Complete the wiring schematic for my car pc. Suggestions? Comments?

**imprezive one** · 01-01-2005, 02:03 PM

Hey guys, I have all the components for my PC ready to go so I put together a little wiring schematic last night to make sure everything is solid. Do you guys see anything wrong with this?

Any suggestions to make it better? Thanks.

Car PC

Oh, and happy new year!

**imprezive one** · 01-01-2005, 02:16 PM

I read up a little more on wiring up power and have decided that I'm going to run one fused heavy gauge wire off the positive terminal on the battery, run that to a fused 3-way distribution block and then distribute power that way.

The Xenarc will still be powered off the cigarette lighter.

Question: How would I go about determining the correct fuse size for the fuses on the battery to distribution block wire, and for the individual fuses in the distribution block itself?

Total number of fuses needed (I think) = 5
1. Positive to distribution block - size?
2. distribution block to OPUS - size?
3. distrubtion block to 100w x1 subwoofer amplifier - size?
4. distribution block to 55w x 4 speaker amplifier - size?

Little help? Thanks.

**Craig W** · 01-01-2005, 04:10 PM

one thing i personally would change is power the screen off the power supply of the computer instead of lighter adapter.

for me, i have an Opus 150 so i power everything with the Opus. one nice benefit is if i stop for gas or something, i can turn the engine off without stopping the computer and screen, then crank the engine and since the Opus can survive crank, the system doesn't miss a beat.

the one pain in the *** i noticed when plugging into the lighter adapter was when i turned the car off, it would always turn off.. plus all my video noise went away when i powered off the power supply.

Craig

**imprezive one** · 01-01-2005, 05:18 PM

Great suggestion, I never thought about that. Thanks a lot.

**Optikal** · 01-01-2005, 05:28 PM

Fuse sizes are determined by how much power you will be using. Add up the wattage of all the devices that will be drawing power from the wire you are going to fuse, divide it by 12V, and thats the current you will be drawing, you will want a fuse slightly higher than the peak current draw, say 10% or so.

**rando** · 01-01-2005, 07:05 PM

Fuses should be sized according to the current carrying capacity of your wiring. As long as your maximum power draw is less than your wiring can handle, you can use a lower rated fuse if you want. In some instances, picking the smallest possible fuse might provide a marginal benefit to prevent a failing device from further damaging itself. You should NEVER use a higher rated fuse.

Do some searching around the web. There are numerous sites that discuss proper wiring and fusing techniques. Www.the12volt.com is a good place to start.

**imprezive one** · 01-02-2005, 11:57 PM

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I revamped the whole thing and came up with this...

See anything wrong with it or anything that could be made better?

**BeaverWise** · 01-03-2005, 03:29 AM

Where is your computer power supply? Your diagram shows power going directly into your PC. Would I be correct in assuming your power supply is housed within the computer case?

**imprezive one** · 01-03-2005, 08:54 AM

Originally Posted by BeaverWise

Where is your computer power supply? Your diagram shows power going directly into your PC. Would I be correct in assuming your power supply is housed within the computer case?

Oh yeah, sorry for not clearing that up. The power supply is a 150W Opus which is secured inside of the case. You're correct.

**ramy_zohair** · 01-08-2005, 07:56 AM

Great setup (and diagram too) wats that connected to the PC, sub & amp. And the thing shown between the volume control and keyboard. Why don't u have GPS. U can also power it through OPUS if it needs external power source.

One Last question.... wat program did u use to draw the second diagram??