Radio Draining Battery

[inthered]

A year ago I installed a Custom Autosound Am/FM Casette player w/10-disk CD Player for my Vette. Since installing my battery is constantly losing juice.
There is only one wire from the radio plugged into the fuse block. The colors going to the car are Yellow (hot), gray, and black. The red from the radio is connected to the yellow.
There is black wire for the ground that is screwed in on the metal chasis by the radio.
For memory on the presets there is an orange cable that my installer connected to an orane wire in the harness. The presets will stay for about a minute after I turn the car off so I believe this is not the correct wire. So I'm wondering what the orage wire is supposed to go to in the first place.
I've checked the radio diagram and all cables seem to be correct.
The radio does not have power when the key is not in the ignition.
Any suggestions would be appreciated as I've replaced the battery once and have to keep charging it up.

[DavisZR1]

First of all, every radio system is wired up differently, so you need the schematics for the set up that you have. Or, bring it back to the installer that you used. Second of all, you said you have the system a year, so apparantly it was working. Did the installer originally set it up so that you don't need the key in? In other words, was it once working that way for you, and now it doesn't? And if it was, how long do you play the system without running the car? If you have an average battery, it won't last long. Third of all, I don't know why your installer a year ago, didn't tell you that you need a larger alternator. It can be that the alternator is not powerful enough, so you might need to change the alernator to a higher stator, maybe an 85 or 90. It's very hard to give you instructions through a post, especially with electrical and sound systems that someone else worked on. I would go to person that installed it, or if you have lost faith in them, then go to someone else. I'm surprised he didn't tell you that you need a bigger amp alternator. Also, install a heavy duty battery if you go with a bigger amp alternator. And, don't play it too long with everything shut off.:nod:

[CHAD BATCHELOR]

Hi there inthered this is chad from chevy 21 . As i remmber when i was working on raidos what i used to do was hook up the orange lead to my ciggarete lighter so that i allways had power and it wouldn't drain the battery but i will find out for you and let you know on tuesday hope that all is well and talk to you soon chad :chevy:

[brooklynvette]

:nono:

Sorry to disagree with you Chad, but hooking it up to the cigarette lighter will also drain the battery if the car isn't running and charging. And, like DavisZR1 says, if the alternator doesn't have the right ampage and the battery is a low grade, and you have a powerful sound system, the battery will get drained. The orange wire may also be different with this radio so I wouldn't want to mislead him. I used to hook up the power wire right to the fuse box to the main power line. It was better than having the wire hang out and from the lighter. When it comes to electrical its better to bring it to someone that knows, cause you could do damage and it could be costly in the long run.