car audio in a home stereo application

Hey everyone,

I have benefited from this site for years now and am finally getting around to signing up and hopefully being able to contribute in some way.

Anyways, I recently took sold my car and took my stereo out to buy a motorcycle. So, now I have a great car stereo and nothing to do with it for the time being. I had the idea of using my car stereo as a home stereo after going to a local shop and noticing that it sounded pretty decent.

I asked what they were using to convert the 120V power to 12V and they said they had no idea what it was called or where to get one (the installers weren't there), but told me to check online and that search hasn't provided me with much useful information.

I'm thinking I could just get a car battery and attach a battery charger to it to keep it going, but I'm not sure of the dangers/possible failures of doing such a thing.

My stereo consists of: a Jensen VM9411 in-dash TV (Which I would build a mount for), a JL 13W7 sub and a 1000/1 amp, a pair of JL ZR800-CW, and a pair of JL XR650-CXi hooked up to a JL G4500.

Can anyone suggest a possible way to hook this up as a home set-up? Would the battery/charger work well enough to keep it powered up?

Thanks,

Trevor

The battery/charger option is certainly do-able, but I would try to find a sealed battery if you want to run it inside. If you are using a free-acid type (wet cell) then you'll want to leave those outside, and run power cables to your destination.

Otherwise, search the Astron website and locate a power supply in the 40 to 60A range. That'll power your system to a better than reasonable level in the house. It won't be cheap, I can promise you that, and if this is a stopgap application, it might not be worth it.

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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."

haemphyst wrote:

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The battery/charger option is certainly do-able, but I would try to find a sealed battery if you want to run it inside. If you are using a free-acid type (wet cell) then you'll want to leave those outside, and run power cables to your destination.

Otherwise, search the Astron website and locate a power supply in the 40 to 60A range. That'll power your system to a better than reasonable level in the house. It won't be cheap, I can promise you that, and if this is a stopgap application, it might not be worth it.

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Thanks for the response. I think I am going to do the battery/charger option, as I think that has the least negative financial impact. I can always use the battery again and I'm positive that the charger will come in handy in the future.

As far as which battery I should run, does it really matter? It will be sealed in a ventilated box outside, but free from the rain. Do I need to worry about CCA or reserve time?

Also, what could I/should I use to turn off the power when not in use?

Reserve time will be the more important spec in this particular application.

I wouldn't leave the charger connected to the battery when not powered on. Many chargers have no reverse current prevention, and the battery will go dead if left connected.

Your BEST bet, is remove one or both of the charger clips, and hang it or clip it somewhere that it can't connect with the battery.

Otherwise, a SMALL charger, less than 5A, as a tricle charger can be left connected all the time.

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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."

haemphyst wrote:

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Reserve time will be the more important spec in this particular application.

I wouldn't leave the charger connected to the battery when not powered on. Many chargers have no reverse current prevention, and the battery will go dead if left connected.

Your BEST bet, is remove one or both of the charger clips, and hang it or clip it somewhere that it can't connect with the battery.

Otherwise, a SMALL charger, less than 5A, as a tricle charger can be left connected all the time.

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I was thinking of a trickle charger, but I was a little worried that it wouldn't keep the battery charged enough when the stereo is in heavy use.

I'm looking at this charger as a possibility:Eliminator Intelligent Charger

why not just hook it direct to the charger, just turn on the charger when when you wanna use it.

algar] wrote:

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was thinking of a trickle charger, but I was a little worried that it wouldn't keep the battery charged enough when the stereo is in heavy use.

I'm looking at this charger as a possibility:Eliminator Intelligent Charger

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It won't. It's the SAME issue as not having enough alternator. You WILL have to be judicious in your use of the system. To get a large charger will be expensive.

glass22 wrote:

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why not just hook it direct to the charger, just turn on the charger when when you wanna use it.

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Because that's the SAME issue as the Astron power supply route... There is no way you'll be able to come up with a 100A battery charger forany kind of "little" money, AND they are not regulated or filtered. That's a bad idea, overall. Think about it... How much stereo system could you run from a 3A power supply?

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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."

true, did not really think that much into it.  I use a HAM Radio power supply, pyrmid i think.  mainly for testing equipment though.

Thanks for your input thus far, it's much appreciated.

I found a power converter within my budget and I just want your input on whether or not it will be enough.

Here is the link to the unit.

Here are the specs: Output Specifications:
Output Voltage:     12 Volts DC
Min Current:     0 Amps
Max Current:     83.3 Amps
Power:     999.6 Watts
Input Specifications:
Input Voltage:     90~132VAC / 180~264VAC, selectable by switch

Based on my equipment, will that be a reasonable choice?

Thanks again!

That should very well do it. You could always look at your fuses and add them all up, dont forget your radio, and compsre that to the specs of the converter. Just my 2 cents

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Jayce

i actually just did this the other day...except what i used was an unused computer power supply i had laying around. Using a computer power supply can save you a lot of money, and the setup is EXTREMELY simple. All you have to do is pick any one of the cables leading out from the main PSU and cut off the molex connector. Then, wire the +12v(yellow) to the + on the amp. Then connect all of the black wires of the cable you chose to the ground connection of the amplifier. Next run a wire from the +12v on the amplifier to the rem wire connection on the amplifier (so it will turn on when the power supply is turned on). Lastly, on the main cable running from the power supply (the one with the 20 or 24 pin molex connector at the end), connect the green wire from that connector, to any of the black wires in that connector (you don't even have to cut off the molex connector at the end, just stick a wire in the respective holes). That connection will ensure everything turns on when the power supply is plugged in.

To wire your deck to the power supply as well, connect the +12v (probably yellow)wire from the deck to any yellow wire from the power supply. Then connect the black ground wire from the deck to the black wire in the same set of wires as the yellow you just used for the +12v connection. Finally, connect the turn on wire from the deck (mine was red) to the same yellow wire that you connected the +12v deck wire too so that the deck will turn on once the power supply is plugged in.

After that, youre all done and can wire the rest of the setup as you normally would.