no power to cinq set up - HELP!

[chopper666]

[V]I have recently had proffesionally intalled
a pioneer
head unit with 6 cd changer
going to an alpine 700 watt
amp linked to a 400 watt bass box/ sub.Pioneer 100 watt speakers to replace standard fiat fronts
wednesday morning i unlinked the sub to see if a larger sub would fit in my boot (it didnt). didnt try to wire in or anything , just to try for size. On restoring my usual sub, found that my system had no power whatsoever. wednesday afternoon i had an alarm installed (not by same as installed stereo - couldnt cancel as had been booked for a while), works central locking and indicators flash when activated or turning off.
Saturday booked car into place that fitted stereo to get them to have a look at it.(earliest opportunity they could fit it in.)
They say they can find nothing wrong with what they have installed and say that i voided any warranty they may offer by removing sub.
they put it down to alarm and seemed doubtful when told stereo did not work before alarm was fitted " we'll have to take your word for that".
the basis is that the fuse for hazards keeps blowing
= no stereo / hazards/ clock/ interior light.
does anyone have any ideas, particularly what would be your next step if it was your car?[V] The set up was installed 8th, with amp and changer to rear of back seat, i have noticed some moisture to boot carpet & spare - earth appears to be located under boot carpet.

any suggestions greatfully recieved - HELP![V]

 

[custard]

sounds to me you have a short somewhere and as it happened when you took ouy the sub then thats where i would look.might be worth disconnecting the sub from the headunit and its main power(just take out the fuse that should be on the feed to the sub's amp) and concentrate on getting the h'unit working.if you can get the head unit working and the alarm etc doesn't affect it then you can rule these out and then look at the sub wiring.your ice suppliers sound less than helpful to be honest especially regards having taken out the sub,i mean what if you get a sub n box fitted but still use the spare wheel do you have to drive to them to get access to the spare?like i say i would use a process of elimination to rule things out.does the fuse blow straight away or is it under certain conditions?

The Fiat Cinquecento
Fun While It Runs

 

[chopper666]

the fuse blows straight away, as soon as is put in.
The sub mentioned was just a temporary thing, so all i did was unclip the two wires (as you would with a home stereo speaker, it was quite cheap - more of a boom box really) take it out of boot for all of five minutes, then put it back in. The bigger sub that did not fit was meant for permanent install ( eBay purchases ). The audio place assure me there is nothing wrong with the stereo unit itself and anything they have done is not the cause of the fault! There is no power getting to anything. There are two fuses on the amp, are those the ones you suggest taking out?

 

[custard]

yeah take out the amp fuses so that its not getting any power as there is obviosly a short somewhere and if you disconnect the amp and the fuse still blows then its something outwith that,if the fuse doesnt blow then you know it must be something to do with the amp

The Fiat Cinquecento
Fun While It Runs

 

[chopper666]

so if i take fuses out of amp & hazards fuse doesnt blow and stereo works then i know amp is at fault?[?]

 

[custard]

yeah or at least you can rule out anything but the wiring to the amp.with any electrical problem it just a methodical case of elimination

The Fiat Cinquecento
Fun While It Runs

 

[arseofbox]

No fuses further up the amp cabling- near to the battery?, (my main one is right next to my battery!)

Amp might be faulty....
Whats it earthed to in the car? That might be causing probs, recommend a rear bumper centre mount earth- undo it, attack the paintwork with emery paper- get some metal showing, put the connector against that. then reinstall that fastening! Keep it neat tho!!

Arse

Ill think of something witty....just wait and see............wait I might not.

 

[chopper666]

earth ( assuming it is earth , no too hot with this sort of thing) appears to just be screwed into metal surface of boot floor, left hand side under carpet between spare and "wall" of car.
can some one just reassure me that this is something that can be relativley easily fixed or am i going to have to call in an auto electrician to sort it (big bucks?). the stereo place maintain the fault is not with them ( i am assuming they have checked thier fuses, but as they have been extremely unhelpful so far , i will double check and follow suggestions given so far)
thanks for the replys so far, anyone else got any other suggestions?[V]

 

[custard]

an earth just reqires a good metal to metal contact as a cars electrical system requires a circuit to be completed to the battery AFAIK and this is done by the bodywork.as for the fuses if they were blown(although i would still check) i wouldnt expect the hazard fuse to blow.from just having fitted an alarm to my car i dont remember cutting any wires that were on the hazards circiut outwith the indicators circuit.what alarm did you get?

The Fiat Cinquecento
Fun While It Runs

 

[chopper666]

the alarm was from eBay, not a major brand name, it was cheap, just wanted something to make a noise in event of anyone tampering with the car. Have e-mailed the bloke who fitted to ask if it is liked to hazard circuit, awaiting reply as yet. Thing is the stereo had stopped working before even alarm was fitted, audio installer tried to suggest there was too much going through hazard fuse - could this be the case? should i get an auto electrician in?
( but first will check all fuses as suggested, tomorrow)
can try and supply more info on alarm if this would help?
could try and scan you a copy of manual?

 

[custard]

not really an issue,just curious.don't increase the size of the fuse in the hazard circuit as the fuse is doing its job in preventing something more serious eg.FIRE[:0] don't panic yet as it could be something very simple like a live wire thats come loose and is shorting on the bodywork and this is why you need to eliminate anything you can.does the alarm have an immobiliser?

The Fiat Cinquecento
Fun While It Runs

 

[chopper666]

na, alarm does not have immobiliser, car just has standard sporting immobiliser, that chap who fitted alarm says he did not touch.
he has been in touch about the alarm, has not mentioned anything about it being linked to hazards fuse, but says will come and look at it. however it all comes back to the fact that stereo did not work prior to alarm going in.

 

[custard]

reason i asked is that you can also disconnect the alarm(not that it should matter) and then rule that out of the equasion but at least he cares about his customer to have a look.more than likely your alarm guy will locate the fault but let us know either way

The Fiat Cinquecento
Fun While It Runs

 

[chopper666]

many thanks to custard boy and arseofbox. I followed suggestion and removed fuses from amp, then put fuse into hazard circuit and it did not blow. Then put face on head unit and it came on and could hear music from fron speakers.
then put fuses back into amp to see if it would blow, it didnt! so full system is now operational again. many thanks.
now i will name and shame the audio installer as car electronics ltd , derby. a so called professional operation could not rectify something as simple as that! they were suggesting i get a car electrician in or take the car to fiat. all it has cost me is £1.19 from halfords for a bag of 3 fuses!
they will not be getting a penny of my custom in future!