electrical question

Post by **BorepYano** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:54 pm

hey guys, here's a few things i need to find out, being doing some research but...

1. how much does the stock FTO alternator put out?
2. can i swap the alternator with just about any aftermarket ones, or is there a different mount that stops me from doing that?
3. how much power does a normal PC use (just the box itself, not including a monitor)?
4. how long would my battery last if i was to run a PC off it (i.e. how long before i cant start the car)?

the reason i'm asking is because i'm going to try to build a PC into the glove box (decided against laptops and the carputer things because they are expensive and the specs are never exactly what i want)

thanx guy.

if someone can help me out with these questions, i promise i'll stop post whoring

lol

Post by **I8A4RE** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:18 pm

I dont think that it would a good idea to run a pc while the car is off no matter how powerful your alternator is cause that only charges the battery. it has no effect on how long the battery will keep its power for. U would need to look at getting a big heavy dutie battery may be even 2 (one in the boot) in which case then u would need to get an upgraded alternator.
as for availabilty of these i have no idea but it is possible. I think the main reason they were usin the laptop for the carputer is that when the car is off, the laptop can run on its own battery power and wil thenl charge back up when the car is on or take it inside and charge it.
i hope this helps

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:19 pm

Just wondering,
what are you planning to do with a computer in your car?
especially one with no monitor?

DeFunkeD · Post by **DeFunkeD** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:30 pm

wattage wise a desktop computer usually uses 300-400w (check your computers power supply). not much in the big scheme of things really, one amp running a semi-decent sub would be draining around 1200w (appx. 300wrms) also it runs on 240v, you'll need to get converter for 12v-240v.

would be interesting to see how you fit it into the glove box with all the insulation/cooling you'd need to keep it from overheating. might be able to use mini atx motherboard?...

Post by **BorepYano** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:37 pm

mxysxy wrote:Just wondering,
what are you planning to do with a computer in your car?
especially one with no monitor?

i'm going to use the PC as a server box.. lol no, i'm going to use an 8' touch screen for now (which doesnt take much power), just wanted a rough idea about how much power i need.

I8AFRE -
as for running the PC when the car is off, i'm just asking so i'd know, i wont be using it much while the car is off, it just would be good to know (in case i needed to), i am probably going to get an UPS down the trackanyway (which should hold enough power for 20mins or so).
basically all of that is for later, right now i just want to put the thing in, have it work while the car's on. then i'll worry about the details, i mean i'll be listening to music through crappy computer speakers for a couple of weeks

Post by **BorepYano** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:44 pm

DeFunkeD -

yeah the fitting would be the problem...

i'm going have to cut the front of my glove box up and put fans in there, and will also have to cut up the back of the glove box so that the motherboard will be sitting deeper into the dash (i was originally gonig to cut my dash up and install it in there, then i realised that the intrusion bar is right where my PCI cards would go)... i might mess around with one of the air vents to try to get some fresh air to the computer (havent been brave enough to even look into that yet lol)

i think a full size ATX might just fit sideways into the glove box, if not then i'll go mini ATX.

basically there's going to be fans, rubber washers and sharp metal edges everywhere... wont be surprised if i ended up super gluing my hand to the car either (no i'm not using super glue, but just know how clumbsy i am i'll manage it somehow lol)

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 2:45 pm

BorepYano wrote:i'm going to use the PC as a server box.. lol no, i'm going to use an 8' touch screen for now (which doesnt take much power), just wanted a rough idea about how much power i need.

Yeah, but what will you actually use it for?
Although I respect the effort, I just canâ€™t find the moral behind.

If GPS, I would use PDA or handhelds,
if music, I would use plug-in ipod,

I am thinking that you are planning to bring few friends with carputer together, and get connected via Bluetooth or somesort? and play games through your server?

This is the limits of my imaginationâ€¦.

Post by **BorepYano** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:02 pm

Sat Nav
$600

radio
MP3s
videos
$600-800 for a half decent dvd player

TV
$200 ish? for a decent digital tuner

Games
$700 for an Xbox 360

on screen hands free for mobile phone
beats me how much that'll cost

reversing camera
$100 for it all installed

internet
porn
+other things that i havent thought of yet
Priceless lol

a couple of bonuses:
easily and cheaply upgradable
can be used with piggy back ECUs (that's much much later down the track)
learning exp
and i guess the wank value

that's going to add up to well over $2k, and thats if you can have so many channels going into the screen on the dvd player.

this whole thing should cost me $1300, if nothing goes wrong.
i guess this is kinda the same as why people get the $5000 carputers, just cheaper, i cant justify spending $5k on a carputer but i can justify spending $1300 on it.

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:07 pm

BorepYano wrote:porn

you have succeeded to changed my mind mindset towards the carputer.
Let me know if I can be any help

Post by **BorepYano** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:09 pm

mxysxy wrote:
BorepYano wrote:porn
you have succeeded to changed my mind mindset towards the carputer.
Let me know if I can be any help

LOL

Post by **I8A4RE** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:15 pm

M.P.U (mobile porn unit)

Any where, Any time, Any place.

Sounds like a commercial for the police and rbt's lol

Post by **BorepYano** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:21 pm

does anyone know where i can get a power supply for a PC that runs off 12V DC? (batteries have direct current right? been a while since i was at school)

just seems stupid to go from 12V DC to 240V AC just to have the power supply convert it back down to 12V DC again (well computers run off 12V, 5V and 3.3V? but still all 12V or less)

any ideas on this guys?

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:36 pm

BorepYano wrote:does anyone know where i can get a power supply for a PC that runs off 12V DC? (batteries have direct current right? been a while since i was at school)

just seems stupid to go from 12V DC to 240V AC just to have the power supply convert it back down to 12V DC again (well computers run off 12V, 5V and 3.3V? but still all 12V or less)

any ideas on this guys?

Just a suggestion, not sure if correctâ€¦.

All you need I think is a 12v regulator, you can find this from any electronic shops; jaycars.
Alternator already supplies over 13v, so you just need to drop this to 12v.

I find it silly to receive 12v, then to 240, and funaly ending up with 12v again,
Why not just regulated 12v directly?

I guess you can try this at home to proof of concept,
just plug your 12v battery, regulated to a motherboard only,
see if this will blow anything?

Post by **BorepYano** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:43 pm

[quote="mxysxy"] guess you can try this at home to proof of concept,
just plug your 12v battery, regulated to a motherboard only,
see if this will blow anything?[quote]

um... that probably will blow something up

i think most of the chips on the mother board run on 5V...

besides, there's 20something pins on the connection between the power supply and the mother board... how would i connect it up?

mxysxy · Post by **mxysxy** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 3:57 pm

BorepYano wrote:
mxysxy wrote: guess you can try this at home to proof of concept,
just plug your 12v battery, regulated to a motherboard only,
see if this will blow anything?

um... that probably will blow something up

i think most of the chips on the mother board run on 5V...

besides, there's 20something pins on the connection between the power supply and the mother board... how would i connect it up?

WE NEED TO FIND A SOLUTION
WE NEED TO WATCH PORN!

just get a dvd player bloody!

Post by **I8A4RE** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:00 pm

Man i had a 2 din dvd player with touch screen and it was awesome>.UNTIL SOME FU%^ER STOLE IT. you could be drivin along think hey i wouldnt mind watching some porn pull ova and there you go instant porn. it only cost $800. Best $800 i eva spent ah

Post by **BorepYano** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:14 pm

lol, i have one, but thats just not enough... think about it, dling porn straight off the internet while stuck in traffic. lol

well i sorta found a solution, there's a fair bit of DC-DC power supplies, thats especially designed to be used for carputers etc, but my problem with it is that at best they r only 150W... for some reason i dont think that will be enough to run a dvd burner, 400GB HDD, 64bit CPU, 256MB grafix card and 1GB of ram lol

JOeJOe · Post by **JOeJOe** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:17 pm

BorepYano wrote:DeFunkeD -
i think a full size ATX might just fit sideways into the glove box, if not then i'll go mini ATX.

You could buy apple's mini mac.

Post by **BorepYano** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:30 pm

JOeJOe wrote:
BorepYano wrote:DeFunkeD -
i think a full size ATX might just fit sideways into the glove box, if not then i'll go mini ATX.
You could buy apple's mini mac.

no, NeVeR >.<, i have a thing against macs, actually now i think about it, its been so long i cant even remember why anymore lol.

i might use that as a back up plan though, cos knowing my luck something wont work out lol

my biggest (really the only) problem right now is finding the power supply

JOeJOe · Post by **JOeJOe** » Tue Sep 19, 2006 4:34 pm

BorepYano wrote:lol, i have one, but thats just not enough... think about it, dling porn straight off the internet while stuck in traffic. lol

well i sorta found a solution, there's a fair bit of DC-DC power supplies, thats especially designed to be used for carputers etc, but my problem with it is that at best they r only 150W... for some reason i dont think that will be enough to run a dvd burner, 400GB HDD, 64bit CPU, 256MB grafix card and 1GB of ram lol

What are you planning to do with that. Are you planning a mobile hacking unit?