Speaker humming when lights are on

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DVeihl

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Good morning everyone. If this has been discussed I couldn't find the thread so my apologies.

I have a 2022 1500 classic quad cab and it has the factory 8.4 uconnect without the alpine system. I bought the truck a few weeks ago and the stock speakers was kinda weak so I upgraded all speakers to kicker KS series. Well I noticed that when I turn the headlights on the speakers have a humming sound. Radio on,up,down, on a different seating it doesn't matter It stays the same and I'd always there. Engine rpms doesn't affect the intensity. If lights are off it doesn't hum, park lights on its a faint hum and headlights on it gets louder. It's not enough that you can really hear it. But I do and It's driving me crazy. Any help would be appreciated greatly.
 

crash68

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Have you changed any of the lights in your truck to LED? Possibly noise from them.
 
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DVeihl

DVeihl

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Everything is factory. Nothing has Been touched other than changing the speakers
 

SitKneelBend

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Everything is factory. Nothing has Been touched other than changing the speakers
Sounds like it needs a better ground. You can improve the factory grounds by removing some paint and then resealing. I've seen this happen with LED lights on my truck, but it only occurred with AM/FM reception.
 

WY.Ram

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This is all just FYI, no solution yet:

I have the 8.4 uconnect, factory alpine, aftermarket LED fogs (Rigid), added a couple amber LEDs to the bumper knock outs, Also added two electric fans, aux trans oil cooler and bigger elec rad fan and somewhere along the line I have induced a hum that is very similar to what you describe. Not nearly as bad as alternator whine from an aftermarket stereo / amp that has a bad ground and constantly changing with engine rpm, it is definitely more of a hum than a nasty whine but it's just as annoying. Can't turn the radio off to make it go away.

I've stepped up the ground with additional battery to frame conductor, 10awg, cleaned any ground I've added by removing all the paint between circuit conductor and frame and it's still present.

I've chased it by disconnecting any lights or fan I've added and it seems to not really affect it, still there, same frequency, same volume, twice as annoying.

I'm sure I've induced it with with a crappy ground or poorly manufactured device but so far I can't isolate it. I have another medium sized Rigid light bar to add to my bumper but I'd rather knock the hum out first.

The only changes that have helped so far are the exhaust mods, headers, cat delete and solo Mach 44. Lol But the hum is still there with the windows up.

I have a couple other efforts but my confidence in silencing this hum is waning. My worry now is it's an internal issue with the radio, possibly a cap on a circuit board failed and this really is the worst theory in my mind. To troubleshoot I need a new radio and do a swap to find out if said theory is correct. I am going to continue grounding and regrounding any circuits, factory or aftermarket, before I fully buy into the radio circuit theory.

I also measure the resistance across any ground connection that I come across, so I'm not guessing and i can move on.

I also rebuilt the top end of my 6.4L so I've really gone kinda deep in having parts of this truck disassembled and I still think it's a me thing. The stereo is alpine and about the only thing I haven't had disassembled.

If your radio hum began immediately after your speaker upgrade then I feel we both have a good chance if eleminating hum with quality grounding of circuits without replacing radio.

I can't identify exactly when mime started, most of my mods had been done for a bit when I finally noticed it. I was zoned in on engine audibles since it's rebuild and when I finally accepted the rebuild was sounding beautifully I noticed this hum and thought w.t.h.

I may have opportunity this coming week to start the chase again. If I have any success at all I will definitely bring it back here.
 

RamDiver

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Car stereos can be a pile of fun. :cool:

I know the OP has upgraded his speakers. I don't know if WY.Ram has ever touched his speaker connections.

Have either of you guys tried experimenting with reversing the polarity on 1 or more of the speaker connections or disconnecting one side of the front or door speakers to gauge if that has any impact on the background hum?

Do all Ram trucks have the phase cancellation noise reduction circuitry or just the higher-end models? Phase cancellation circuitry is notorious for creating hum, especially if you've so much as 'touched anything related'.

.
 
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DVeihl

DVeihl

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Car stereos can be a pile of fun. :cool:

I know the OP has upgraded his speakers. I don't know if WY.Ram has ever touched his speaker connections.

Have either of you guys tried experimenting with reversing the polarity on 1 or more of the speaker connections or disconnecting one side of the front or door speakers to gauge if that has any impact on the background hum?

Do all Ram trucks have the phase cancellation noise reduction circuitry or just the higher-end models? Phase cancellation circuitry is notorious for creating hum, especially if you've so much as 'touched anything related'.

.
First off thank you all for the replies and help.
i did reverse the polarity on the front dash speakers. As that's where I hear most of the noise from and I had no change. I cleaned off some factory ground spots and reinstall the grounds. Still no change. I'm kinda puzzled. I've never had one do this that wasn't to install related issues. I've installed full systems in alot of stuff but normally it's because something was doing wrong ( I ain't ashamed to admit I make mistakes lol) but this one puzzles the heck outta me. I bought the speaker harness adapters from Crutchfield. And speakers was bought brand new from a kicker dealer. The truck still doesn't even have 1k miles on it and it's driving me crazy. Also . I reinstalled the factory ones speakers back in it and still doing it
 

GTyankee

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would a RFI Kit eliminate the humming
Radio Frequency Interference (RFI)
 
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DVeihl

DVeihl

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I honestly never thought about that to be honest. I may try it to see thank you
 

Justthebutler

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Im wondering if -

Maybe the radio antenna is not seated properly or is touching metal behind the radio.

Could a speaker could be touching metal behind it? enough to create an interruption.

You may also get the problem if the speakers are underpowered.
 
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