Audio Systems: Panasonic car dvd player malfunction, brain box, panasonic car

Question
I have a panasonic flip out dvd player installed in a boat.  The unit may have gotten wet but the problem I am having is very intermittent.  The unit will work fine until you start the motors.  The unit is always on, both red and yellow are tied to a hot.  When you start the motor the unit shuts down briefly (ignition protection) then powers back up once you let off the starter.  The problem is that after it powers back up, the unit shows gibberish on the display and pops on for about 2 seconds then off for about 2 and all the controls are not responsive.  After it sits for a couple days going on and off with power going to it, it usually straightens out until the motor is started.  Furthermore, if it is flipping on and off and I unplug the head unit from the brain box, nothing happens, the music continues flipping on and off.  Any ideas?

Answer
Have you tried a hard reset? This requires complete power to be removed from the unit for at least 1/2 hour. Easiest way is to disconnect the battery or pull the power wires from the dvd player, but the complete power must be removed from the unit in order to achieve a reset.

If the reset does not improve the situation it means there is something else going on.  And, I suspect it relates to the power circumstances.  A poor ground, an alternator voltage regulator on the boat, long wires with too much resistance and low battery voltage among other malfunctions could be part of the equation.

So, you might recheck all the wiring, grounding and possible compromises in wire layout or shorted conditions that woucl compromise the full voltage getting to the system.

In fact, you may need to pull the unit and bench test it to make sure there is nothing going on internally with the dvd player.  

If you have a vom you should monitor the 12v line feeding the player while the engines are off and when started to see if the voltage is fluctuating severely.

Hope this helps.  Let me know if you have more ideas to share with me.

PS:  It takes many days to dry out electronic circuits; sometimes longer.  Opening up the case for better air circulation will accelerate the process.  I usually recommend that a wet product be opened and let dry for one full week with no power applied before expecting it to be ready to go again!