Head unit vs. Vibration

[Alan Shore]

Hey peoples. I'm halfway thru putting a dvd/mp3 unit in and a tv screen into my VR Commodore. However, just thru testing it I realised that the head unit skips and jumps when I drive the car around...especially bad on the freeways and highways. I know that there is a lot of vibration coming thru the transmission tunnel, however the deck doesnt touch this at all...and just to make sure I padded it so the deck could sit on it.

I'm pretty sure that the top of the deck hits something...I know that the plastic doobie (under where you would usually put the deck) rests on top of the deck. The deck is fastened and doesnt move so I am staggered trying to think of what the hell is happening. I've tried some minor padding but to no avail. Could it be too much heat? Or is further padding is needed?

The deck is fine...it plays fine when stationary and previously before this custom install. Maybe someone else who has done this can help.

[V-ahhh]

you should ask SUBDUE he has his head unit in that postion as well.

[Alan Shore]

Kool...should ask him soon. Update though...I am 90% sure that it is not vibration, rather heat and too much of it. The bottom of the plastic doobie inside rests on top of the deck which I have placed on the bottom. I noticed that the plastic gets extremely hot by itself, and in combination with the deck it would be terrible. So now I need to know whether there is some sort of way of cooling it down like a cushioning or ice...I dunno...something...anything. Cheers people...

[Atreidae]

thats where the heater core is located.. hence the heat. alpine headunits are realy antsy about heat.. ive seen a few with fans. try grabbing a small fan just to move some heat around in there. just steer clear of dicksmith fans or you will be using the stereo just to drown out the fans... also check your heater control valve is working.. there should be a little plastic valve in the engine bay in the middle of all the heater pipes. ensure this valve moves when changing from full cold to full hot inside the car. if this isnt working your heater core will be generating heat when its not required.

[Tasmaniak]

on another note. Some H/Us don't like being mounted on an angle. I caused LG to do a recall on a batch of there CD Players when in reality it just didn't like being mounted at an angle.

[Alan Shore]

Update: I drove my car today for about 45mins to an hour trying to keep the heat down and success...no skipping...I just had to keep the cold air going thru the car and not the heater. Before I tested it with the heater on...I had a feel of the plastic and it was becoming quite hot. Also had a feel of the pipe that runs near the pedals to feed the heater...DAMN! that was scalding hot! I'll try to check that lil plastic valve in the engine bay to see what it isnt doing.

I'll check with my cuz about the deck being mounted at an angle as he has pretty much the same deck...but I suspect that it should be ok. I'll keep you updated...