XPR XPR5550 has trouble powering up

[K2NEC]

So I have an XPR5550 in my car and I have noticed that on some days it refuses to power up. At first I didn't notice much of a pattern but now it seems that if my car is too hot or too cold it won't power up until my car gets running. I brought the radio inside to test on my power supply to try and recreate the problem without success which leads me to believe it is the temperature. The radio is wired to a fuse box using a Motorola power cable FWIW. Does the radio have any sort of temperature sensor that could be causing this? Or maybe it could be something with the wiring? On days where my car doesn't get hot the radio powers up the first time I hit the button. Anyone else had this problem?

 

[sfd119]

How is it wired? To what fuse box are you wired to? Brand new power cable?

 

[K2NEC]

Brand new power cable that is wired to a fuse box by my steering wheel. I tested power on the fuse box and got 13.1v so I am definitely getting power from there. I am using a tap fuse.

 

[sfd119]

That is your problem. Do NOT run it off of a fuse tap. Run it straight to the battery.

 

[Skypilot007]

I would double check your wiring. There has to be a problem with it.

Most cars have ample voltage and current available at the internal fuse box. You may get lucky using an empty fuse slot with an adapter to connect it in. My current car is nearly impossible to get wires through the firewall. I run the same radio from an un-used fuse slot with out any trouble. Yes it is best to go directly to the battery but for some folks it's not an option.

 

[K2NEC]

What Skypilot said. Going to the battery isnt an option for me. And with my luck I would forget to turn the radio off and it would kill my battery. I'll try to replace the power cord and see what happens.

 

[sfd119]

Well, you wanted to know why its working intermittently and I gave the reasoning why. Using a fuse tap is a bad idea and is almost guaranteed to be the root of your cause.

 

[wx5uif]

What fuse are you using? I have some fuses in my 4Runner that are live when the vehicle is running and a couple minutes after it is shut off then the computer kills power to that circuit.

 

[K2NEC]

Well, you wanted to know why its working intermittently and I gave the reasoning why. Using a fuse tap is a bad idea and is almost guaranteed to be the root of your cause.

Why is it a bad idea? I have used them before with no problems. It's not my first radio install.
EDIT: Sorry that's not meant to sound snarky

What fuse are you using? I have some fuses in my 4Runner that are live when the vehicle is running and a couple minutes after it is shut off then the computer kills power to that circuit.

My car uses a low profile mini fuse that I have tapped to a spare fuse. Both fuses are 15A.

 

[n3obl]

Why is it a bad idea? I have used them before with no problems. It's not my first radio install.
EDIT: Sorry that's not meant to sound snarky


My car uses a low profile mini fuse that I have tapped to a spare fuse. Both fuses are 15A.

Few things off hand. look at the size of the motorola wire vs the car? electrical noise from the vehicle vs running to the battery.

Its not hard to put a hole in the fire wall. or look for a grommet that has something else passing through you can slip two wires.

 

[Skypilot007]

Few things off hand. look at the size of the motorola wire vs the car? electrical noise from the vehicle vs running to the battery.

Its not hard to put a hole in the fire wall. or look for a grommet that has something else passing through you can slip two wires.

I don't know how many newer cars you have tried to go through the firewall on. Many cars today are not easy to even get to the firewall from the engine compartment. I have a car that is common in public safety but civilian version and it's going to take quite the effort to get a power cable to the battery the right way. Most fuse boxes have at least 15-20 amps feeding them, plenty of current. Finding and empty fuse that is ignition switched or hot all the time is not that hard. Noise could be a problem though. There are solutions for that also.

 

[mmckenna]

What kind of car is it?

Powering off the battery is always the preferred choice. Clean power and plenty of it. If you are concerned about forgetting to turn the radio off, use the ignition sense option in the radio, that's exactly what it is there for.

Fuse taps can be problematic. Good source of noise into your radio. You may not hear it on the audio, but it might be there and screwing with things.
Could also be low voltage. I know you said you check it with a meter, but was that with the engine running, engine off, key off?

 

[mpaine]

We had an installer once tap a radio control head ignition wire to 45 - AUX HVAC/IGN on an '09 Tahoe once. It's physically right next to 40 - MISC IGN in the fuse box. Trouble is, whatever that circuit is, it wouldn't power up until the vehicle got up to operating temperature. So the operator would drive around in the vehicle for like 10 or 15 minutes and then his radio would randomly then come on. So we moved it down one to position 40 to use the misc ignition fuse and all was well.

 

[K2NEC]

Thank you all for the help. Unfortunately my car was hit this morning (same car with the radio in it) so the last thing on my mind is getting my radio to work. Thanks again.