CB Interfering with Dash

Installed a Cobra 19 CB in my 07 Wrangler Rubicon.

Originally it was wired directly to the battery. When I keyed the mike, the dash lights would come on and would chime.

We switched it to the fuse box with a fuse tap. Now it messes the dash up intermittently.

Any ideas how to fix this.

tkd415 said:

Installed a Cobra 19 CB in my 07 Wrangler Rubicon.

Originally it was wired directly to the battery. When I keyed the mike, the dash lights would come on and would chime.

We switched it to the fuse box with a fuse tap. Now it messes the dash up intermittently.

Any ideas how to fix this.

Video clip: http://youtu.be/Z-y38TIddOg

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Sounds and looks like you picked the wrong wire. May I suggest dropping the center dash panel and tapping into the aux plug where the cigarette lighter would go. I had mine there and had no issue. Only issue was that the memory for the CB would not hold. Now I have mine running through the DIY Waytek Wire relay system which has a write up from Pvannwheelen.

Where do you have your CB grounded? that may eliminate the issue.

On a hunch, try running a ground wire from a screw on the case of the cb to a ground other than the battery, such as the frame. Mine does the same thing but I haven't tried that fix yet. It can't hurt anything to give it a shot. I expected mine to do it as its way more powerful than yours.

Edit: the power to my radio is direct to the battery as it should be.

I have mine connected to the keyed 12v power adapter with a quadratec power adapter connector and haven't had any issues, make sure you're have a good ground.

I used to have it mounted direct to the battery but I kept forgetting to turn it off and it would drain the battery, now when I turn off the motor it shuts off. I don't use the BT in it so I'm not worried about memory settings and I only put it in the Jeep when I'm on the trail otherwise it's out of the Jeep.

this adapter:

http://www.quadratec.com/products/96080_9801.htm

I had the same issue.

There are a few factors the main one being you need a better ground.

First connect the CB directly to the battery. If you want it switched use a relay. (The CB doesn't pull THAT much power. I've left mine on by accident for several days and the jeep started just fine)

As mentioned by others you need to have an additional ground to the chassis of the CB. I opened up the box and soldered a wire to the existing chassis ground, then terminated it to the body near where I mounted it.

You'll want to make sure you're using a quality antenna cable and you haven't coiled any extra length. A coiled cable adds resistance which will cause high swr.

Additionally you should run ground wire to your antenna mount.

That should handle the problem.

When I installed mine, every time I would key the mic, the instrument cluster lights would go crazy, the engine would sputter and the check engine light would stay on. After extensive troubleshooting I realized it was interference with the sprint booster that I had installed so I removed that and it's been fine ever since. Good luck. I hope you figure it out.