# marine cassette/ amfm radio question



## 'Rude Dog (Apr 11, 2004)

Is there any difference between a " marine" am/fm cassette radio, and one designed for automotive use ??? Can a 12 v automotive unit be installed in an existing marine system ??? any special grounding or wiring issues involved- would like to change out the am fm cassette on the used pontoon I bought with a pioneer super tuner III unit from my old truck . thanks, GB


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## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

Wire it the same as you did the truck. No difference.


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## Workdog (Jan 10, 2007)

Biggest difference between car and marine radio is the marine radio has the circuit board coated.


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## H20hound (Apr 15, 2008)

Workdog said:


> Biggest difference between car and marine radio is the marine radio has the circuit board coated.



yup and the old "marine markup" of course.


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## KaGee (Sep 8, 2006)

H20hound said:


> yup and the old "marine markup" of course.


An excuse to mark up the sell price another 30%.


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## Skarfer (Jan 27, 2006)

I've always used my "old" units from different cars/trucks in my boats. Last boat I sold my good kenwood cd player along with the boat.....so now in this one I had to install my old cassette kenwood. not happy about that. But I'm trying to find a cheap cd head unit to replace it with...........

Only thing is make sure you can mount it in a place where it's not going to get wet - or if it is, then buy one of those marine radio covers that you mount the radio in and the lid comes down over it. 

You won't have any problems.


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## barf (May 10, 2009)

at this point i would look for something with an mp3....they dont skip when you hit waves....(hard to get good cassettes these days)...you can get them cheap too....craigs.............

your question has already been answered ...just hook up like in car ...if it gets swamped ..get another one...(used )25 ...50 bucks....Ive seen rodholders go for more.....



unless you are made of cash ...would not buy a new one for a boat....

just my 2 pennys (although may not be worth that in gold)

actually if your boat does not have a body ground ,or a battery that stays plugged in all the time

go black to -(on battery)twist red and yellow together..to + on battery
yellow is constant power(usually)for clock and presets......on car audio the secondary ground is your antena(because it grounds to body)...some car audio will not work correctly without it ...but thats an easy cheat....with a jumper wire

now if you have a battery that stays hooked up all the time ...skip twisting red and yellow together...do it just like a car....but the antena is still some thing to watch for (does your boat have an antena mount)...and is it some how grounded.....


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