DSXM55BT Loses settings

[grevs]

Hi everyone.

I wanted to thank this board for some incredible information! I’ve read extensively as I’ve upgraded the stereo in my 2007 220

After installing everything I’ve found that when I disconnect the battery at night, all settings are erased on the stereo when I turn the battery on again.

It goes full factory reset and is in demo mode. I have to repair all of the devices and setup the presets etc.

What did I do wrong?

Thanks!

Jeremy

[billk2632]

There should be a wire that is connected directly to the battery that keeps the memory - on most systems it’s yellow.

[grevs]

If the radio is always powered on won’t it drain the battery? It’s odd because I tore out the factory Sony and used the same power wires but the factory one didn’t have this issue (I don’t think)

I have red and yellow wires. The red is the positive and yellow negative

[billk2632]

It doesn't stay powered all the way on, just keeps the memory settings, not enough draw to run down the battery. I know on a boat 12v side, yellow is ground, but on a stereo black is ground, red is power and yellow is the memory. Should be spelled out in the installation instructions that came with it.

Black = Ground
Red = Accessory on ignition switch.
Yellow = Battery

[AsLan7]

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So glad you found us grews.

Is this a brand new unit? Some radios have a miniature battery that will hold the in-volatile memory with power cut off.
Most have a “hot” wire.

From a Sony manual…..

If you have to reprogram preset stations for a car or boat stereo every time you turn the ignition switch to off, there may be a problem with the wiring. Try the following steps to troubleshoot this issue:

Turn on the boat engine.
Power on the boat stereo.
Set one or two radio stations as presets.
Turn off only the boat stereo using the POWER On/Off button. Leave the boat running.
Wait just a few seconds, then turn the boat stereo back on and check if the preset stations are still active.
If the stations are still assigned as they were previously, that indicates there is a problem with your wiring installation.
How did you wire it?

Any pics?

And welcome aboard mate.
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[bruceb58]

Is this an automotive radio? Personally, I never wire up the yellow wire to go straight to unswitched battery power. I am willing to not have presets.

[grevs]

Thanks all.

It's a marine unit. It's the model recommended on this forum to swap that factory unit as I get to keep my dash remotes. Everything stays great until I kill the battery feed. If I turn the boat off the stereo turns off but retains memory. It's only when I fully power off the battery with the switch that everything drops.

This is interesting billk2632.

Black = Ground
Red = Accessory on ignition switch.
Yellow = Battery

I may have the wires backwards. I'm surprised it works if this is the case. I ran red to the battery and yellow to ground. I'm going to pull it apart today and see what I can see.

[bruceb58]

I may have the wires backwards. I'm surprised it works if this is the case. I ran red to the battery and yellow to ground. I'm going to pull it apart today and see what I can see.

Yellow is not ground...it is battery.

[canpybike]

A decent radio uses something called Non-volatile memory (NVM), which does not require electricity to remember. The fact that Sony does not understand the use of a battery cut-off switch means they don’t know anything about making a marine radio.

[jhnmdahl]

That's a bit of an exaggeration. It would be nice if the head unit had NVRAM for settings, but keep in mind it's a head unit listed for $139 on Sony's website, so don't expect it to have the same bells and whistles that a Fusion head unit might.

Sony's support page for that unit is at: https://www.sony.com/electronics/suppor ... #downloads

and page 35/36 of the owner's manual suggests that the black wire on the wiring harness is ground and the yellow goes directly to the battery (i.e. is powered at all times), while red is the accessory positive lead that goes to the ignition switch. If you want the head unit to be able to be on when the ignition is off, you can tie red and yellow together and connect them unswitched to the battery.

It sounds like your yellow line may not go directly to the battery, but may be switched when you flip the main battery switch. If that's the case, the solution is to trace the wire back and move it from a switched +12v source to an unswitched +12v source (hopefully just a different terminal on the same switch or terminal block).

John

[AsLan7]

A decent radio uses something called Non-volatile memory (NVM), which does not require electricity to remember. The fact that Sony does not understand the use of a battery cut-off switch means they don’t know anything about making a marine radio.

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So glad you found us cpb...and I agree with Jmd on this. We have had some nice Sony marine units in the past.

Any pics of your Cobalt?

And welcome aboard mate.

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