I'm sitting in my long ignored truck yesterday after a bike ride, and had this experience:

Key to ACC - Kenwood radio boots and I listen to the radio while loading my bike, changing clothes, etc. Get in the truck.

Key to ON - Radio reboots. WTS light goes out after 10-15 seconds.

Key to Start - Radio reboots. Another little piece of me dies...

Is there any way to run power to the radio through something that will buffer the power long enough to keep the radio running during these normal key cycles? It's not a big deal with the stock radio, but these Kenwood's run Windows under the covers, and take forever to reboot.

Mark

 

We have gps on our radio and you have to start the truck before you put in the directions, and sometimes I go through a drive through and turn it off so I can hear them. Grrrr.

Maybe someone knows.

 

i twisted the yellow and red wires together. Just remember to turn OFF radio when done.

 

Yeah, I've wired radios that way before. It removes one irritation, but replaces it with another, particularly in a vehicle that can sit for weeks at a time. I'm thinking there's an automated solution to this.

Mark

 

Big-amplifier enthusiasts put great big capacitors on their power line (with a diode to prevent the truck from using the capacitor power). There is also a timed power, to allow the windows to roll up before opening the door (key off). Maybe a visit to the wiring diagram will yield a clue on that one.

 

You could install a small 12v sealed battery on the radio side of things...

 

Amazon has one for less than $17.

 

How does that help his situation?

The capacitor and diode that Rich mentioned is a far-better solution.

The battery will just go dead a couple hours after he turns the truck off, and eventually become a maintenance item.

The capacitor will just discharge, awaiting a re-charge "next time".

Capacitors are meant to get past "transients". Batteries are meant to supply power.

Pop

 

A smaller capacitor would be the way to go. Should hold enough power to get you through the key cycle...

 

Well, you still need to make sure the radio is off when you leave your truck, but, it will recharge while running and give a smoother voltage transition than a cap...but, whatever blows your skirt up.

 

I don't know because I'm too lazy to try to figure it out, but with a powerful radio, say 100 watt, that does a buncha' other things...it may be drawing up to 10 amps for the coupla' three seconds your starting say in the winter. With a 20a/h battery, I know that won't drop down much. I wonder how hefty of a catalytic cap you'd need to sustain that current supply for that 2 or 3 secs? Or how sensitive the radio is to voltage variance?

 

I'm not sure the capacitor idea will work. From what I read, they need to have constant power input to work, so you couldn't wire one into the existing radio power circuit. It could be connected to constant voltage, but that's the same as wiring the radio to constant voltage.

I did find this regulator, designed for the car PC market, that might be just the ticket. It has way more functionality than required to keep a radio running, but I think it would work.

Mark

 

I found a smaller one for about $135. That's not a bad idea.

 

Over-think things much? Holy crap.

Easy fix if you can stand the instrument cluster (as well as the overhead display and a few other invisible things) being energized in "accessory".

Tie the black/light green and red/black wires together as they come out of the ignition switch.

Done.

 

too damned easy...