Aftermarket head unit blowing fuses

[SEdgell]

When i got my 86 eta the stereo was gone and someone just cut the wires instead of unplugging them, anyway I found the wires that seem to be the battery, remote (ignition switch), and the ground wire. But whenever I hook the stereo up and then try and turn my headlights on it blows fuse #23, killing my headlights, dash lights, and the tail light and parking light on the pass. side. Anybody have any ideas? Now it may be the stereo itself, maybe there's a short somewhere, but it was given to me by a buddy of mine, and he never had any problems with it.

[StereoInstaller1]

You connected the grey/red wire to ground, somehow.

[SEdgell]

Yeah, the gray/red wire was the one I found to be the ground. I'll try and wire up another ground somewhere.

[StereoInstaller1]

Brown is ground the world around...except in Amurrica.

Next time you install a deck in a car, damn near any car, test your shit by turning on the lights.

You have done a classic install mistake. It is called "Daylight Radio".

Don't feel bad, I have done WAY dumber things.

Now go fix it.

Luke

[SEdgell]

Already fixed....yeah I went to drive the car that night, and no lights, so I had to drive the Suby. I didn't see any brown wire in the dash, but it's hard to tell, like I said the wires were all cut and who knows if maybe it's hiden somewhere. So I just made my own ground, and all lights are functional. What is that gray/red wire to? Using it with a test light it makes a good ground and doesn't blow any fuses....just curious. Thanks though!

[StereoInstaller1]

Did you turn on your dash lights while testing? If so, you would have seen +12V on that wire. The deck lights up when dash lights are on, thus that wire. Some new decks use it so they go dimmer when the lights are on.

[SEdgell]

No I didn't check the voltage with the lights on, guess that would have saved me a little headache....oh well, it's working now, so I can listen to Alex Jones and drive at night...pretty neat. Thanks for you help!

[E30 Cabrio]

I did the exact same thing when I installed my HU

Same lights not working, same fuse blowing.