Alfa 156 Radio
Author
Discussion

captaintact

Original Poster:

181 posts

183 months

Thursday 14th April 2011
quotequote all
Hi

Should the standard Radio/CD stay live when the ignition is on and key removed or should turning the ignition off also turn the Radio/CD off?

Mine remains on when ign is off. Also when the unit is off there is a faint red light on the 'on' button. Is this normal?

Does anyone also have an instruction manual for the standard Radio/CD?

Cheers

Graeme

Mr E

22,685 posts

281 months

Thursday 14th April 2011
quotequote all
Ours is a clarion tape/radio with a 6 disc changer in the boot.

It works without the ignition (and has been the cause of a flat battery)

captaintact

Original Poster:

181 posts

183 months

Thursday 14th April 2011
quotequote all
Mine flattens the battery overnight even when turned off! This is the third standard unit i've tried and all do the same. Just taken it out to look and unit is very hot even though not been on or car used. The cables have not been modified. Any thoughts guys? Def a prob with the Radio/CDs as when taken out there is no problem.

twizellb

2,782 posts

234 months

Thursday 14th April 2011
quotequote all
Mine stay's on and has to switched off manually.

captaintact

Original Poster:

181 posts

183 months

Thursday 14th April 2011
quotequote all
twizellb said:
Mine stay's on and has to switched off manually.
When turned off is there a small faint red light on the on/off button on the left of the unit that stays on?

twizellb

2,782 posts

234 months

Thursday 14th April 2011
quotequote all
captaintact said:
twizellb said:
Mine stay's on and has to switched off manually.
When turned off is there a small faint red light on the on/off button on the left of the unit that stays on?
I've never noticed, will have a check and get back.

MarkwG

5,816 posts

211 months

Thursday 14th April 2011
quotequote all
Might be age/model dependant - ours is a 2000my & the radio/cd is live all the time. It came with a Clarion standard fit, now has an Alpine plumbed into the harness, & that stays live so I imagine there's a live feed only, rather than a live for the memory & an ignition for the power up.

captaintact

Original Poster:

181 posts

183 months

Thursday 14th April 2011
quotequote all
My 156 is 2001 and has what i think is the Blaupunkt version?
I have tried 3 of these now. They are all live and from what people are saying this seems normal. They all had a small red light on the on/off button remaining on when the unit is turned off. They flatten the battery overnight! :-(


RichV6

384 posts

229 months

Friday 15th April 2011
quotequote all
Head unit the same as mine. The on off button lights up when the unit is off and ignition on.
Ignition off no light but the unit can be switched on and times out after 30 minutes and switches off. Is it possible the live and switched live wires have been swapped?

captaintact

Original Poster:

181 posts

183 months

Friday 15th April 2011
quotequote all
RichV6 said:
Head unit the same as mine. The on off button lights up when the unit is off and ignition on.
Ignition off no light but the unit can be switched on and times out after 30 minutes and switches off. Is it possible the live and switched live wires have been swapped?
Ah that's very interesting. I will check all of that. Thanks. Maybe find a cheap multimeter that measures current and check via the 10A fuse on the unit too. There doesn't appear to be any changes to the wiring. I'll post a photo and the more eagle-eyed amongst you can let me know.

mike9009

9,459 posts

265 months

Saturday 16th April 2011
quotequote all
I rewired my 156 to make to radio switch off with the ignition. I have also installe d a new pioneer unit and. It has been fine. The old clarion unit used to stay on as discussed in this thread.

There is a 'how to guide' on the alfa156 owners forum. And if i can do it, anyone can do it.......

http://forum.alfa156.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID...

Mike

captaintact

Original Poster:

181 posts

183 months

Sunday 17th April 2011
quotequote all
RichV6 said:
Head unit the same as mine. The on off button lights up when the unit is off and ignition on.
Ignition off no light but the unit can be switched on and times out after 30 minutes and switches off. Is it possible the live and switched live wires have been swapped?
Well...........
Measured the current being drawn from the unit when turned off (Via the 10A Fuse on the back of the unit). It was drawing 0.63A which is a lot.
The red light on the on/off button is lit ignition on or off. The unit does not turn off even though i thought i had set it to turn off (no instructions) in 20 minutes. The wiring does not appear to have been modified in any way. This is also the 3rd similar unit i've tried.

Does anyone have a copy of the instruction manual they could email me please?