Carson SC-550

NReck

New Member
May 1, 2016
8
Wisconsin
i just installed a Carson SC-550 in my truck. On the slide switch I have 1 powering an external feniex flashed powering my rear warning light and on 2 I have it powering a Whalen flasher powering my fronts. When I have the siren switch turned to horn/standby and I have the switch on 1 or 2 I hear a clicking coming from the speaker. The clicking follows the flash patterns. It's a quite click you can only hear it standing in front of the speaker. I have tried switching the wires of the speaker around I tried another speaker and it does the same thing. With the siren on you can't hear any clicking. Any ideas on what I can do to stop the clicking or is this normal?
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Check your grounds.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Then there's your problem.... all grounds need to be as short as posdible
 
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Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
It's your other grounds you need to fix....
 

NReck

New Member
May 1, 2016
8
Wisconsin
I made a new ground for the entire bus bar. And an entirely separate ground just for the siren. The ground cable is less than a foot.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
I think your missing my point.... all grounds need to be kept as short as possible. What do you have run to this ground bar? Hopefully not the individual lightheads?
 

NReck

New Member
May 1, 2016
8
Wisconsin
No I get the point all the grounds are short in length. The only things that are grounded to the bus bar now are 2 relays and the Whalen flasher and the feniex flasher. Then a different ground for the siren itself.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Ok so now what do you have the bus bar grounded too?
 

NReck

New Member
May 1, 2016
8
Wisconsin
The bus bar is grounded to a seat mount. The ground is good tested it with a volt meter. There is a 8 gauge cable that is 4 in long that goes from the seat bolt to the bus bar. The wires from the bus bar to the relays and flashers are 4 to 8in. The ground wires from the siren to a chassis ground are 2x 10 gauge wires that are 11in long.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Relocate buss bar ground to chassis ground if possible. Did you scuff the paint at the seat bolt?
 

NReck

New Member
May 1, 2016
8
Wisconsin
Paint is removed to bare metal and used a star washer to help dig into the metal. It is a solid ground. I could move it but would lengthen the wire to about 16in instead of 4in. I have tried multiple combinations of setting up the ground cables.
 

Jarred J.

Lifetime VIP Donor
May 21, 2010
11,580
Shelbyville, TN
Ok so how is power ran to siren?
 

MtnMan

Member
Dec 20, 2012
1,533
Eastern PA
I've experienced other Carson sirens with low-level audio feedthrough (e.g., the radio input is faintly audible through the speaker when the siren is in standby mode), and I suspect it's a design characteristic.

You could isolate the flasher with a relay, or try a different flasher altogether, or just don't worry about it.
 

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