Exterior External speaker stopped working

[Fallen]

Hi all,

My external speaker closest to the door stopped working. I checked the speaker itself and it works, and the head unit seems to work (balance and fader checked, all 3 other speakers work fine). Anyone had an issue like this before? Full height van.

 

[mikerezny]

Hi,
each speaker output will have its own amplifier. Since the speaker is working you need to now determine if the fault is in the unit or in the wiring between the unit and the external speaker. One way is to swap the leads over for the left and right external speakers a the back of the unit and see which speaker is now not working.

take care
Mike

 

[Fallen]

So appears to be the cabling, which is the worst result. I ran a separate cable from the back of the head unit on the channel in question, and across the room to the speaker in question and bam - works. Cable must have broken somewhere along the route. Not sure how easy it would be to pull a new cable through (especially since it's broken somewhere for some reason).

 

[mikerezny]

So appears to be the cabling, which is the worst result. I ran a separate cable from the back of the head unit on the channel in question, and across the room to the speaker in question and bam - works. Cable must have broken somewhere along the route. Not sure how easy it would be to pull a new cable through (especially since it's broken somewhere for some reason).

Hi,

At least you have narrowed it down.
Check the crimping of the terminals. Jayco have a habit of crimping through the insulation which obviously can be hit or miss.

Can you remember if anything has been installed in the van that could have gone though the wall into the cable?

take care
Mike

 

[Fallen]

So an update, the channel is actually at fault. I used the left external channel instead of the right in my first test, so had two left channels going (confirming again that the speaker itself is fine). Wiring right to right doesn't work though. And this is direct to a known working crimp direct to the wiring at the head unit prior to the Jayco crimping. Now, is a failed channel repairable, or should I just hunt down a cheap head unit replacement?

 

[mikerezny]

Hi,
if it was me, at the head unit, I would wire the two external speakers in series and put them across the left external channel.
You will probably never notice the difference. Then if a cheap (free) head unit pops up in your path, take the plunge.

head unit + to (+ one speaker -) to (+ other speaker -) to - head unit.

Just another check. Have you double checked that the faders in the head unit have not been set accidentally to turn the external right channel off.

take care
Mike

 

[Fallen]

Thanks, wired in series and will do for now (although gives a new spin to Beatles and Strokes songs etc). Found a cheap $30 ebay Bluetooth car stereo and will give that a go (eBay Plus so free return if it's crap) until I find a decent bargain.