Starcom1 Advance Noise Problem

[chivvalry]

Installed Starcom1 Advance... wired both positive (inline 30 amp fuse right near battery) and negative directly to battery running them under the tank to the tool tray. Also wired in a powerlet outlet. Attached the positive and negative to bus bars and hooked the Starcom and powerlet up to the buses. Nothing plugged into the powerlet at this time. Unswitched power, always on.

The system works great when the bike is off but turn the key to accessory and I get a LOT of noise. Start it up and the noise continues. So much noise that it drowns out the music playing on the Garmin. It sounds like a possessed computer is trying to talk to me...

WTH? :angry:

Do I need a filter or something? What did I do wrong here?

 

[Auburn]

Should have a filter built into the 12 volt plug in already. Try re-routing your cables farther away from your spark plugs. One thing I found that some of the auxilary things like the mp3 or radar can add a lot of noise to teh line if they don't have a good filtered power source.

 

[chivvalry]

Can't be spark noise with engine off. Can it? No 12v plug on the starcom. Just an inline fuse.

Think this might do the trick?

https://www.12volt-travel.com/35-amp-inline...sor-p-4549.html

 

[MrTwisty]

I mounted mine too close to my PCIII and it did that. I moved my Starcom all the way back to the tail section in front of the tail lights and it solved the problem.

 

[gfran]

Are you using earbuds with the Starcom? I have tried different earbuds with mine and one cheap set that I used had lots of extra noise.

 

[chivvalry]

I mounted mine too close to my PCIII and it did that. I moved my Starcom all the way back to the tail section in front of the tail lights and it solved the problem.

Ah! I suppose sitting on top of the PCIII would be too close, eh? That will be the first test then.

 

[BobOdenweller]

You have a ground loop problem. Ground the Starcom and the Zumo, and anything else connected to the Starcom, to the EXACT same place. Preferably directly to the battery. The frame is often not a great place to ground. If that doesn't completely solve it then you may need a ground loop isolator cable between the Zumo and the Starcom. Often a ground loop isolator cable will help, but on my previous bike it actually made it worse. Wierd. The last thing to try is to add a quality power noise filter on the power feed to the Starcom. Don't waste your time with the crappy filters they sell at Best Buy or the auto parts store. Check out the online CB shops for better quality filters. Moving the cables as others have suggested is not a bad idea, but not likely to solve the problem.

On my current FJR fixing the ground nearly solved it for me. Adding a filter took out the last little bit. I did not use a ground loop isolator cable.

Good luck. I've fought this battle enough times to understand how frustrating it can be.

 

[chivvalry]

Are you using earbuds with the Starcom? I have tried different earbuds with mine and one cheap set that I used had lots of extra noise.

Nope, the in helmet speakers that came with it. I have the "open face" set up crammed into a full face helmet. Seems to work fine. Sucker can get LOUD.

 

[chivvalry]

You have a ground loop problem. Ground the Starcom and the Zumo, and anything else connected to the Starcom, to the EXACT same place. Preferably directly to the battery. The frame is often not a great place to ground. If that doesn't completely solve it then you may need a ground loop isolator cable between the Zumo and the Starcom. Often a ground loop isolator cable will help, but on my previous bike it actually made it worse. Wierd. The last thing to try is to add a quality power noise filter on the power feed to the Starcom. Don't waste your time with the crappy filters they sell at Best Buy or the auto parts store. Check out the online CB shops for better quality filters. Moving the cables as others have suggested is not a bad idea, but not likely to solve the problem.
On my current FJR fixing the ground nearly solved it for me. Adding a filter took out the last little bit. I did not use a ground loop isolator cable.

Good luck. I've fought this battle enough times to understand how frustrating it can be.

Hi Bob,

I think you posted just as I posted the fact that the Starcom is sitting on top of the PC3... I'm guessing that is probably the issue per MrTwisty and will be moving them away from each other. It does make sense as the noise I was hearing in the headset sounded like a possessed computer rather than "normal" alternator hum/whine. I should get a chance to try that out tonight after work.

 

[BobOdenweller]

Hi Bob,I think you posted just as I posted the fact that the Starcom is sitting on top of the PC3... I'm guessing that is probably the issue per MrTwisty and will be moving them away from each other. It does make sense as the noise I was hearing in the headset sounded like a possessed computer rather than "normal" alternator hum/whine. I should get a chance to try that out tonight after work.

Yes, give that a try first. My PC5 and Starcom are about 6" apart.

Bob

 

[fjr mississippi]

This got rid of 100% of my engine noise.

https://www.cyclenutz.com/products/electric...ise_filter.html

 

[01VFR]

This got rid of 100% of my engine noise.https://www.cyclenutz.com/products/electric...ise_filter.html

How does this get wired into the system? The 3 wires on the picture at your link don't help me out. Does this sit between your battery and aux fuse panel?

Corey

 

[chivvalry]

This got rid of 100% of my engine noise.https://www.cyclenutz.com/products/electric...ise_filter.html

How does this get wired into the system? The 3 wires on the picture at your link don't help me out. Does this sit between your battery and aux fuse panel?

Corey

You install an in-line filter like this by patching it into the power line with the third black (ground) lead to a ground. They contain a capacitor that shunts spikes and noise out to ground. Usually should be installed close to the device being powered... the battery itself is a good noise sink so you want it closer to the device you are powering than the battery.

 

[chivvalry]

Moving the starcom away from the PCIII made no difference at all. I had the starcom hanging out the right side of the bike and the PCIII out the left side with at least a foot between them. No reduction at all in the noise and it didnt get louder when I brought them back together.

Filter time.

My biggest question now is do I have a bad filter somewhere in the bike's electrical system that is dumping that much noise in the ground? Running power and ground directly from the battery should provide one heck of a noise isolation factor but wow is this a noisy circuit. I wonder if the dealer screwed up the PCIII install... As far as I know that's the only electrical work ever done on the bike.

 

[Aasland]

Running power and ground directly from the battery should provide one heck of a noise isolation factor but wow is this a noisy circuit.

I've found that to be the most noisy place on the bike.

 

[LDRydr]

Get yourself one of THESE from Crutchfield and the problem will go away. Easy to install in-line with your music source. I'm using it on my Starcom1 Digital, zero noise.

 

[BobOdenweller]

If you unplug the Garmin does the noise go away? Where are the Garmin and the Starcom grounded?

 

[BobOdenweller]

I wonder if the dealer screwed up the PCIII install... As far as I know that's the only electrical work ever done on the bike.

Not really much that can go wrong with a PC3 install. It just plugs in line to one of the wiring harnesses under the gas tank. Give us some more detail as to how the Starcom and Garmin are wired. I really doubt a noise filter will eliminate the problem if it is as bad as you describe. I could be wrong, though!

 

[chivvalry]

I think I'm on to something. I thought I had tested with Garmin on battery but I guess not. The noise is present when Garmin is plugged into glove box but not present when on internal battery. Since I have a powerlet wired up to same source and ground as starcom I will order a cigarette to powerlet adaptor and try that to power the Garmin.