Stereo switch not turning off stereo

I have a Pyle marine 2 channel amplifier with 2 6.5" speakers. Works great, but the issue I'm having is the switch (SPST) on my 5 gang panel will not turn it off. I confirmed the switch is working correctly by using a multi meter to confirm there is no voltage coming from the hot (out) to the stereo when the switch is off and it is getting proper voltage when the switch is turned on. I also confirmed the switch below it, which shares the hot (in) via a jumper cable, is functioning properly as well. That switch controls my anchor light which does not have the same issue, nor does any of my other switches. To me, it clearly has to be an issue with the stereo itself. Any ideas? Just seems really weird that my stereo is getting power when the switch is off. For now I've just pulled the fuse on the stereo itself. I can throw it back in when I have the boat out, not a big deal. But I would like to have it working on the switch again if it's a simple fix.

Whereas the radio has its own on/off switch, why would you need to wire it through an extra rocker switch ... ?

Also note many radios have an ‘extra’ wire that gets connected to 12VDC+ to provide power even when the radio is off, with intent to keep any pre-programmed radios stations and settings intacts.

Perhaps you wired the radio up wrong? Put it to your main +buss at the helm, not to that switch and try it. If using that other ‘powered’ wire, check will you put that too.

DaleH said:

Whereas the radio has its own on/off switch, why would you need to wire it through an extra rocker switch ... ?

Also note many radios have an ‘extra’ wire that gets connected to 12VDC+ to provide power even when the radio is off, with intent to keep any pre-programmed radios stations and settings intacts.

Perhaps you wired the radio up wrong? Put it to your main +buss at the helm, not to that switch and try it. If using that other ‘powered’ wire, check will you put that too.

Click to expand...

Red wire is 12v switched, yellow 12v constant. Tie them together if you don't care about saving presets and stuff.

^^ what i did.some save the presets even without power.i rarely listen to the radio anymore.commercials and yappy djs? pass.gimme satelite any day.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check for an extra 12V constant wire. It's been 5 years since I installed it, so I can't remember off the top of my head how it's wired. There is no switch on the unit itself. It's a small marine amp only with an AUX input that powers the two speakers. So it's not really a stereo with a head unit. The switch used to work though. You can see the wiring diagram in the link below, and looks like you guys were correct. There is a remote turn on switch (blue). I'll have to take a better look at how I have it wired up. But I should be able to undo the blue wire and solve my problem.

https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-2-Channel-Marine-Amplifier-Receiver/dp/B009IAP55S

BigTerp said:

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check for an extra 12V constant wire. It's been 5 years since I installed it, so I can't remember off the top of my head how it's wired. There is no switch on the unit itself. It's a small marine amp only with an AUX input that powers the two speakers. So it's not really a stereo with a head unit. The switch used to work though. You can see the wiring diagram in the link below, and looks like you guys were correct. There is a remote turn on switch (blue). I'll have to take a better look at how I have it wired up. But I should be able to undo the blue wire and solve my problem.

https://www.amazon.com/Pyle-2-Channel-Marine-Amplifier-Receiver/dp/B009IAP55S

Click to expand...

I missed that it was an amplifier.

There will be three power inputs, 12v constant, remote, and ground.

Typically the blue remote wire would go to the headunit, but since you don't have one it can go directly to a switched source. The big power and ground leads can go right to the battery.

When +12v is applied to the blue wire, the amplifier will turn on.

You need to put a test light on the switch contacts, there is also a possibility that the switch contacts are sticking.

MrGiggles said:

I missed that it was an amplifier.

There will be three power inputs, 12v constant, remote, and ground.

Typically the blue remote wire would go to the headunit, but since you don't have one it can go directly to a switched source. The big power and ground leads can go right to the battery.

When +12v is applied to the blue wire, the amplifier will turn on.

You need to put a test light on the switch contacts, there is also a possibility that the switch contacts are sticking.

Click to expand...

The "switch" for the amplifier is a volume control knob. When reading the wiring diagram it seems if the volume control is turned all the way down, it will power off the amp. I'm 95% sure that is what I wired the blue wire to, but need to take a look to be sure. I also stopped using the volume control a while ago and simply turned it all the way up and used my phone to control the volume of whatever was playing. Highly possible it's turned all the way up and could be as simple as that. If that's the case, I'll just unplug the volume control knob and that should allow my regular switch to power the amplifier on/off. I'll try and have a look tonight.

I tested the switch using a multimeter. It is functioning properly.