Basic Stereo Install Help Please....

[jimmysol]

I just bought a marine stereo and speakers from West Marine.

The instructions were very very basic. Pretty much it said this:

Black- ground
Red- 12v or ignition
Yellow- 12v

I Disconnected negative battery terminal.

I took the yellow and crimped a ring onto it and attached it to negative(black) battery terminal.

Then I took the red wire and put an inline fuse (10amp) in the middle of the line and then cripmed a ring onto it and attached it to the positive(red) battery terminal.

Then I attached the black ground wire to a screw I found on my sail boat. Not sure if this is the reason the stereo did not turn on or what. Is there a specific grounding place on my Cal 27?

Or did I just wire this all wrong?

Thanks for any and all help and I hope that this is not a question that has been asked many times. I searched and did not see anything this basic.

Thanks!

James:confused:
San Diego
Cal 27

[amityray]

I believe the yellow wire is for the station presets on your radio (but not 100% sure). But if the instructions say it should go to 12v then wire it there. It needs to be hooked up to an unswitched power source or you will lose any stations you saved.
The ground may be the problem though. Try hooking up the black directly to the negative terminal on the battery and see if it works.

[Rickracer]

Black- to (battery) ground
Red- 12v or ignition (needs to be switched 12v+)
Yellow- 12v (battery 12v+)
The yellow is the power & memory wire, the red is the turn on wire. The yellow and the black should go directly to battery, or to a terminal strip that is fed by the battery. :cool:

[SUPERBASH]

I agree with AmityRay.

Black-Ground ( As in Battery negative terminal ground...not a screw on the boat ! )

Yellow- Constant 12V ( i.e. Positive Battery Terminal)

Red - Switched 12V ( i.e. ignition terminal connection....or you can leave it to the red 12V batt. terminal... but you have to make sure you turn the radio off when your done or you"ll kill the battery ! )http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/8079/bash2os.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[SUPERBASH]

RickRacer beats Bash by 4 minutes !http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/8079/bash2os.gif (http://imageshack.us)

[Rickracer]

...that happens very often, :D :D :D

[jimmysol]

thanks everyone. i appreciate your speedy responses!

wish me luck....

james:D

[mystery dad]

Keep in mind that there is no chassis on a boat, therefore, it won't carry a "common ground" throughout the hull. You will need to run a wire to the battery for the negative.