Radio turns on by itself (old topic but new info)

[fun time]

There was thread awhile ago about radio's AM?FM) turning on all by itself. When I first read this thread and the many replies, I still had a hard time believing this until yesterday. While wintering here in FL. my neighbor left for a couple of days and at 3:30am his outside radio turns on at high volume all by itself. When I asked some others in the park (Winny owners mostly)if they had experienced any problems I was shocked at their response. They too had similar situations. This is not just an isolated occurance but it is epidemic in proportion here in the park. Mostly Jensen brands but one is a Sony. All those had outside entertainment centers and it is not confined to just one model of coach. What the heck is going here? If you count the number of people from the former thread and add 6 from our park the numbers are staggering. This truly is mystery for someone to solve.
So, all you electronic wizards out there what gives with this?

[DonGee]

It just may be the ghost of John K. Hansen going around to pull our chain.
Don WIT 70041

[MikeCoke]

My Outside Entertainment Jensen radio has had that problem for several years & I have had to unplug it to fix the auto on problem. But now I have a new problem with it when camped & I want to use it & I plug it back in & turn it on now it will not turn off at all. Not with the power button on the radio or with the Remote control.. So now when I use it anytime I want it off O have to unplug it. I keep the removal tools in the outside compartment so I can remove the radio to turn it on & off.
Mike

[W8RLM]

I haven't tried this yet, but have you tried to turn your radio on with someone elses remote? Maybe someone else near you turns their radio on and it turns yours on. Or, maybe the Winnebago gremlin is at it again.

W8RLM - Bob

[Bill Gotthelf]

I had the same problem with the stock Jensen. I broke down and replaced it with a good Alpine unit I got on sale. Much better radio and I have not had it come on by itself for the past 3 years.

[fun time]

W8RLM-Bob
It is strange you should mention this. I thought the same thing so I grabbed my remote, my neighbors and another one to see if that would trigger the radio on of off. No luck.

[dirko]

Hi Ho: I don't know if this is the problem, but I have seen a similar situation many years ago as I was working on a 50,000 watt solid-state transmitter. I am an electrical engineer and have designed electronic stuff for many years, so if this explanation is not useful, I'm sorry in advance.

Semiconductor switches take many forms, but one that is quite useful involves a 4-layer switch device or thyristor (an SCR is an example). These devices have a very low on reistance, so they can be used with very little voltage drop or power loss. (And you thought that the switch that you use for on and off is just a mechanical switch like a light switch...)

Anyway, if a remote is used it is clear that the on/off function must be controlled electrically. The rest of the story is that 4-layer devices are subject to being turned on without the gate being controlled. Just a voltage transient on the power supply (Vdd) can cause them to turn on. If anyone is interested in the electronic mechanism, send me an email and I will give a technical explaination of how this occurs.

Anyway, it's not a poltergeist. Have a good day.

Dirk

[rgrstndgby]

Dick, so are you saying that the head unit can activate upon transient ( or intentional, "BATT ON/OFF" for instance) voltage changes?...rgr...

[dirko]

Hi Ho: I haven't looked at a schmatic and don't know if this unit even has these devices on the IC, but if a 4-layer latchup is going on: Then yes, it can happen without any input at all (except a transienet in the power). And the only way to turn it off would be to remove power so the device can return to the off state.

Dirk

[Pushrod]

I had a similar problem in an '06 Meridian 36G. This was the bedroom radio, and would only happen in storage. During storage, the shore power would be on for a week or so, then be disconnected for awhile. I would find the radio on, and not be able to turn it off, unless I removed it from the cabinet, disconnected the power plug, then reconnect. I'm thinking that the power fluctuations were probably the culprit, however, none of the other radios exhibited the same problem. It finally "cured" itself after a year of fooling around with the input power connector.

[tomsm]

The entertainment center/bedroom radios have a short "pigtail" that connects to the Winnie wiring. In the pigtail there is one wire for +12V and one wire for "ACC/IGN". The +12V supplied by Winnie feeds both these pigtail wires.

If you locate the "ACC/IGN" lead and put a switch in that lead, you have created an imitation ignition switch. When you turn off that switch it's just like turning off the key in your car. The radio will go off and stay off till you turn the switch back on. When it comes back on, it will be on the same station, same volume, etc. Just like turning on the key in your car.

If you switch the +12V pigtail lead or the Winnie +12V lead, the radio will go off and stay off, but you lose all your station presets and other settings. Much nicer to switch the "ACC/IGN" lead - as I said, it then operates just like a dash radio.

Sorry I don't have a manual or wiring diagram here, so I can't identify that wire for you, but you should have a simple wiring diagram in the radio owner's manual or possibly even right on the radio.

[SupremeChief]

This phenomenon isn't limited to radio's. Not only does the radio in my outside entertainment center turn on by itself( fortunately it doesn't adjust the volume by itself so I leave it turned down when not in use) the new Vizio LCD TV that I recently installed occasionaly looses it's mind and refuses to turn off. The picture goes nuts, volume goes sky high and none of the controls will work. The only way I can get it to stop is to turn off the electricty. This would be funny if only it wasn't happening to me.

[JENSENRVdirect]

I represent ASA Electronics, the producer of the JENSEN brand of televisions, stereos, and speakers and the Voyager brand of observation monitors and cameras. At ASA, we strive to provide excellent customer service and product satisfaction and would like to offer some assistance in this matter.

If the radio in question uses a three-wire power system (+12V DC BATT+ (constant), +12V DC Ignition/Accessory (switched) & Ground), the most likely cause for the radio to turn ON unexpectedly is that the radio is wired so that the IGN/ACC+ and the BATT+ are both wired to a constant power supply and the radio is responding to a voltage fluctuation on the electrical system.

Three-wire radios use the +12V IGN/ACC to "tell" it when to turn ON or OFF, just as a dash radio responds to the ignition when you turn the key ON/OFF.

If the radio is wired so that the IGN/ACC+ and the BATT+ are both wired to a constant power supply, the radio will remain ON at all times. With this type of installation, when you use the POWER button on the radio or remote, the radio will enter a standby state. This will allow the radio to "monitor" the buttons for user input (for example, pressing the POWER button again to turn the radio ON).

When other devices create a load and draw down the voltage momentarily, the radio will turn OFF. Upon return to normal voltage, the radio will turn ON. This would be the same as cycling the key in the ignition.

If you are unable to stabilize the power system to prevent this transient voltage, the best solution would be to install a two-position switch in-line on the IGN/ACC+ wire. This switch will allow you to remove power from the IGN/ACC+ wire so that the radio can enter an OFF state, and thus will prevent the radio from turning ON until power is re-applied via the switch.

JENSEN and Voyager Tech support Team

[cbeierl]

Thanks tomsm and JENSENRVdirect. I'm in the process of adding a manual on/off switch in the +12C IGN/ACC line as you have recommended. When it warms up a bit outside I'll finish the job and mount the switch.