do it when its tuned into radio or Sirius XM. it doesn't do it when I'm playing bluetooth from my phone.

 

[AuroraGirl]

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RetroSound radio -

I think you guys are correct. After digging deeper I've found that the working theory (by others with the problem) is a software glitch as the radio is shutting down caused by stray low voltage "ghost voltage" remaining on the ACC wire (red). Mine has only done this twice - It works fine 99.999% of the time so I am unable to really test it out. However both times I had been working under the dash earlier in the day when this occurred.

- the color wire I mentioned above is the aftermarket wire - GM yellow becomes Retro red - ACC/IGN & GM orange becomes Retro yellow - BAT. The radio is wired correctly.

id recommend a resistor on the wire then, not one that will light a fire of course, but something, the electronics are looking for current and the tiny bit not being soaked up triggers the thingy, so maybe a little resistance would make those instances not happen. it works for LEDs ghost lighting in a vehicle, either leaving a halogen in the circuit of the interior or putting a resistor. and for reference i had 11 LEDs , high output ones , in the park avenue without a resistor and they will ghost light on the rear ones mostly but that tells you 3-4 LED can be dimly lit by the miliamps, and a single 167 would eliminate that. be mindful that if you couldnt get a resistor to work without it getting too hot for comfort in dash, a light bulb where you cant see it will be cooler because its giving light, not just making heat alone

 

[Old Guy Bill]

My Retrosound 4HD has done this a few times as well. It will be fine and then everything just freezes. No volume control, nothing, then stays on(audio and all) with key off until I reset the fuze or disconnect the positive cable on my main battery. Real fun when the sound is cranked up and you can't turn it down. I've noticed it only seems to do it when its tuned into radio or Sirius XM. it doesn't do it when I'm playing bluetooth from my phone.

My Retrosound has done this also, about two weeks after I first installed it.
I completely removed the radio, checked all the connections, reinstalled it and it's never had a problem since. I first suspected the ignition switch as the culprit...

 

[Sad Sack]

So long story short, avoid Retro-Sound?

 

[Matt69olds]

RetroSound radio -

I think you guys are correct. After digging deeper I've found that the working theory (by others with the problem) is a software glitch as the radio is shutting down caused by stray low voltage "ghost voltage" remaining on the ACC wire (red). Mine has only done this twice - It works fine 99.999% of the time so I am unable to really test it out. However both times I had been working under the dash earlier in the day when this occurred.

- the color wire I mentioned above is the aftermarket wire - GM yellow becomes Retro red - ACC/IGN & GM orange becomes Retro yellow - BAT. The radio is wired correctly.

This is EXACTLY the cause. It turns out the yellow IGN wire is just a “wake up” signal to the radio. It takes a minimal amount of voltage to power up the radio, and a minimal amount of power to keep it on.

It turns out the stray voltage was a result of another modification I had made to his truck. I had previously installed a cheap flashing LED security lights in the dash. I had wired it with the POSITIVE on a orange battery power feed (like the dome light, or on his truck I used the power door lock power feed) and the negative wire of the LED to a pink IGN wire (in his case, the wire I used was on the same circuit as the radio) that way whenever the ignition was off, the LED would flash like a security system. Turn the ignition on, the light would go out. It worked flawlessly for over a year, until we installed the retro sound stereo.

It turns out just enough voltage leaks into the radio circuit from the flashing LED to keep the radio powered, which in turn kept the amplifiers powered up, the end result was a dead battery. .

Retro sound suggested using a relay to to power the radio. They wanted us to use the ignition circuit to power a relay, which in turn would power the radio.

We just removed the flashing LED, problem solved. However, after bitching to them multiple times and always getting the same “we have never seen this concern!” reply, judging from the people commenting on this it’s not an isolated issue!

 

[AuroraGirl]

This is EXACTLY the cause. It turns out the yellow IGN wire is just a “wake up” signal to the radio. It takes a minimal amount of voltage to power up the radio, and a minimal amount of power to keep it on.

It turns out the stray voltage was a result of another modification I had made to his truck. I had previously installed a cheap flashing LED security lights in the dash. I had wired it with the POSITIVE on a orange battery power feed (like the dome light, or on his truck I used the power door lock power feed) and the negative wire of the LED to a pink IGN wire (in his case, the wire I used was on the same circuit as the radio) that way whenever the ignition was off, the LED would flash like a security system. Turn the ignition on, the light would go out. It worked flawlessly for over a year, until we installed the retro sound stereo.

It turns out just enough voltage leaks into the radio circuit from the flashing LED to keep the radio powered, which in turn kept the amplifiers powered up, the end result was a dead battery. .

Retro sound suggested using a relay to to power the radio. They wanted us to use the ignition circuit to power a relay, which in turn would power the radio.

We just removed the flashing LED, problem solved. However, after bitching to them multiple times and always getting the same “we have never seen this concern!” reply, judging from the people commenting on this it’s not an isolated issue!

so would my recommendation work then? And that sounds like i and others were right! yay

 

[Matt69olds]

so would my recommendation work then? And that sounds like i and others were right! yay

Im not an electronics genius, but I would think a resistor on the radio power feed to ground would drag the voltage down enough to to shut it off.
Maybe a 500ohm 1/2 watt resistor? I’m sure there is an electrical formula to calculate exactly what is needed.

As a matter of fact, that’s kinda how I figured out what was going on. One time the radio kept playing with the ignition off, I put a test light on the radio fuse and the radio immediately shut off. The light never glowed. My theory was the ignition switch was either defective or out of adjustment, keeping the radio fuse powered.

With my home made security led functioning, there was about 7.5 volts on that fuse, just enough to sometimes keep the radio awake.

 

[AuroraGirl]

Im not an electronics genius, but I would think a resistor on the radio power feed to ground would drag the voltage down enough to to shut it off.
Maybe a 500ohm 1/2 watt resistor? I’m sure there is an electrical formula to calculate exactly what is needed.

As a matter of fact, that’s kinda how I figured out what was going on. One time the radio kept playing with the ignition off, I put a test light on the radio fuse and the radio immediately shut off. The light never glowed. My theory was the ignition switch was either defective or out of adjustment, keeping the radio fuse powered.

With my home made security led functioning, there was about 7.5 volts on that fuse, just enough to sometimes keep the radio awake.

hmm. if it wasnt a radio and also dangerous if grounds in the truck became bad, id say switch the ground pull the ability to stay on , but that is risky and would be noise inducing im pretty sure