Power Drain

My car has a power drain coming from the audio system. Everything is fine if I disconnect the fuse that powers the amps, but when I put the fuse back in (if I want to listen to tunes) I get a huge spark that signals the circuit is active...

Also while my driving, there is a high pitched sound coming from the speakers that match the rev of the engine... possibly alternator noise/feedback? could it be linked?

I have 4 amps running the speakers and 2 JL Audio subs (12"), this is with 2 caps... someone said that the caps could be toast causing the amps to run off the battery power while the car is off instead of the caps... could this be true?

Would a disconnected or loose ground wire cause this problem?

Any help would be great.

Has this always done it or is it a new problem. You probally have a bad ground or a ground loop somewhere. Are your amps turning off with the car as in is the remote wire connected properly. Its normal for it to spark when putting the fuse in with many cars.

Check whether all amps are turning off first of all (by their indicators if any). If they are, try disconnecting them one at a time and observing a draw by any way, like sparks when fuse on/off :) to find a bad one. If all ok, but draw still there, disconnect cap(s), they can be electrically leaky. It's very common for an amp to develop a problem with switch on/off circuitry.
High-pitched sound from speakers is either bad grounds, ground loop (amps getting to ground through RCA's), incorrectly set gains, or just low quality or "sensitive to noise design" amps. What amps are you using?

Pioneer amps, the power drain has not always been present (I have only owned the car for afew months now and the stereo was installed before i purchased it) but the previous owner said that the frequency pitch started 3 weeks before I bought it and it was probibly a loose ground.


I have no idea how this stereo is wired, I just know the components...

check to see which side of the car the power cable is running down, Then see if any of the speaker or input/output/RCAs wires are running along with the power cable.. If so you sould rewire away from the power cable..
Run the power on one side and all others on the other side of the car...Also check your grounds...