1986 aspencade radio

[steppin stone]

Hello everyone I have been having issues with my radio and hoping someone could possibly have a solution. The radio turn's on you can see it lights up but no sound then if you hit the turn signal you can hear sound with the flash. Does this sound like a bad ground back feeding to you? If so would anyone know where the grounding point for the radio is ? I pulled up to one of my buddy's the other day and asked him the same question and I turned it on and it worked perfectly feeling like and idiot I drove away. Know it's doing the same thing I have cleaned a few of the grounds point's but no luck..

[baba67]

Are you hitting the speaker / headset switch by accident or the radio mute switch?
Just a possibility.
Do you use a headset or just the speakers?

[steppin stone]

Hello I do just use speakers and no the mute switch is not on and head set switch don't use. When I start the bike let it warm up if I turn on the radio it lights up but no sound now if i turn on hazard lights the sound comes on with the flashers so as it blinks the sound comes on and off with the blinker. So I think its back feeding thru the hazard lights which brings me to think its a bad ground. Would you by chance know where the ground for the radio is?

[baba67]

Hello again
I agree that poor grounds cause all sorts of problems, but seeing that the radio illuminates indicates to me it has some kind of
a ground source.
With the radio actually playing with the flashers on sounds like the power supply.
I believe that there are 2 power feeds.
One is constant 12v for the memory of the radio and the other is switched power from ignition switch.
It appears that your flasher is supplying voltage to the radio and lights, causing the on/off of the radio.
The factory radio is removable as you probably are aware of, and sits in a slide in cradle that is factory hard wired.
It is possible the row of contacts on the radio or cradle need to be cleaned.

[WingAdmin]

Definitely a bad ground. You might have enough ground for the radio to turn on and function, but the big power sucker of the radio is the power amplifier, which drives the speakers. An insufficient ground means not enough current to run the amplifier. The turn signal is providing enough of a ground through its backfeed that the power amplifier can get enough current to function when the turn signal is lit up.

Either find the bad ground, or sister a new ground in place of the existing one.

[steppin stone]

well I guess tomorrow my day off I will be disassembling the bike and chasing wires and cleaning all the grounds hopefully I won't have too search to long..

[WingAdmin]

well I guess tomorrow my day off I will be disassembling the bike and chasing wires and cleaning all the grounds hopefully I won't have too search to long..

Look first at the ground connection for the power amplifier (located below the left fairing cubby pocket).

[steppin stone]

well I tore apart the hole bike yesterday and no luck ! It doesn't sound now with the flashers if you get real close to the speaker you can hear it faintly . I have pushed in on the mute button and you can hear it clicking on and off through the speaker's i'm at a loss...could the amp or the tone switch be gone??

[steppin stone]

Well I tore it all apart again today and no luck cleaned all the connection also opened the amp and soldered all the points and the volume head set board too. I did notice that it killed the battery ( could the battery be toast it's only 2 years old) ? I just stopped working on it for the day.. If the stator or the voltage regulator was gone would this do what it's doing? If the battery was fully charged the radio should work right? I have soldered the connections of the three yellow wire's about 3 months ago cause I noticed the connection looked like it was getting hot. I really hope the stator is not gone that would ruin the season of riding..

[steppin stone]

I check the stator and all check out okay and charging. I also checked the regulator and these are the reading 1582/1492/1376 so I would say that the regulator is fine also correct me if I'm wrong. I have checked and cleaned all the connection's that plug in under the amp . Their is power going to amp also put a jumper wire to ground and no luck. I did notice that their is a amp of some sort that is plugged into the regulator for the radio (RD-1212) I opened it up and there are battery's in there that go into 2 wound up coils. If the battery's are dead would that have any thing to do with it ??? I don't know if they are dead or not just a thought ? I have bent the tab's out a little where the radio makes connection to the plug to see if the connections were making good contact. I'm at a loss the only thing that I can come up with is maybe radio fried I say maybe.

[Wink1018]

I am having a similar issue with my 86 Aspy. I am not getting any sound out of my speakers. However, I am getting music out of the headsets when they are connected. I am guessing that my power amp has gone belly-up on me. Could anyone confirm or validate my conclusion to my problem?

[baba67]

Did you try using the mode switch from headset to speakers?

[Wink1018]

Did you try using the mode switch from headset to speakers?

Yes. I have tried all variation of the switches. Headset, mute, etc.....

I know the speakers worked last year. Then, when I got the bike out of winter storage, the music wouldn’t play. It was only today I tested the headsets.

[steppin stone]

ya this is driving me crazy I have taken every wire and plug out and cleaned all the connection . now it doesn't get loud with the flashers so it's not back feeding now. If I just turn on the accessory switch and turn the radio to full high you can barley hear music from the speaker's . I like listening to some tunes when I go cruising ... I'm about ready to rip it all out and put in an after market radio if I can't resolve this issue.

[CrystalPistol]

Just found this. Back in the 1990s my '85 Aspencade did something similar, was intermittently but happened a lot, so I followed advice of someone and pulled the left pocket, then unplugged the Auto Vol/Tone unit and bypassed it by plugging the male and female ends together (din plugs) … and it cured it so I pulled the Auto Vol/Tone unit & sent it to Sierra Electronics in Troy Ohio, they fixed it. Only issue with it out is the volume does NOT increase with road speed. The tech called me after fixing it before sending it back, had to re-solder a connection on a board in it. They have a fast turn around, used them a couple times. They also once fixed the tape deck drive in the radio itself.

[steppin stone]

I think I tried that bypass and it didn't do any thing I think that was one of my first attempts when I started have this issue. How can you test the amp and that auto volume switch can you bypass both to see if ether are the problem ????

[Wink1018]

I am goin to post my findings and my fix for my no sound from the speakers issue.



I will admit that it had to have been my fault. The switch on the CB unit must have been toggled as I mounted or dismounted the bike one day. I had the entire left fairing apart thinking I had either an auto volume or an amp problem. I pulled everything out and carefully put everything back in, bypassing the items I could, with each step. When nothing I did worked, I accidentally bumped the CB toggle switch on the lower left of the unit. Miraculously, the speakers came alive.


This was my “dumbass” problem and fix....


I think it is time to completely remove the CB system....

[steppin stone]

I wish I was so fortunate with hitting a switch but I have no cb.This morning did the the Auto Vol/Tone unit and bypassed it by plugging the male and female ends together but it didn't work. I then removed the amp and soldered every joint. The P/O put butt connector on the wire's so I took all them off and soldered and shrinks wrapped them all, again no luck could barely hear any sound with volume all the way up. I then started the bike and all I could hear was the engine noise through the speaker's. Just got of ebay as I ordered a used RD-1212 that is I guess a noise reduction added to the system that goes through the regulator let's see if that work (finger's crossed)...

[steppin stone]

Well I got the RD-1212 in yesterday so when I got home from work I installed it. Well it turns out that is not the problem as it is still doing the same thing. I guess today my day off I will be tearing into the electrical harness yet again. I am hoping the tropical storm that they are predicting stays out to sea.

[BadJack]

Can you take the radio, amp and speakers off the bike and try everything on a bench?

[steppin stone]

I could probably take every thing out and bench test it if I had another harness but I don't have one so I am just replacing parts one by one. I ended up buying a used amp waiting for it to come in won't be here till middle of next week. I hate to through money at part's I don't need but I'll have back some spare parts I guess.

[CrystalPistol]

Did you ever just pull the radio out & tweak the terminal contacts at the rear for better contact?

Also, on each side of the radio is a rubber isolated or cushioned slide, over years the rubber ages and in time will let the radio sag or droop when in place, thus misaligning terminal contacts at the rear. I was reading this again, and recalled my '85 did that 20 years ago and I filled the voids in those rubber cushions with rubber sealer and let cure, then put the radio back in, cured my issue. I just used my finger and worked the rubber seal into the voids flush. Let it cure before reinstalling the radio.

[steppin stone]

Did you ever just pull the radio out & tweak the terminal contacts at the rear for better contact?

Also, on each side of the radio is a rubber isolated or cushioned slide, over years the rubber ages and in time will let the radio sag or droop when in place, thus misaligning terminal contacts at the rear. I was reading this again, and recalled my '85 did that 20 years ago and I filled the voids in those rubber cushions with rubber sealer and let cure, then put the radio back in, cured my issue. I just used my finger and worked the rubber seal into the voids flush. Let it cure before reinstalling the radio.

Well now that you mentioned it I think that was one of the first things I did to make sure their was a good connection. Yesterday I was able to install the amp that I purchased and that didn't fix the problem, so I've replaced the amp and the noise suppressor the only thing left is the radio or volume control .I don't think it's the volume control because when I installed the amp I tried it with the volume control and with out it and nothing. So I'm going to say that it's the radio is the piece broken in the chain. So I have to find an audio repair place some where near me so I can have the radio repaired..

[julimike54]

This place for repairs, many others have recommended

https://www.sierra-mc.com/radioservice.asp

[steppin stone]

This place for repairs, many others have recommended

https://www.sierra-mc.com/radioservice.asp

Thanks for the link .... I found someone rite down the street from me that is on the panasonic service web site for servicing radios and I sent him an email just waiting for him to get back to me. If he can't help me with my issue I guess sierra will be getting my business . Thanks again