engine noise in starcom

[evilmedic13]

Okay, been running w/ Blue seas use box for awhile w/o any problem, until now. After hooking up the starcom and getting the settings dialed in, I'm hearing engine rpm related noises <_< all the time. I've moved the wires, disconnected evrything but the starcom and even tested it away from the FJR but yet the noise will not go away! I followed the schematic as provided by FJRANDY in the fuse box thread from many moons ago. I spoke to jeff at SBE and he said it may be a "dirty ground", unfortunately neither of us know how to remedy this.Is there anybody out there that can help? I'm at CFD right now so I really cant get to a 'puter that easily w/ a response.

Thanks for any help. in advance.

 

[FJRandy]

Did I hear my name mentioned???

Do you have a digital multimeter? Set it to the lowest ohm setting and test the connections on the ground wires, especially from the fuse block. Put the red lead on the neg battery terminal and the black lead on each ground point. If any of the connections are more than .02 difference, fix the highest one.

Next step is to unplug each input wire to the starcom one at a time and see if the noise goes away.

If I was a betting man, I'd say you have a bad cable connection somewhere on the Starcom that's causing the noise.

BTW, exactly WHAT type of "engine related noises" are you hearing? popping sounds that increase and decrease with engine RPM's or what they call "alternator whine" that increases and decreases too? This would determine which type of filter you could use to limit the noise.

More info please.

 

[evilmedic13]

Alternator whine. I hear it from start up til shut down :dribble: . I've gone back to the ipod for now, it's definitely irritating.

 

[dcarver]

1. Ground the starcomm all the way back to the battery.
2. run all wires on the left hand side, away from igntion coils and fuel injectors solenoids
3. use starcomm special cables for radar, gps, etc
4. like said earlier, disconnect one lead at a time..
5. be methodical
6. ensure all grounds are really good.. crimped and soldered is what i did.

good luck

 

[evilmedic13]

1. Ground the starcomm all the way back to the battery.
2. run all wires on the left hand side, away from igntion coils and fuel injectors solenoids
3. use starcomm special cables for radar, gps, etc
4. like said earlier, disconnect one lead at a time..
5. be methodical
6. ensure all grounds are really good.. crimped and soldered is what i did.

good luck

I've done most of that. Except all power is run on thr right side <_<

I guess I got some wire moving to do tonight, waaaaay too tired to mss w/ anything 'til then, got my tail kicked yesterday between combative pt's and 24hrs of 90+ dgrees all day(I drank 5 liters of water and only peed 3 times!)

 

[Silverbear]

1. Ground the starcomm all the way back to the battery.
2. run all wires on the left hand side, away from igntion coils and fuel injectors solenoids
3. use starcomm special cables for radar, gps, etc
4. like said earlier, disconnect one lead at a time..
5. be methodical
6. ensure all grounds are really good.. crimped and soldered is what i did.

good luck

I've done most of that. Except all power is run on thr right side <_<

I guess I got some wire moving to do tonight, waaaaay too tired to mss w/ anything 'til then, got my tail kicked yesterday between combative pt's and 24hrs of 90+ dgrees all day(I drank 5 liters of water and only peed 3 times!)

I had the same problem, but a cable from www.sportbikeeffects.com fixed it. The cable is a Nav/Radar Isolated Cable - Garmin 2610 - 2.5mm Plug

Product ID: CAB-35.

Silverbear

 

[evilmedic13]

Okay,I've done everything I could to get this fuckin thing to work w/o driving me to kill.

1)Moved all my wiring to left side=engine noise/ whine

2)Wife bought me filter w/o my knowledge because she's never seen me soo pissed= SAME FUCKIN WHINE

3) Disconnected starcom from fuse block, direct from battery w/ wiring running on left side of bike= WHINE WHINE & STILL FUCKIN WHINE TO THE POINT I'M SOUNDING LIKE IT! Not to mention 2 holes in the garage where there weren't any before

Keep in mind, when I put my earbuds direct from zumo I have absolutely no problem hearing mp3's and all this testing was done w/o zumo attached to determine if it were a ground loop problem.

Anyone have any suggestions?

If not, it's going to the firing range w/ me tomorrow to recieve a 9mm upgrade :trinibob: ! It's not worth it for me to be this pissed off, I don't care how much it cost!

 

[mdisher]

FWIW...

I just redid all of my stuff the night before last and added the Blue Sea fuse box.

Power from FuseBox directly to the battery (not switched at this time). (Used 10 gauge wire)

The Blue Sea powers these items:

- StarCom

- Gerbings

- Valentine

From the Triple Tree, I have all of the audio wires bundled up and wrapped with the V1 power cord (Standard non-shielded Telephone cable, flat 4 wire RJ11)

The bundle contains:

- V1 Power

- Shielded Cable for Radar Detector (mono to Stereo I think).

- Separate Shielded audio cable that goes into my Nano which is currently dangling up there by the throttle

- Shielded Mic and Audio for the Zumo (both Starcom cables)

Plugged into the Starcom I have:

- Zumo Mic into Phone

- V1 Audio into Aux for Override

- a Splitter - iPod Audio

- Zumo audio

Now the Zumo doesn't like it when the audio is terminated into the iPod. I'm currently using the Zumo for mp3's, but when I get tired, I pull the plug from the Zumo and plug in the iPod. I lose the GPS telling me where to turn but I'm OK with that.

I don't get any engine whine, but occasionally I'll get a very faint 'tick', but I'm 99% sure that's coming from the Zumo as I don't have it at all with the iPod.

Also the Zumo will *sometimes* get a bit staticy. Like a bad cell connection. If I tap it in the cradle it goes away. I may have a bad cradle, or the connections on the cradle aren't the best. There have been reports of that on the Zumo forums.

This bundle of mine runs down the left side, really more toward the middle. Everything is under the drivers seat, StarCom and the Blue Sea.

So far so good.

I'm thinking you have a bad ground somewhere, or a bad audio cable that's picking up the whine.

I do get whine, if I try to listen to my ipod while it's chargin in the tank bag which charges from the power outlet in the cubby, but it's been a while since I tried that and I avoid it so that problem may not be there anymore.

None of that probably helps you, but it might.

 

[evilmedic13]

Well, it was finally figured out. The er-6i's I've been using don't get along my my Starcom for some reason, ill suited for the proper impedance maybe? Who knows, but when I switched to the stereo headphones from the house, no more "whine" :yahoo: . Now to find the proper impedance level earphones. Talk about a weird, yet simple solution! Now I gotta go plug some new ventilation holes in the garage

 

[mdisher]

Well, it was finally figured out. The er-6i's I've been using don't get along my my Starcom for some reason, ill suited for the proper impedance maybe? Who knows, but when I switched to the stereo headphones from the house, no more "whine" :yahoo: . Now to find the proper impedance level earphones. Talk about a weird, yet simple solution! Now I gotta go plug some new ventilation holes in the garage

Interesting... I know Jeff uses (or used) the ER6's. I bought the headphone plug in head set thinking I would but I'm perfectly happy with the speakers. I don't normally wear earplugs and it works for me so I never tried it out.

I have a set of both ER6's and ER6i's... I could try and see if I end up in the same boat.

 

[evilmedic13]

Well, it was finally figured out. The er-6i's I've been using don't get along my my Starcom for some reason, ill suited for the proper impedance maybe? Who knows, but when I switched to the stereo headphones from the house, no more "whine" :yahoo: . Now to find the proper impedance level earphones. Talk about a weird, yet simple solution! Now I gotta go plug some new ventilation holes in the garage

Interesting... I know Jeff uses (or used) the ER6's. I bought the headphone plug in head set thinking I would but I'm perfectly happy with the speakers. I don't normally wear earplugs and it works for me so I never tried it out.

I have a set of both ER6's and ER6i's... I could try and see if I end up in the same boat.

Definitely post your findings, please. The 6i's have an impedance of 16 ohms whereas the er-6's have an impedance of 48 ohms and the earplugs that starcom sells are 32 ohms. I wonder what the magic number is?

 

[Bike Effects]

Well, it was finally figured out. The er-6i's I've been using don't get along my my Starcom for some reason, ill suited for the proper impedance maybe? Who knows, but when I switched to the stereo headphones from the house, no more "whine" :yahoo: . Now to find the proper impedance level earphones. Talk about a weird, yet simple solution! Now I gotta go plug some new ventilation holes in the garage

Interesting... I know Jeff uses (or used) the ER6's. I bought the headphone plug in head set thinking I would but I'm perfectly happy with the speakers. I don't normally wear earplugs and it works for me so I never tried it out.

I have a set of both ER6's and ER6i's... I could try and see if I end up in the same boat.

This is the second problem I have seen with the Etymotics. I am not clever enough to offer an explanation.

 

[evilmedic13]

Well, it was finally figured out. The er-6i's I've been using don't get along my my Starcom for some reason, ill suited for the proper impedance maybe? Who knows, but when I switched to the stereo headphones from the house, no more "whine" :yahoo: . Now to find the proper impedance level earphones. Talk about a weird, yet simple solution! Now I gotta go plug some new ventilation holes in the garage

Interesting... I know Jeff uses (or used) the ER6's. I bought the headphone plug in head set thinking I would but I'm perfectly happy with the speakers. I don't normally wear earplugs and it works for me so I never tried it out.

I have a set of both ER6's and ER6i's... I could try and see if I end up in the same boat.

This is the second problem I have seen with the Etymotics. I am not clever enough to offer an explanation.

Don't you ever sleep Jeff? Thanks again for the help, once again going waaayyy beyond the call of duty! I may be sending my father-in-law you way for a starcom, he's not sure yet though. Now I know hwere the wife gets that trait from <_< .

 

[mdisher]

Well, it was finally figured out. The er-6i's I've been using don't get along my my Starcom for some reason, ill suited for the proper impedance maybe? Who knows, but when I switched to the stereo headphones from the house, no more "whine" :yahoo: . Now to find the proper impedance level earphones. Talk about a weird, yet simple solution! Now I gotta go plug some new ventilation holes in the garage

<Snip>

I have a set of both ER6's and ER6i's... I could try and see if I end up in the same boat.

Definitely post your findings, please. The 6i's have an impedance of 16 ohms whereas the er-6's have an impedance of 48 ohms and the earplugs that starcom sells are 32 ohms. I wonder what the magic number is?

OK, so I was just sitting here and remembered I'd check this out for you, so I did.

I plugged in my fresh (previously unused) headset/headphone adapter to the coil-extension cord into the StarCom.

I plugged in my iPod Mini, and tried both the ER6's and ER6i's with the engine running and reved it a bit. I could not detect any engine noise. The iPod wasn't plugged in to the bike power-wise so I don't know if that makes a difference. I have gotten engine noise in the past trying to charge and listen to my 30gb so I don't do that.

The ER6i's sounded a lot better than did the ER6's (to me) they had more volume, yet a bit less base. They were clearer, not like the trebble was turned up clear, just sounded a bit better.

Dunno, maybe you've got a bum pair of er6i's, or maybe something else is wrong.

I don't use mine much anymore and would be happy to loan them to you if you wanted another set to test with.

Let me know. (I'll even clean the earwax off).

-MD