castlev

Ok so after exhaustive searching to try to figure out how to get power to my glovebox so I could hardwire a bluetooth receiver to my Aux Input, I've decided to have at it. This took under an hour, but I had to stop to go to work.

My CD player wouldn't power up anyway, so I figured there's no point in keeping it in the car. First thing I did was check the fuse panel on the driver side of the car, side of the dash. Inside is a fuse map that shows fuse 24 to be the cd changer. Fuse looked good, popped it back in. Turned on car, CD player still wouldn't power up.

I pulled out the CD player by undoing the one torx bolt that holds the bracket to the glovebox. Save the cd player for now your going to need it.

Next I turned the car on without the cd player connected, radio still worked and everything, so i don't need to couple my fiber.

Next I checked the power cable for the CD player with a multimeter. I couldn't fit the probed in the back of the connector, but i was able to get a reading from the front. Here's where the pictures begin. In the first picture, my blue wire was hot, I had just under 12vdc.

Next I brought the CD player inside and removed the back panel, it was 2 screws, and lots of prying.

Next I removed the ribbon cable connecting the circuit board to the CD changer.

Next I removed the circuit board, it was a couple of philips screws.

Next I used wire cutters because i didnt have tin snips to remove the metal shield covering the POWER and FIBER female connectors.

Next I unsoldered the female power connector from the circuit board. Hold the connector with one hand, while melting the solder on the back of the circuit board with the other. If your hand hurts, back off and let everything cool. It will take several efforts to get the connector free. We do it this way so we dont get the pins too hot that it melts the plastic connector.

This will be later soldered to my cigarette outlet splitter that has built in USB ports using the HOT and NEGATIVE pins on the female connector. (Not going to specify which one, i dont believe in free advertising.)

I prefer this method for a few reasons. First you don't need to do any soldering inside the glovebox. Second it keeps the cars wiring harness stock. Third, and a BIG third, you dont have to rip apart your console to tap power from the dash cigarette outlet. Fourth, if something on this CD changer line blows the fuse for the line, you still can utilize your cigarette outlet. Fifth, rather than adding additional loads to your dash cigarette outlet, you are simply replacing the CD player load, probably with less of a load than was there.

To be updated...

jkowtko

I guess it's okay to pillage the CD changer if it's not working. Otherwise I would probably have just cut the wires a couple of inches back from the connector, so I could resolder them back together again in the future if ever needed.

Fyi, the fiber cable on the non-upgraded radios is I believe just a straight cable to the back of the head unit. The other 23 miles of fiber in your car is reserved for the myriad of other options that you probably don't have. (At least this was the case with my car).

Boom vang

I ran power from my cigarette lighter. I wanted enough power so that it can power 3 12v auxiliary outlets and a 5W USB connector without worrying that anything will get fried, should I need extra power. I ran heavy guage wire with an inline fuse. While it looks like a mess when it is apart, it actually not hard to pull apart and everything goes back together perfectly with no squeaks or rattles. The outlet is all screwed in from behind the glove box so there is no worries of it pulling out and still leaves room below for my registration, insurance and tire gauge.
Usually plugged in is my GPS which I have the wire for my Garmin permanently buried and out of the way, the usb charges my iPhone and my radar detector when I am in the US

castlev

I've ordered the bluetooth receiver, the 12v 5v converter for it, as well as a ground loop isolator/line driver (decided against the outlet splitter). I decided i am going to build it all into that back cover that i pried off the cd changer to keep it nice and compact, it should be real clean when i put this back together. I will update when the equipment arrives.

Now, do i need to have inline fuses for these small pieces of equipment? Im thinking not since the 7.5amp fuse in the fuse box is rated for the load the wiring harness can bear.

castlev

Well it turns out i was wrong, the RED is positive, and the BROWN is negative, please disregard the labeling in the photos. I also found out that the CD changer power is CONSTANT, not IGNITION switched. Looks like I am going to have to tap off the glove box light power. In the meantime i have my receiver and 12v5v converter. The ground loop isolator line driver sucked, it boosted the level to the point that the music was distorting like crazy. I am going to purchase a passive ground loop isolator.

th3h1ghlander

I know this was some time back but did you ever tap the glove box light for the power? I am thinking of doing the same for a bluetooth receiver. My initial thoughts were to leach the power off of either the light or the CD changer. Not sure I need the light in the glovebox anyway so I would remove the light and the switch. I need to check that the light is only fed on ignition but would be interested to see what you found. I don't want to take apart the dash and console if I don't have to.

djhinca

I'll throw in an admonition to the instructions here for those who may not intend to destroy the Alpine 6-CD changer in the process, but may wish to get it working again. I've repaired my changer a couple of times and will offer some guidelines for initial troubleshooting them. First of all, when disassembling the changer DO NOT remove those two screws on the rear of the unit. these secure the fiber optic transceiver and contacts and if you pry this assembly apart, the unit is an anchor weight after that. I'd venture to say that 75% of the non-functional changers are probably not a result of electronics, but of mechanical problems. To properly disassemble the changer, remove the three screws on each side of the case and carefully separate the upper and lower cases. There is a ribbon cable that connects the main circuit board to the fiber unit, so you will not be able to completely separate the upper and lower cases. After a bit of scrutiny, you can probably figure out which of the motors drives the CD carrier assembly that powers insertion and ejection of the CD. That has been the culprit in the jamming of my unit. I lubricated all the moving parts with a small amount of teflon-based dry lubricant. Then, I carefully manually rotated the insertion/ejection motor a few turns. Next while the unit was still in the disassembled state, plugged it back into the optical and power connections. In my case, the thing reset itself and I was then able to play/eject a CD. Final step is to reassemble the changer (this is delecate work..), reinstall and you're good to go. Hopefully, I won't have to do this again, but if so, I take pics and post here..I'd say, don't give up on the changer without a bit of surgical intervention first..

th3h1ghlander

djhinca: so far my changer seems good although 1 thing was when switching to one of the CDs the changer then declared that there was no magazine or that the magazine was empty. A quick eject and re-insert resolved that. It is the 1st time in months it was used so hoping it is not a regular issue