Electronics 2000

Hello everyone,

I am new to this and have minimal electronics experience.

Please forgive me if this has been previously posted.

I have a very good car stereo system which I took out of my now scrapped car and want to utilise it in my home.

I have the stereo, 2 amps (400 watts each) and various speakers.

With my basic electrical knowledge I know I need an inverter to go from AC to DC and a step down transformer from 240v to 12-14v.

I've been to Maplins and posed the question however they didn't have a clue how I was to do it. Can you help me please?

Thanks.

A good quality ATX computer power supply would do the job.

Hiya,
If you really want to take the DIY approach, then you would need a suitably sized transformer to convert from 230VAC to around 12VAC, followed by a suitably sized rectifier and some capacitors for smoothing. After this you would need to find a box to fit it all into as well.

Personally if you really want to use the car stereo in doors, then I would probably be looking for an off the shelf switch mode power supply. Something like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Meanwell-SE-6 ... 1e7bb8fbe4

There are various units available on the web at different prices, specs etc. But using an off the shelf power supply is probably the easiest solution.

Note that both building your own or using an off the shelf supply such as the one I have linked to both involve some mains wiring, therefore proper earthing, fusing etc. is a must. So only take on the project if you feel competent to do so.

Kind regards
Nick

Hi Biomed,
Nice reply, I didn't realise ATX power supplies could provide that much power on the 12V rail, I thought most of it was concentrated around the 5V and 3.3V rails, but having looked at a few prices and specs online, it seems like an excellent solution.

You learn something new every day

Kind regards
Nick

Hi Nicholasdark

It's frightening how much juice a high end gaming PC can pull these days and the 12V rail is now king. High end power supplies can now give 100A+ on the 12V rail which isn't too difficult to utilise!

Wow 100A is a lot. Surely it's got to be worth adding a higher voltage rail into the spec to help with voltage drops when you start getting into those power levels!!

Thanks nicholasdark,

The only other way I was thinking, was to hook it all up to a car battery which in turn is hooked up to a trickle charger. Not that enthusiastic about having a car battery in the house tho!

So this should provide the correct power and amperage I need? I done a quick calculation and with 2 400w amps I'll be drawing about 66amps at 12v DC. Will obviously need it's own MCB or RCBO from the consumer unit. Is this right?

Cheers.

Heya, sorry for the late reply. I was planning on replying last night but forgot.

That's one way of doing it, though as you say, the idea of having a car battery in the house long term doesn't sound like a great idea. I have used a car battery charger without the battery to power car stereo equipment in the past, but only for quick tests to make sure things were working never for long term listening.

It would be 66A at 12VDC, but you should be looking at the 230V side which would put you at around 4 amps so no MCBs etc required. That said, I really think you should consider Biomed's suggestion of using an ATX power supply from a computer, that way it's all been designed for you and you don't even need to worry about wiring a plug then

This is by no means a recommendation as I stopped building PCs over 10 years ago so I have no idea as to which brands are good etc. but this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-EZCOOL-80 ... 1144204046 says that it can supply 32A @ 12V which at 384W is very close to the 400 that you are looking for. Compare that to the cheapest transformer I could find on RS (which isn't even the right voltage) http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/toroidal- ... s/2238263/ then even buying 2 ATX power supplies at £50 each would still save you money.

Just as an aside, have you tried the stereo at full power in your house? It might be worth just trying it on a car battery first if you have one spare and seeing how much power you really use before it's uncomfortable to listen too. I don't know how you are planning on using it, but I would suggest that you wouldn't be running it at true 400W very often, never mind 800.

Kind regards
Nick

P.s. Sorry for the slightly rambling message, if there is anything that doesn't make sense then let me know.

Hey Nick,

Sound advise, excuse the pun!

I haven't linked any of it up. It's all in the garage at the moment but just trying to prepare for what I need to get it to work.

Very true, the stereo won't be running at the full 800 watts.

I'll look into all options. Thanks for your advise, it is invaluable mate.

If you think of anything else please post.

Cheers,

I need some help getting started with a Fan thermo stat system. I have a woodburner stove in a recess but the rear is to close to the wall, ideally I want to bring the stove forward but it can’t be done. To problems is heat staying at the top of the recess and not entering the room, the other is poor convection at the rear.




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