Thread: Where to get 120v to 12v converter that handles 8A or so

As someone had suggested on another thread. Try getting one of those $40-$50 jump-packs.. Those should give you a bit of use.

I'm not sure what a jump pack is, but I purchased a 12V power supply that pumps out 20A for $45 on eBay about a month ago. I bought it to configure an Alpine ai-net system that I had just purchased. I was able to run four components (No Amplifiers) with out a problem. I use it for everything from testing custom LED configurations to car stereo diagnosis. I'm still researching this hobby right now, but you better believe I'm going to use it for that as well once I get started. If you're not against shopping on ebay, do a search for "12V power supply". I was able find a bunch that actually put out 20A. Hope that helps. Good luck.

If you can get one on e-bay thats great!!

But if you're like me you're impatient as hell and want it now now now. Just to go a local electronics place and ask for a 12v power supply or a variable power supply that can hold a high current. If you're having no luck with that option, go to a used electronics place and look for AC adaptors that have an output voltage of 12vdc and a high enough current output. Laptop AC adaptors specifically usually put out a lot of current and can be fairly inexpensive.(for example the one I have right now outputs 6A which should be enough for most car PCs). Even though it says 90W on the power supply your system most likely wont use that much power. I had my system hooked up to a variable power supply which showed how much current was being used and it the most current it used at any point in time was 4A(fyi i was using the M1-ATX 90W PS)

If it's for temporary use, go get a $30 battery and a charger from Wal-Mart.

Otherwise, the deal is Ebay. If, and that's IF you find one locally, it will likely cost 2 to 3 times the going price on ebay.

I just got a Pyramid 12v supply, the nice thing about it was a built in volt and amp meter, so I know exactly how much power my setup is getting.

I should also add, you don't want a 12 v supply, more like a 13 or 13.8 volt supply as it would more closely match your car.

Also don't use a computer power supply (learned the hard way) the voltage output tends to drop too much under load to be useful. mine dropped from 12v to 10.4v under load and caused me problems.

think this will do the trick? i found a 120v to 12v 6A converter made for powering portable thermo-coolers from wal-mart for $23.00. i only plan on using it long enough to load some programs and drivers and fix a few bugs with existing programs...
the only thing i will be running on it for now is the carputer with 90w opus, and the xenarc screen, mouse and keyboard.

Originally Posted by Tim97rs

think this will do the trick? i found a 120v to 12v 6A converter made for powering portable thermo-coolers from wal-mart for $23.00. i only plan on using it long enough to load some programs and drivers and fix a few bugs with existing programs...
the only thing i will be running on it for now is the carputer with 90w opus, and the xenarc screen, mouse and keyboard.

IMHO you are seriously over powering the 6a converter. Keep a volt meter on the supply as I think you'll find the voltage dropping as your load increases. That may cause you some problems, however, it may just work.

Originally Posted by Tim97rs

i need one to use with my opus 90w 12 pcb. all i can seem to find is 3a or less...

An ATX PSU!

I'd be careful with that setup and watch your voltage levels

OPUS keeps Rebooting my system

My ATX power supply dipped to 10 volts under load. The problem is an ATX supply is ment to be used loading both 5v and 12v, not loading both I think can cause a problem.

Well, so far so good, i had it up and running last night for about an hour or so, long enough to remove a couple of programs, run disk cleanup, and defrag. all without any problems. i will hook up a meter to it tonight and see what im putting out.