does eny one know what color the wire is that i hook the main power on the deck to. i know i have it hooked up wrong cause when i turn the car off the deck just erases every thing saved "radio stations"
i have know clue about this kinda stuff. i might be unclear about what i am trying to say but hey if it makes sence help me if you can

sorry for my bad spelling

on the alpine decks there should be a sticker on the top or bottom of the deck that sez the colors

either yellow or red iirc one is constant 12v one is switched

red is switched from the ignition, yellow is hot from the battery. the yellow needs to be hooked up to an UNSWITCHED power source, that will keep the headunit from resetting every time you turn the car off.

what color are the power wires coming from the car!

did you not get a harness??? run the yellow on a fused line to the battery and leave the red alone.

i have the harnes that comes with the radio, but the old radio that was in there when i got the car was all getto rigged in!

that sucks, sounds like it's time to buy a $5 test light.

1. turn the car off. ground the clip end of the light on any of the metal back there. start poking wires. if the light lights up with everything off and the doors shut you've found the hot from the battery, lable it.

2. now turn the key to the acc position, turn all the lights on the car off. start poking again, another wire should cause the light to come on. turn the car off, if the light goes off that's your switched from the ignition, lable that one.

3. repeat step 2 with the headlights on. that will find the illumination wire (if your radio dims with the lights that will control it) lable it.

4. take a 9V battery, start brushing wire leads against the terminals. use a simple process of elimination, don't just grab random wires. the speaker will pop. if you can watch the speaker move note which direction it moves, in or out. if it moves out the polarity you used on the 9v battery is correct. if it pulls back you have reversed polarity, note the polarity and mark the wires. if you mix your polarities your system may sound unusually quiet

5. ground is just run from the headunit to some clean metal behind the dash

Edit: should I put this in the wiki?

usually red

join the red and yellow allong with the power cable to the stereo. This will not only allow you to save the memory, you'll also be able to listen to the radio while the car is completly off with no key in the ignition.
Another thing, just maybe, you might be losing the memory because of the battery not having enough of a charge, it might be old, that used to happen to me until I got a new battery.

Originally posted by baller36969
join the red and yellow allong with the power cable to the stereo. This will not only allow you to save the memory, you'll also be able to listen to the radio while the car is completly off with no key in the ignition. Another thing, just maybe, you might be losing the memory because of the battery not having enough of a charge, it might be old, that used to happen to me until I got a new battery.

UMMMMM dont do that. It's just not good. You'll end up killing your battery and your deck. If anyone thinks thats a good idea, then you're a dumbass!

Sounds like somebody burned there deck, lol. I've been doing it for a few years, gone through three decks, and none have burned, just upgraded. But hey, each to his own.