Installing Sony Car Radio in yacht - we have power in but no display

[Courtshort]

Hi,
Can anyone help? We have just purchased a Sony radio to replace the Blaupunkt on our yacht purely to have an aux jack so that we can use our ipods etc with the radio speakers which are wired in the cockpit and down below. We're now having problems getting power to the 'panel'. There's power in because there's a whirring where the CD would be inserted but there's no display. In order to get power to the unit we had to invert the yellow and red wires as per Sony instructions. At a loss to what we have done wrong. We appear to have two power wires coming from the boat (i.e. red and black) but the new radio requires 3 i.e. red, yellow and black. Any ideas?
Many thanks Claire on s/y Ocean Rainbow - currently in Guadeloupe!

 

[dedwards]

Most car stereos have 2x positive connections: one is designed to be permanently connected to the battery and the other goes through the ignition so is only active when the key is turned. I suspect these are your red and yellow wires. You should double check with your stereo's installation guide but I suspect that you need to connect both of them to your red wire while black still goes to black.

 

[Bilgediver]

Most car stereos have 2x positive connections: one is designed to be permanently connected to the battery and the other goes through the ignition so is only active when the key is turned. I suspect these are your red and yellow wires. You should double check with your stereo's installation guide but I suspect that you need to connect both of them to your red wire while black still goes to black.

The red and black as started are permanently connected to retain memories etc. Apply power to the yellow and this switches the radio on. You can run the yellow from a switch on the panel and directly couple the red and black to the battery using in line fuses. This will give full operation. If you short the yellow to the red then you will probably lose the memories when power is turned off.

 

[Steve Clayton]

A new or second hand unit? We have a Sony on the boat with a removable front. Lost all display and it wouldn't work. £12 for one on ebay and all working again

 

[Richard10002]

The red and black as started are permanently connected to retain memories etc. Apply power to the yellow and this switches the radio on. You can run the yellow from a switch on the panel and directly couple the red and black to the battery using in line fuses. This will give full operation. If you short the yellow to the red then you will probably lose the memories when power is turned off.

That's how my Sony works. I leave the power on as it drains very little over a few days. If I leave the boat for a few weeks, I turn it off, and redo the memories when I return. I suppose I could run a permanent wire, but it's 40ft, and a tortuous route to hide it.

 

[Billjratt]

Are you guys sure? In my humble opinion the black and YELLOW wires are fed to constant power, and the red may be connected to the domestic (switchable)bank.
Every car radio I've had has used the yellow to maintain memory...