Engine noise in starcomm with FuzeBlock

[mdisher]

OK, Previously I had all my stuff connected up with a Blueseas, non switched.

Connections through it were:

- Starcomm

- Valentine

- Gerbings Connector

- Stebel Horn

- ground for PCIII

I recently converted to a FuzeBlock and it's sweet as hell... I moved two new things to it:

- My Honda heated grip lead, cause it wasn't reliable connected up to the blue lead for the factory grips.

- I moved my GPS to it (unswitched) was previously plugged into my battery tender plug.

I verified that everything works as intended but on the ride in this morning, the engine noise was horrendous. I suspect the grips and will disconnect that.

Short of disconnecting stuff until I figure it out, what's the best way to isolate this when I figure it out?

-MD

 

[evilmedic13]

Lots of info missing to really help you for now. Did the starcomm make any noise with the Blue Seas? Or was this all at once? Are you using in helmet speakers or earbuds? How is the FB grounded?

I had a noise problem similiar to yours awhile ago, it turned out to be my earbuds. Resistance was too low, after switching to different earbuds, noise dissappeared.

 

[Auburn]

Do you have the anttenuated cable for the Valentine 1? My cable failed, I had to use a regular one until I get the new cable and that introduce a lot of engine noise in my system.

 

[LDRydr]

Add in a noise-filter and the problem will magically disappear. I got this one from Crutchfield.com for $18 and it works like a charm (much better than the very expensive filtered-audio cable from Starcomm). It's small, and requires no power. I've not noticed any loss in fidelity. Search the web for Crutchfield coupon codes and you may be able to get free shipping like I did.

 

[mdisher]

With BlueSeas, I had a very very mild 'tick-tick-tick' sound that was ONLY audible if I had no music on what-so-ever, but still had my headset in, at road speed you couldn't hear it and it didn't change with Engine RPM. Any volume of music and you'd never notice it. It was a non-issue.

Yes, I have the gold plated $74 Starcom shielded Audio cable for the Valentine.

Now it's clearly engine noise, changes volume and pitch with rpm.

through the process of elimination it is the Valentine one power source. If I disconnect that from the fuzeblock all is good.

thinking of relocating it, or looking for a filter.

-MD

 

[Carmine]

If you have the ground lead connected to the fuzebox disconnect the v1 ground lead from the fuzebox and connect it directly to a good ground battery being the best next best is at the base of the gas tank I had a simular issue and a ground move solved it.

 

[Bike Effects]

Yes, I have the gold plated $74 Starcom shielded Audio cable for the Valentine.
-MD

Exaggerating a little bit, Matt?

 

[mdisher]

Yes, I have the gold plated $74 Starcom shielded Audio cable for the Valentine.
-MD

Exaggerating a little bit, Matt?

LOL...

OK $45.00 still kinda silly, but add priority shipping to me and it's like $74, but not your fault

FWIW...

I spent a couple hours the other day re-working my ground connections, and tried like hell to move the valentine1 hard wired power source around with no luck. Still get CRAZY engine noise.

I have a large wrapped bundle of cables which includes the power source and shield audio cables that run from under the seat to the head of the bike. This bundle and the path is unchanged. It sits on top of the foil so I'd rule out picking up stuff from the spark plugs. Again, this isn't any different than when I had the Blueseas.

I'm waiting for my Crutch-field filter(s). Hopefully they'll fix this for me. I feel naked without the V1.

 

[BobOdenweller]

Adding a noise filter is a good idea, but you may have to also change the way you have things grounded. Make sure your GPS, Valentine, and Starcom are all grounded to the exact same location and keep the ground wires as short as possible. On my bike, the Zumo and the Starcom get power through the filter, which in turn is connected to the fuse block. The other electrical accessories are connected directly to the fuse block and are not filtered. The fuse block is connected directly to the battery, both pos and neg. I get no engine noise anymore. The filter I got seems pretty heavy duty. More so then most others I have seen. It is in a small metal case, not plastic. It has connections for power in, power out, and a ground. I think I got it from an online CB radio store. Good luck.

Bob

 

[mdisher]

Adding a noise filter is a good idea, but you may have to also change the way you have things grounded. Make sure your GPS, Valentine, and Starcom are all grounded to the exact same location and keep the ground wires as short as possible. On my bike, the Zumo and the Starcom get power through the filter, which in turn is connected to the fuse block. The other electrical accessories are connected directly to the fuse block and are not filtered. The fuse block is connected directly to the battery, both pos and neg. I get no engine noise anymore. The filter I got seems pretty heavy duty. More so then most others I have seen. It is in a small metal case, not plastic. It has connections for power in, power out, and a ground. I think I got it from an online CB radio store. Good luck.
Bob

Tell me more about this power filter.

The filter I have is just inline for the audio.

I have dedicated, good connections to the battery to the fuzeblock. Wires are as short as they can be. Starcom is under the seat right next to the fuzeblock.

It's the Zumo power which is now running under the tank and not in the bundle that I had before. The V1, uses crappy (on a bike anyway) phone cords for power, but that cord is bundled with the main power lines and all the audio cables that I ran previously.

The problem is definately with the V1 though. Without it I have nothing. I have tried moving it around, even tapped it off a running light and still had noise. I'm good at the moment though with the filter installed.

-MD