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Need a recommendation from a electrical engineer
#373438 - 01/26/18 07:24 AM
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So first off, this is my first post. I am not a electrical engineer nor am I the smartest personal in the world.
Good we got that out of the way,
My question really needs to be answered from a person who is qualified to speak on the matter I would like to discus.
I have taken a PC power supply, around 650 watts. I took the power supply apart, while it was unplugged. I identified the 12 volt rail leads, 5 volt rail leads, 3 volt positive, 3 volt negative, and ground leads. I soldered all respective voltages together. IE, all 12 volt leads together, 5 volt leads together, etc.
I am using the 12 volt rail to power a automotive amplifier and the 5 volt rail to power a led driver board.
My questions are,
1. Should I be concerned that I am using a pc power supply to power an automotive amplifier that is running two 6x9 speakers and a 10 inch sub. I do not have a capacitor in between the amp and sub. I know that when the sub draws power it is taking power directly from the pc power supply in large segmented hits. I am worried that I will cause a fire or a short that could cause a fire from the amp taxing the power supply
2. Should I place a capacitor in-line to the sub?
3. Is this a horrible idea and I am looking to cause a fire?
Thank you in advance.
Bryce
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| redk9258 |
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Regular
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Reged: 09/21/03
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Re: Need a recommendation from a electrical engineer
[Re: unknownclient]
#373482 - 01/27/18 08:01 PM
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Why on earth would you use a noisy switching PC power supply for a car audio amp? What are we trying to do here? Use car amp in a house? Why not just use home audio equipment designed for the task? BTW, car speakers will not sound good in a home environment.
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Re: Need a recommendation from a electrical engineer
[Re: redk9258]
#373515 - 01/29/18 02:00 AM
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This setup is for my arcade cabinet. Not for home audio use.
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Re: Need a recommendation from a electrical engineer
[Re: unknownclient]
#373519 - 01/29/18 08:47 AM
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Personally, I think a car audio amp is overkill for an arcade cabinet.
And using a PC power supply to power one seems like overkill as well.
There's lots of cheap amplifier boards that you can either power with a DC "wall wart" or by tapping power from a PC power supply molex connector. Here's a cheap amp for $8.50 on Amazon...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C4MT274
Here's another...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010LSAO5Q
There's lots of them around if you look.
You could also rip apart a cheap pair of PC speakers and make a PC speaker hack. Here's one that I did that is powered off a USB port...
http://mame.3feetunder.com/pcspeakerhack/
For your LED driver board, just tap off the power supply in your PC. You could even hack a USB cable as long as you don't need a lot of amps.
To tap power off a molex connector, buy a cheap molex to SATA adapter like this and cut the SATA end off...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UNC5ZE
If you feel like making it look fancy, you can use one of these "PCI power panel" things to bring the molex connectors outside the case through a PCI slot...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003L16ZOK
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| R. Belmont |
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Cuckoo for IGAvania
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Re: Need a recommendation from a electrical engineer
[Re: unknownclient]
#373564 - 01/31/18 05:43 PM
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> 3. Is this a horrible idea and I am looking to cause a fire?
Depending on the topology of the PSU, simply soldering all the same voltages together alone is likely inviting a fire.
You're better off simply pulling 5 and 12 volts from the PC in your cabinet. Any power supply from the last decade or so can give up to 150 watts to a video card through the 6 and 8 pin connectors, which oughta handle your audio fine.
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Re: Need a recommendation from a electrical engineer
[Re: R. Belmont]
#373973 - 02/15/18 07:22 PM
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> > 3. Is this a horrible idea and I am looking to cause a fire?
As an electrical engineer (BSEE, 1981) I will say this is a terrible idea. So many things could (and likely will) go wrong. SO much better off following previous ideas of just buying an inexpensive power supply designed to do what you want it to. There is no risk/reward in your "design", just risk. Even if it "works".
Edited by JB (02/15/18 07:23 PM)
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