Opus PSU vs Relay

**meissenation** · 11-24-2004, 08:23 PM

I talked to my dad about all of this, who knows a lot about electronics, and he said "Duh, why not just use a relay that makes it so it will not have power given to the motherboard during engine crank?" He says the relay is what stops every electronic unit in the car from being damaged during crank and what not, so why not just use a relay to failsafe the electronics of the computer?

**Nic** · 11-25-2004, 01:01 AM

1) because then you have to restart the computer every time you crank the engine, pain in the *** if you stop for petrol etc. plus not a good idea to cut the power from a computer without shutting it down
2) because a relay dosent regulate the power, a car's electrics are around 12v when the car is off and around 14v when the car is on, your motherboard dosent like this
3) you still need some sort of dc-dc PSU AND the relay
4) a relay wont start the computer when you start the engine, and stop the computer when you leave the car
5)

**gospeed.racer** · 11-25-2004, 01:06 AM

The Opus is an all in one solution. A relay is just one small step in designing a system to do what the Opus does out of the box.

**Ricky327** · 11-25-2004, 08:07 AM

1,000s of members in here cant be all duhh.

We wish it was that simple to solve the problems

**Laidback** · 11-25-2004, 08:35 AM

Originally Posted by Ricky327

1,000s of members in here cant be all duhh.

We wish it was that simple to solve the problems

Dad's can learn as well!!

**Dominik** · 11-25-2004, 08:41 AM

The point of the opus is to maintain a steady 12v output at all times. Even when the battery is only putting out 7 volts (like when you are cranking your engine), the Opus keeps 12v out. The point isnt so much about 'protecting the motherboard'; its all about making sure the computer doesnt get shutdown when you dont want it to!

(although it *does* also protect the mobo from spikes - which is what your dad was talking about)

**samc** · 11-25-2004, 10:36 AM

Let me go grab my relay

.
Yeah it's not quite that simple.

**meissenation** · 11-25-2004, 11:44 AM

lol I knew it wasn't that simple, I just wanted to show him that. Thanks tho, I appreciate the reasons. Now I have an excuse to go with that Carnetix PSU and a new mobo.