Need Help Wiring Power To Touchscreen(Newbie)

**BIGGKATT01** · 09-10-2007, 05:40 PM

Hello all I am doing my first install, so I am new at all of this. I am in the planning stage but I have purchased my first piece today ( 1.33ghz Intel D201GLY, M2-ATX, 512 RAM) I am trying to make the decision on what kind of touchscreen to go with I have a 2004 dodge durango slt with the regular radio but the durangos also come with a model that already has a nav unit in the dash so that bezel will also fit my vehicle. what I am asking is how would i go about wiring the touchscreen to the power wiring already in my dash, I have been searching the forums for about a week in a half now and I cant find clear enough directions on how to do this. What wire to splice and so on. could someone please assist me with this. I am leaning toward a liliput 7" screen but people are leaning me toward a flip out touchscreen because the wiring is easier but i would like to put a screen in that is not a flip out. thanx for any help I can get

**nst6563** · 09-10-2007, 06:07 PM

I'd recommend powering the screen from the same psu that runs the pc. This should be (somewhat)cleaner and more stable power than what runs through the rest of the vehicle. I noticed a LOT less screen noise/interference once I powered my lilliput from the Opus150 instead of the vehicle's power.

**BIGGKATT01** · 09-10-2007, 06:56 PM

Thanx for your advice, what i need to know is most of the touchscreens out there just like the one I am looking into use a cigarette style power cable so that means i would have to cut the end off and splice wires correct? but what connections do i make or is there somewhere to buy a connector that is already spliced and just connect.

**nst6563** · 09-10-2007, 08:17 PM

what you could do instead of sacrificing the stock cable, is take it to radio shack or another electronics store and see if they have the barrel connector of the same size. Then just make your own, 12v center positive cable to use. I sacrificed the cigarette lighter cable (as I had a spare that would fit) since it was easier and it was around 100+ degrees outside and I didn't want to leave the garage just for that

I don't know the size of the barrel connector, but you could also order the stuff you need from someplace online like Mouser if you're willing to wait for delivery. You could get it all there I think, connector, wire, molex connector, and any other misc pieces. Digikey is a good place too, but if you order less than $20 or something they smack you with a 'handling fee' or some crap.

**BIGGKATT01** · 09-10-2007, 09:07 PM

Thanx again for the advice it is very trully needed since i am new at this is there anywhere that i can find the details with instructions on when you cut the wire how it should be wired . i know when i cut there should be a hot (power) wire and i suspect a ground but are there any power limits that i should be concerned about.

**nst6563** · 09-10-2007, 10:33 PM

This is where a multimeter would come in handy. If you don't have one, I would suggest getting one, even a cheap one will suffice (as long as it reads AC/DC voltage and continuity you should be set). The hot wire will be the center of the barrel connector, the ground will be the outter portion. I do believe that the actual wires are marked so that you can easily tell which is what (look for white dashes on one of the wires. I think this is the 'hot' or positive wire, the other is ground - but check with a meter before doing final connections). The hot (center of barrel connector) should go to a 12v source, and ground should go to ground (obviously

) - preferably the same source you got the 12v (otherwise you can introduce unwanted electrical noise or voltage variations).

**Bugbyte** · 09-11-2007, 12:41 AM

Find someone to help you with this. This is fairly basic wiring stuff that can be figured out if you have just a little experience. Trouble is, you don't have any and you need help.

Is there anyone you can ask to assist you? You are going to need a multimeter to figure out which wires are hot, which are ground, and which are switched. If this sounds confusing already, you'll need some help. Also, do you know how you will go about splicing the wire?

Also, look for the wiring diagram for your car. There are some links in the FAQs to car wiring sites and your car radio will sometimes have the pin outs listed on it. Otherwise, the manufacturer's manual will have them.

A good site for basic info is the12volt.com

**BIGGKATT01** · 09-11-2007, 01:06 AM

Thanx for all the help but i dont have any help with this that is why i'm getting the best advice that i can from the good folks here. i would like to do this myself and learn because after i do my truck the mrs wants me to do her van an when i made the decision on putting a pc in my truck my kids thought the idea was cool and they want it in there vehicles to so i am looking to do at least three more vehicles after my own. so i figure if i get mine in fine i can do the rest of the family. well getting back on topic a can get a volt meter thats no problem but my plans were to get a wire harness for my truck and use that to wire into because i know i have to get a second amp to run my speakers so i will run the rca wires to the amp the speaker wires to the dash with the harnes and wire the screen into there to power that was my plan when i read the threads on here and mapped everything out so how does that sound

**nst6563** · 09-11-2007, 05:27 PM

A power distribution block wouldn't be a bad idea, however if you'll be powering the devices on that block from the psu powering the pc, you'll need to account for the power load of each device as you don't want to overload the psu.

I found in my install that if I used the 12v source from the vehicle I got noise and interference in the system. Once I switched it all to use the Opus150 that's powering the PC, the noise and interference went away (mostly...need to shield my cable runs from the back to the front.)

Definately get a multimeter. Don't need to go overboard, but don't cheap out on it either.

Once you have the meter, check the continuity of the plug and wires. The center of the barrel connectors are usually the positive (hot) wire.

The FAQ's are usually very informative and you certainly can't go wrong reading them. They helped me immensely a couple years ago when we put a pc in my friends mustang (which ironically... now he has a lexus and I have his PC

)

**Bugbyte** · 09-12-2007, 08:01 AM

Nothing wrong with learning, just be prepared for it to take awhile and have one or two setbacks.

If you learn how to use a multimeter, you can figure out so much stuff on your own. Get one at Radio Shock and learn to do the following with it:

1. Continuity testing. This is where you can use the meter to confirm that one wire connects to another. VERY useful when, for example, you are trying to figure out if your ground wire has a good connection to the car chassis. One lead on your ground wire, the other to a bare metal spot on the car, and you can confirm the ground is good. The meters that make a beep sound when checking continuity are great for this.

2. Test DC voltage. This will let you figure out if there is voltage on a wire when the car is off, that is, it is 'hot' all the time. You can also confirm that a particular wire is only hot when the ignition is on and then goes cold when you take the keys out.

Those two skills are practically all you need. If you wire the power direct from your battery (watch the Car PC 101 video in the FAQs to see how to do this), it will simplify things a LOT rather than trying to figure out the wiring in the car.

BTW, there is a difference between the AC and DC voltage measuring settings on the meter. Make sure you understand the difference. If you do, you can use your meter to keep from frying yourself when you change a lightswitch or a fixture in your house by checking to see if there is power on it before you touch it. Meters are very useful and easy to use once you figure them out.