Peter Moore was kind enough to send me a power adapter with the inline diode this week. I installed it and now the Empeg Mk2 will turn off and display the battery icon occasionally even when rolling down one power window. It used to be that one window was always safe whereas mult windows could interrupt the Empeg.

The Empeg also still does not go into soft power-off mode when the ignition is cut for a short time.

Should I try installing capacitors for the Empeg's power from the battery as suggested in this thread?

I have a 1999 Jeep Cherokee without any other power problems.

Thanks in advance,
-Ryan.

The capacitor trick might help. However, I think that would be treating the symptom and not the cause. I'd look more closely at two things:

1) The wiring to the empeg. Loose connections, incorrect wiring, etc., might cause those problems.

2) The car's electrical system, alternator, voltage regulator, and battery. The voltage should not drop so severely when you roll down the window.



___________
Tony Fabris

Yeah I'll triple check all of the wiring to the Empeg. But I looked last night and everything seemed disco.

As for the car's system, it's all still very factory (no car alarm, no neon , no drilled gas pedals) and only a couple of years old. The window power drain is the same as when I drove it off of the lot and never affected the Alpine that I had installed earlier.

I'll try the caps this weekend in hopes that in combination with the diode it will work.

-Ryan.

The battery could still be getting a bit tired and not be producing what it should - hang a multimeter off it and off the supply wires running into the back of the empeg cage, preferably with it running. Also if the wires running from the battery to the empeg are pretty thin and /or you have quite a bit of stuff hung off them you might be getting a big enough voltage drop when there is a bit of load to cause problems. e.g. if you are using the factory stereo wiring to supply the empeg and the power windows happen to be on the same circuit it could be that the windows are drawing enough current to get a significant voltage drop on *that* circuit.

Good luck finding the problem

(list 6284, Mk1 S/N 00299 4GB blue [for sale]. Mk2 S/N 080000094 6GB blue)

Thanks for the help. I'll check things out with a multimeter. Incidentally, the power interruptions do happen while the engine is running with the diode in place. Once things work well with the engine running, I'll be more concerned with how it works with the ignition in accessory mode.

I have 12 gauge wire running directly from the battery's positive terminal to the Empeg and my Amp. Factory wiring is only used for the ignition signal and light sense signal. Empeg and Amp are grounded to a common spot on the chassis with 12 gauge wire as well.

-Ryan.

Also just check the fluid level in the battery. (No kidding)

Do your headlights dim when you roll down the windows?

___________
Tony Fabris

Aha! ok, two things were wrong. A) the battery (memory) wire had slipped out of the female Empeg ISO connector. (I had to reverse it's direction relative to all of the other leads in the connector to get it to stay in there). And B) the Empeg inline Memory fuse had been broken.

I don't know when each of these things happened, but it may have been when I first installed the Empeg because I had always had these power problems.

Now my Empeg works just like everyone else's, Hurrah! And I don't need the diode or capacitors.

Tony, I had initially made the ASSumption that the Empeg would not even turn on if the battery (Memory) lead was not connected to power. This is apparently not true and causes the behavior I listed above. Do you think this might be valuable to add to the FAQ under the Power Down Thump thread?

Empeg guys, RatShack didn't have a 3A fuse of that size, so I used a 5A instead. Is my dash going to catch on fire any time soon?

Thanks for the help,
-Ryan.

Yes, this was a design fault with the mk2 (will power itself from accessory, as well as needing diode on some cars). The mk2a (rio) has both these fixed.

The fuse probably blew when the wire came out and it touched the sled. There's an internal 2.5a auto-reset fuse, 5a should be ok - it's more to protect the wiring.

Hugo