Power supply

As I am sure a lot of you do, I have extra amps and other 12 volt accessories that I have sitting around the house and would like to do somethign with. However, there is just no more room in the truck to put this stuff. I have been looking to run some of these things around the house, but the power issue is there. I have checked out power supplies, and the beefier ones are definitly not on the cheap side. I have also looked at computer power supplies, for they provide a strong 12 volt output. Is there any disadvantage to using a computer power supply to power car audio equipment as long as the amp doesnt pull more amps than the supply puts out? For instance, this power supply says it puts out 15 amps of current at 12 volts for 20 bucks shipped.

I have one question for you... How are you going to power it on? ATX power supplies require a signal from the motherboard to power up. They don't just come on once they are connected to the wall likt the older AT style power supplies. If you can get it to power up, you will also need to load all of the other power outputs as well, or it may not function correctly. Nearly all switching style power supplies will require a minimum load on every output to keep it from burning out the switching transistors. Just something to think about.It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

he's right, find an old computer, (i actually just threw one away) the pre pentium 3 mother boards used an acutal switch on the case that usually came with the power suply, this would work for you, but the new ones (due to computer controlled power down modes and auto shutdown/shut off) use the processor to controll the power suply.. besides that, you would be fine to do it that way, Bad Boys Customs

    audio - video - security

If you use it. Suport it. Donate to the 12 volt!

Well, I had no idea about that other stuff. I guess that solution is not as easy as I thought. Thanks for your help guys.

There may even be a problem using the older ones. Most of the older computers had much less power output. Depending on your application, the older ones may not give you the amperage output you need.

there's a way to test power supplies, you just have to put a wire between two of the posts on the ATX molex. google for dual power supply how tos or for power supply testing.

here you go just connect those and you can start the PSU up with the I/O switch in the back.