AnotherSilverJK

Hello all! I am new to this forum, as far as posting, but use it for research on a regular basis..

I have a current issue right now that I haven't been able to figure out.. I have had two radios I planned to install in the jeep.. a cb and ham radio.. I finally found the time to install the ham radio this weekend. The radio is hooked up according to manufacturer's instructions, directly to the battery.. radio is hooked to pos and negative terminals with fuses in between..

Afterwards, everything worked like it should.. no flaws. Several hours later I drove it to the store. As I was parking, i heard a tone (without a warning light) and noticed my headlights were flickering. I left the vehicle running and when I opened the door the dome lights were flickering as well.. the ham radio was off the whole time.

This morning I wanted to drive it to work, but my battery was dead (I think).. I would turn the ignition on everything shows up fine in acc mode, no warning lights.. but as soon as I try to start the motor everything goes black.. no power at all. I'll wait 5 mins and the same thing will happen, everything is fine in acc mode, when I try to start the motor, everything goes back to black.. I didn't have much time to spare, so I left it in the garage..

Is there anything I'm missing here?? I have factory headlights, not LED.. Am I supposed to go a different route hooking up the radio with the JK?? Thanks in advance -Joe

*To note, the radio is not hooked directly to the battery posts, but hooked up with fittings under the wing nuts with the other accessories.. this wouldn't be the issue would it??

karls10jk

It's not a good idea to wire things directly to the battery because you may inadvertently run down the battery and end up without a paddle.

The flicker/ no start sounds like a loose terminal. You may want to look into battery terminals that are designed for accessories instead of piggybacking under the nut- if you elect to keep it wired straight to your battery.

14Sport

Don't put anything under the nuts closest to the terminals, either negative or positive.

AnotherSilverJK

I disconnected the radio last night and started right up. Somehow it's tripping a system and not allowing it to start the vehicle. The battery wasn't dead or drained after being connected or two days.. not sure what would be causing the issue? It's a yaesu ft-2800m.. a decent radio.. still confused.. I'll have to work on it this weekend when I have some time.

AnotherSilverJK

Any specific reason to not connect there? Would it not still be running the same power? Is the jeep going into some kind of safe mode or something like that? Still confused by the situation. Especially since the manual says the vehicle is made to run equipment like this. Thanks for the replies.

14Sport

It's a tapered nut which tightens the connection to the post as it is tightened down. If you put something under there, it will not completely tighten to the post and even when you think it is tight, you will be able to rotate the connection by hand.

maaicher

What other power source do you recommend running lights and accessories to then? I had assumed the terminals other than the main nut that tightens onto the battery were ok?

jchappies

Hooking it straight to the battery shouldn't be a problem. your only using a lot of power when your transmitting. Some HAM have a time out time that will auto shut off if inactive for a certain amount of time (check your settings). If your forgetful and want it hooked up to your ignition switch then use a relay.
Like others have said it sound like you have a loose connection on the battery.

What type of HAM did you hook up?

AnotherSilverJK

It's a Yaesu FT-2800m... I've since disconnected the wires and the radio both from the battery until I can find better terminal clamps. It looks like the dealership put on a cheap negative clamp when they put in the new battery.... I have it tight as possible, but still does not look convincing. May have to order the heavy duty clamps from Quadratec. Seems like what a lot of people use?? I'll post a picture of the existing set up soon.. thanks.

jchappies

The FT2800 is a great VHF radio (I've had 2 of them). It also has a automatic power off feature so you can run it straight to the battery and have it shut off automatically if you forget to do it. Be sure you run both POS and NEG to the battery for best results.