OK I decided it was time to put some tunes in the Mini
Sony exploit radio / cd player
Here's the weird thing
as per instruction and what little I do know
red to power supply off ignition
yellow to constant power for memory .straight to battery with inline fuse
black to earth , straight to battery because I have a isolator on the earth cable
With the isolator switch on [power connected ] radio works as it should , turns on and off . turn off key and radio turns off ,lock up car all good
open boot and isolate [negative] battery
Radio comes on
turn isolator back and radio goes off

WHY ?

Mark

Odd!

And will it then play normally with the negative isolated??

And is it remembering the time ok?

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Hi Mick
yes it plays as normal
haven't set the time yet
I can turn it off on the radio , but not with the remote when its in isolate

Mark

Could you rewire the constant positive to the constant supply at the fuse panel?

I have an idea, but can't really confirm it.

You're certain however that the -ve is in fact going to the -ve terminal?

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Yes , is negative side of battery ,
might run a dumby wire from the fuse box as you say and see what happens

worst part of it is, it is all mounted under the back seat ,

Mark

Have you got a car alarm or anything else that runs off the negative terminal like the radio?

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

I have an internal window aerial ,
earth wire from battery to aerial and radio only
+ve power to aerial comes from the radio when switched on [power aerial or aerial amplifier ]
the earth has a bare braided wire , which I soldered an extension onto to splice in with the radio earth
Might insulate the braided section , as it is sitting under the rear parcel self and maybe touching the body
No other items

I've had this where an artificial negative is created through another load. The voltage drop across the load creates an artificial negative. Wire each up separately and try them out on their own.

There may be a ground through the antenna too.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

the radio body itself is not earthed , as it is mounted in a timber frame
do you think this may have something to do with it
it only has the earth in the wiring plug
Mark

PS should I move the isolator to the +ve side of the battery
I am running an alternator -ve earth

Its so hard to tell from here, a few minutes with a multimeter would show the problem. But go back to basics, wire the unit up from the dash without the yellow, and try from there.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Thanks Mick
I think I will start again from radio plug
RED +ve to switched power
BLACK -ve direct to -ve battery before isolator
YELLOW +ve direct to constant +ve side of battery
BLUE from radio +ve to aerial amp


BLACK extra -ve battery direct to radio body
BLACK extra -ve battery direct to aerial

Mark

When I did mine (Barney), I ran the yellow wire to +12V onthe fusebox, and put a 10A auto reset circuit breaker across the isolator switch on the battery -ve lead. This way there was no chance of backfeed with the isolator turned off.
If someone tried to key start it when isolated, the breaker tripped, so it wouldn't start anyway. If it tripped, the radio lost its memory, but in normal use there was no problem.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Hi Doc
my battery isolator is on the -ve side of my battery

Mark

So is mine.
Radio will work with the isolator turned off but you cannot start the car.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

well its got me stumped

Mark