Amp Connections

[1NorthRyder]

Ok all you audiophiles, help me out. I am installing an Amp this weekend on my I/S but would like to have some of your wisdom imparted on me. Mainly the power connections. The Amp I have (Kenwood KAC-M1824BT) has two power wires, the main I assume gets hooked up to the positive side of the battery with a fusible link. The secondary says to hook up only if you have an after market head unit which I don't have so I was going to just cap of the end and leave it. I guess what confuses me is if there is power to the amp all the time won't it drain the battery or does it sense when sound is coming through he speaker cable and automatically turn on/off?

[Jims99]

From what I remember, the second wire should be the remote power. Usually hooks to radio output that tells the amp to come on. Shouldn't pull any power from battery till power is supplied to second wire. I have hooked that to key, so amp comes on with bike.

[Bighead]

Power it through a fuse block that only has power when key is on.

[97BLKVALK]

Agreed with fuse block idea and the other power comes from radio telling the amp to power up when radio is on.

Michael

[1NorthRyder]

Agreed with fuse block idea and the other power comes from radio telling the amp to power up when radio is on.

Michael

My problem is I have been unable to locate the power wire for the factory radio. I do have a power wire that I can connect to that is after the ignition for the primary power wire.

[gordonv]

You do have the Service Manual?

Page 20-6 (page 437) of the PDF copy of the service manual.

[1NorthRyder]

You do have the Service Manual?

Page 20-6 (page 437) of the PDF copy of the service manual.

I have a Clymer Service manual. It has a wiring diagram for the radio which is pretty clear for everything except which wire is the power wire I need to connect to.

[gordonv]

Go to Valkyrie Norway, for the PDF of the service manual.
http://valkyrienorway.com/download.html

On page 437, Radio, I found this,

AUDIO MAIN RELAY LINE
Measure the voltage between the light green/black wire terminal of the 2OP (blue) connector and ground. There should be battery voltage with the ignition switch ON or ACC.

[1NorthRyder]

I got the Amp installed. As per the directions on the Amp I did not connect the secondary power and connected the primary power after the ignition. With the four new Polk DB501's it sounds really good other than a lack of bass. I may do something about that later.

[pocket aces]

Where did you mount your amp?

[1NorthRyder]

Where did you mount your amp?

Just behind the battery under the seat. I needed to modify the plastic case under there in order to plug all the cables in. It was almost a perfect fit for that spot.

[Paladin528]

ah.  thats where my cruise control actuator lives