Car stereo

[TobyGilden]

I dont currently have a stereo fitted in the van - I do have some stereo connectors and a hole in the dash.

do I need to fit an adaptor - i found this one on brickwerks;

http://www.brickwerks.co.uk/index.php/t ... -loom.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

but to be honest I have no idea on how to set a stereo up, also there are no wires to the speakers. is it as easy as connecting the adaptor and running some wires to the speakers?

Any help would be great - cheers

[marlinowner]

Wiring should be pretty straightforward, radio should have instructions with it, may come with connectors, you can decide if you need to buy a connector once you see what comes with the radio. The thing to watch is that there isn't a lot of depth between the radio aperture and the van bulkhead, so it can be a squeeze getting a radio/CD player in and wires can get trapped and damaged, causing shorting and blown fuses (now how would I know that?).

[CovKid]

Get the ALDI MP3 stereo unit when its in again and theres loads of room behind. I'm fairly sure CD format is dead now. Lot easier to dump a load of MP3s on a low profile USB stick. I cleared out all my CDs two years ago. The ALDI one has radio, USB input and takes flash cards. It also does bluetooth so you can chat to a mate while you drive. Cheap they may be but they sound fantastic and are well made. Very easy to connect up.

[TobyGilden]

I just found the same one as the ALDI one on ebay;

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191395948178" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I have just ordered that - did you have to do much with the wiring to get it working? Also I don't currently have an aerial, was just going to run a cable up to the top of the windscreen, do you think this will work?

Cheers

[CovKid]

Should come with instructions.

[TobyGilden]

I have no speaker wires, what sort of gauge wire should I run to the wires??

[lloydy]

I just bought this one through halfords online, only £69.
No cd player, streams music through bluetooth. Comes with a mic for hands free calling

fits in your stereo hole with no need for any trim.

So, do you have no speaker either?

[ghost123uk]

I have no speaker wires, what sort of gauge wire should I run to the wires??

With the "normal" amount of power these units provide, you don't need fancy / HD cables. You local Maplin or Radio Shack will have 2 or 3 grades of speaker cable, (usually white with one of the pair having a black strip to indicate -ve on the speaker and radio). Choose the cable where each one of the pair is about as thick as the inside (the "ink tube" bit) in a standard Biro pen. Make sure you match up the black stripe on the cable to the wires with black stripes on the radio and the -ve marked terminals on the speakers. Do the connections very neatly and make very sure no bits of bare wire can bee seen on finishing the job.

E D I T = summat like THIS

[TobyGilden]

Hi guys,

I am going to attempt to wire in the stereo and speakers this evening.

These are the wires I currently have;

Screen Shot 2015-02-24 at 18.02.16.png

I received an ISO connector in the box, so I need to know which of the above wires are;

12v battery - (I know I'm being a little lazy not getting the multi meter out) but if anyone knows it'll save me a job.
Antenna power (I don't have an aerial at the moment - so I probably wont have one of those)
ACC+ (I don't know what that is)
Ground (I'm guessing its the brown on the plug)

thank you for your help

[MGP]

Please check with a meter but from memory
Brown = earth
Red = battery 12v
Grey/Blue = illumination
ACC is swithched ign live which is not in the plug
Those loose wires look like they are the illumination wires for the heater controls.
Like i say please.check with a meter as this info is from memory im sure if i got it wrong someone will correct me.

[greasemonkey]

ACC is the switched live, I.e. the permanent live keeps the memory working at a very low current, and the switched live powers up the stereo when you turn on ignition.

I would guess red is permanent live, not sure which would be ACC though, hopefully someone else will know for sure.

You really need the voltmeter to be sure which is which in case people have mucked about in the past.

[marlinowner]

How you wire it depends on whether you want the radio to work without the ignition on, if you do then the permanent 12v supply would be connected to the acc+ wire as well as the battery wire. There may well be a way of changing this option within the wiring and connectors supplied with the radio.
++ check what you have with a multimeter, and disconnect the battery when working on the permanent 12v supply unless you have a good supply of fuses.

[CovKid]

And if you never listen to the radio (I don't), leave the permanent live out. Thay tend to flatten batteries just from remembering the stations.

[TobyGilden]

I checked voltages across all of the wires shown above, the red is the permanent live, and the brown is earth, no idea what the blue is (has a resistance of 38 ohms to earth, no voltage with ignition on) and there doesn't seem to be a switch live from the ignition (hopefully this wont kill my battery) - I got it all working by connecting the yellow and red wires on the ISO connector together and connecting that to the permanent live from the original wiring.

This evening all I did was get it working, then take it all out again, as none of the connections were good, just a mock up. How does one connect wire to wire permanently, I usually use choc blocks, but I have read that ideally these wires should be soldered. I have never soldered wire to wire before, is this done? Or should I just crimp them together?

Also I don't currently have an aerial, and I am quite a fan of the radio - I don't want to drill any holes in the body work, can I run an aerial internally?

Thank you once again for all of the help

[marlinowner]

Battery will be fine as long as you use the van fairly regularly. Purists might disagree but choc block will be OK as long as all done up tightly, is in a nice warm and dry location. You can get windscreen mounting aerials from eBay/Amazon, don't know if they are much good but worth a try at £4. They need power, which I think could be supplied by the aerial output on the radio.