garage stereo

[awdblazer]

i have a garage stereo made with a computer power supply with a car stereo
can i also charge a battery with the power supply?
thanks

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Your question lacks needed info. What size and type of battery? What size in watts is the power supply? However, I don't think a computer power supply has the correct circuitry to properly charge a battery even though they both output DC electricity!

 

[awdblazer]

12v battery and i believe its 15-18Ah

 

[franksgiants]

Wow i never thought you can use a power supply as an inverter?Does it really work???

 

[awdblazer]

as a converter yes, inverter no
the power supply takes household 120vac and converts it to 3.3, 5 and -12 and +12 vdc

 

[wyliesdiesels]

What's the wattage or amp output of the power supply? Oh yeah and the other thing I forgot to mention is that when charging a battery, the charger has to output voltage that is slightly higher than the rated voltage of the battery. For instance, the alternator in your car outputs about 13.3v to 14.4v. So I doubt the power supply will work since it outputs 12v.

Wow i never thought you can use a power supply as an inverter? Does it really work???

He's not using the power supply as an inverter. Computer power supplies CONVERT and output DC electricity. An inverter INVERTS DC electricity to A/C such as an inverter you could use in your car to power A/C powered devices!

 

[skulldrinker]

Theoretically he could tap off the 12 and the 5 with a variable voltage divider and dial it down to 14v.

 

[awdblazer]

i believe its a 500w power supply
i am going to have to see what the power supply actually puts out
i might just have to wire a battery charger up

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Theoretically he could tap off the 12 and the 5 with a variable voltage divider and dial it down to 14v.

I don't think that will work cause the 2 voltage leads are not from the same rail, so they're not common with each other. Plus the polarity would be off(+ and +).

 

[Reverend Bow]

You may be interested in this:

http://www.ehow.com/how_8630185_convert-supply-run-car-radio.html

Also, Ham radio guys have been using Computer power supplies to run their equipment for quite a while...

it is a cheap way to get a 12V power supply that can pull some amps...

http://www.mark-rodgers.com/2009/06/convert-computer-power-supply-to-use.html

 

[The Frisco Kid]

That's pretty useful. I've got a few 12 VDC power supplies from work, but this is a good alternative for most folks!

 

[awdblazer]

btw thought I fried my power supply, all it was was the battery was discharged and wouldn't let the power supply fire up, that was with the battery in parallel with the power supply

 

[plow]

i have a garage stereo made with a computer power supply with a car stereo
can i also charge a battery with the power supply?
thanks

Nope.

 

[kamesama980]

Won't charge. a 12v lead acid battery actually sits at 12.6v fully charged. the computer power supply is regulated at 12.0v with fairly tight tolerance. you'll actually DISCHARGE a lead acid battery (and probably let the magic smoke out of something).

that being said, anything meant to run on automotive electrical 12v will work just fine on the power supply. I use them that way. The old AT power supplies are great due to having a big beefy physical switch to turn on/off.

*As long as it's under the total rating for the 12v rail. keep in mind the 500w is 500w from the wall, not out in DC the DC power available is also divided between the different voltages. IE if you had a 400w (provided) power supply, it'll be like 100w for 3.3v, 100w for 5v, 100w for +12v, 100w for -12v (or however it's divvied up, the % for each voltage rail is fixed). NOT 400w total to whichever rail needs it.