Rewiring cab radio

Manxcat

Manxcat

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Posts
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Location
Onchan, Isle of Man
Funster No
17,008
MH
Carthago
Exp
Since Nov 2010 after 25 yrs under canvas.
Just collected our new Carthago. Grr. The radio shuts down every 20 minutes. I know that rewiring to the leisure battery is the answer. We hope to get the tunnel on Wednesday. Is there anyone in the southeast of England you could recommend who could do this? We are in Doncaster now, staying with friends in Billericay on Tuesday then onto the tunnel.
 
Never heard of that happening in a Carthago before as they use the radio for the TV sound.
Have you got the Media switch turned off on the control panel?
It needs to be on if the ignition is off.

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it depends if you have the media pack or not I assume.
 
Lenny HB said:
Never heard of that happening in a Carthago before as they use the radio for the TV sound.
Have you got the Media switch turned off on the control panel?
It needs to be on if the ignition is off.
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Hi Lenny

Yes full media pack. Massive TV (not really wanted) the media button is on. Last Carthago no problem. Big lithium battery with inverter etc.

We are going back to the dealer tomorrow morning. Hope they can sort it. Its simply not good enough.
 
Manxcat said:
Hi Lenny

Yes full media pack. Massive TV (not really wanted) the media button is on. Last Carthago no problem. Big lithium battery with inverter etc.

We are going back to the dealer tomorrow morning. Hope they can sort it. Its simply not good enough.
Click to expand...
Sounds like a Carthago wiring problem.
Do you have a Pioneer unit or the Fiat infotainment centre, just wondering if it's the Fiat unit it's been wired as standard by Fiat rather than by Carthago.

The radio is wired to the starter battery, always important to turn off the media switch after use I've seen many a Carthago with a flat starter battery in the morning these have all been with Pioneer units, if the Lithium is topping up the cab battery maybe OK but the Pioneer units draw a lot of power in standby.
 
Lenny HB said:
Sounds like a Carthago wiring problem.
Do you have a Pioneer unit or the Fiat infotainment centre, just wondering if it's the Fiat unit it's been wired as standard by Fiat rather than by Carthago.

The radio is wired to the starter battery, always important to turn off the media switch after use I've seen many a Carthago with a flat starter battery in the morning these have all been with Pioneer units, if the Lithium is topping up the cab battery maybe OK but the Pioneer units draw a lot of power in standby.
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This is what we have

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Lenny HB said:
Which one?
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1000007674.jpg
 
Well if you have the same problem between us we will find a solution.

Maybe the dealer will help tomorrow
 
Mine probably won't arrive until May supossed to be built mid April. Hopefully will be sorted by then.

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Manxcat said:
Well if you have the same problem between us we will find a solution.

Maybe the dealer will help tomorrow
Click to expand...
I have the same Fiat Infotainment unit in my 2022 138 Cathago.

I'm not sure how easy it would be to get round the 20min cut off for the audio unit. I think the head-unit would need to be reprogrammed.

The Fiat head-unit audio output is connected to a Jehnert V40 amplifier. The TV audio output is also connected to this amp. The amp turns on when it detects audio input from the TV even if Fiat head-unit is off. Hence TV sounds comes out of the four speakers.

Attached are a couple of pics of the head unit showing some of the wiring. It's not very obvious unlike a standard radio head-unit.

If you feel the need to upgrade the audio the Jehnert Amp is probably the limiting factor. I added a powered bass speaker unit and replaced the four speakers with better quality units. This has made a noticeable improvement for about a £175 outlay. If you need to know where to access the speaker wiring loom to tap in for the bass amp I can take a picture of it - it's an easy job to do.

Of course you can use the TV to access radio stations and streamed music services (if you add a Firestick) which will automatically turn the audio amp on which gets round the 20 min cut off.

But .. that means sliding the TV out of the cabinet which gets in the way when moving around inside the cabin.

I use a pair of Sonos Roam units paired to my iPhone for parked audio use.

IMG_0788.jpeg
IMG_0778.jpeg
 
Looking at the spec for the amplifier again...

"Thanks to two AUX inputs, the flexible connection of a Bluetooth module for “wireless music streaming” and TV connection via jack is possible. Switching between the desired sources is automatic."

I've just realised that easiest way around the problem would be to add a bluetooth receiver to the Jehnert Amplifier, pair this with your phone or a cheap iPad kept in the motorhome and stream. The BBC sounds app and Spotify would certainly work well in this manner.

In this setup once you start streaming the amplifier will turn on even if the Fiat head-unit is off.

Instructions
 
Final update.

After going back to the dealer yesterday here is the official line.

The radio timeout is correct and deliberate. Carthago have installed a smart TV which should be used for radio TV streaming music from smartphone etc.

I have tested this and it does work so I am happy to live with it.

The dealer did not explain this at handover and I don't think they knew about it either. It seems to be a very new approach.

I hope LennyHB is happy with this.
 
Manxcat said:
Final update.

After going back to the dealer yesterday here is the official line.

The radio timeout is correct and deliberate. Carthago have installed a smart TV which should be used for radio TV streaming music from smartphone etc.

I have tested this and it does work so I am happy to live with it.

The dealer did not explain this at handover and I don't think they knew about it either. It seems to be a very new approach.

I hope LennyHB is happy with this.
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I looked into this a little more yesterday.

The Jehnert Amp amplifies the sound output from the radio head-unit and the TV audio output. The amplifier is powered by the habitation battery, the current draw on standby can be noted using the app on my Fogstar lithium battery. The radio head-unit is powered by the cab battery.

My TV 22" Alphatronics is a non smart TV ( I think the current year Carthagos have a smart TV?) so to stream audio from the TV I need to use apps built in to a Firestick. This works well. The TV fires up the audio amp when sound is detected and sound comes from all four speakers.

However the TV is hidden in a cupboard when not in use but it gets in the way when it is out.

I am going to order the bluetooth dongle from Jehnert I spoke to them yesterday and they are happy to ship to the UK. This then plugs into to one of the audio inputs on the amplifier - which is hidden under the glovebox.

Then all I need to do is stream from my music and radio apps on my phone / iPad or macbook and this will fire up the amplifier automatically. Therefore my Sonos system becomes redundant - so less stuff to cart around and less clutter inside.

I think with the Bluetooth dongle added to the amplifier this is a very neat system as you don't need the radio head-unit screen on it's nicer on the eyes when relaxing in the moho.

One thing I have noted is that when watching TV is a program which has a silent break between dialogue or music then the amp turns off as it's no longer detecting sound, it fires up again as soon as sound is detected but there is a very slight delay so occasionally you miss a word.

Only problem then is the speaker locations in the A Class .... getting a true stereo sound to your ears will be challenging. Fitting decent sized speakers into the locations won't work without cutting holes into the interior trim.

Anyway ... enough rambling ... I just get a bit obsessed with needing to know how things work ... and then how to modify them!

More importantly ... how are you liking your new Carthago 138 ?
 
OK so you are listening to TV or music with the amp on but the head unit has turned off after 20 mins, so if you want to alter the sound level, equalisation etc., I take it you have to turn the head unit back on. Sounds a bit of a pain, maybe their is a fix in the Fiat software that can be applied via multiscan.

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Lenny HB said:
OK so you are listening to TV or music with the amp on but the head unit has turned off after 20 mins, so if you want to alter the sound level, equalisation etc., I take it you have to turn the head unit back on. Sounds a bit of a pain, maybe their is a fix in the Fiat software that can be applied via multiscan.
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If you are using the Bluetooth input then the volume is controlled from your phone. Most of the apps also have sound output equalisation settings. Works in the same was as setting the sound options on your TV.

There are some settings on the amp for the initial set up of the system. I'll have a play with these when the dongle arrives.



If you are streaming from your phone via bluetooth, or wireless apple carplay/android to the head-unit then yes it will turn off after 20 mins.
 
Abgs said:
If you are using the Bluetooth input then the volume is controlled from your phone. Most of the apps also have sound output equalisation settings. Works in the same was as setting the sound options on your TV.

There are some settings on the amp for the initial set up of the system. I'll have a play with these when the dongle arrives.



If you are streaming from your phone via bluetooth, or wireless apple carplay/android to the head-unit then yes it will turn off after 20 mins.
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Jehnert Dongle arrived and fitted.

Works as I thought so no need to turn the head-unit on to stream music or radio from my phone, to the cab speakers.

Finding the amp took ages - I had to ask on the German Cathago forum in the end.

It's behind the passenger side lower glovebox, which means removing the wooden corner piece to get at the fixings to remove the glovebox.

Once located just plug in and tap the power supply from the amp. The dongle also has a power sensor connection to the amp so as you start streaming it powers on.

I had a play with the amp settings which has tweaked the sound output a little.

IMG_3368.jpeg
IMG_3365.jpeg


IMG_3364.jpeg
 
The most annoying thing I have found is the way Carthago wire the TV sound. They take the output from the headphone socket direct to the amp so you have no equalisation adjustment at all. Also even with the Uconnect shut off time set to zero it still cuts out after 20 min.
Flipping barmy, you pay £2k for the media pack another £2.4k for the infotainment system, so £4.4k for an unusable system.
If you have the Pioneer head unit they wire the TV sound to that and disable the 20 min cut off, why don't they do it on the Fiat system just plain stupidity.

Another stupid problem is the central locking auto relocks even if doors have been opened. At the moment after unlocking I leave the hab door open until it re-locks then the hab door remains unlocked. But the re-lock can take anything from 15 sec to 1 min completely random not much fun if it's peeing down.
According to the Carthago manual it's disabled, spoke to dealer he said that's the way it is. Spoke to Fiat Professional they said it's a setting only Carthago have access to they can't do anything.
I'm going to fit a switch on the hab door to disconnect the solenoid.
 

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