Thread: Opus unable stay running unless car is also running

You should be getting 12.7V with the engine off and the battery has been left to sit for over an hour. That is a fully charged battery. Is the 12.5V measured with the CarPC powered on? If not, maybe see what your voltage is when you turn on some accessories, lights, CarPC, etc... Voltage might not be a good indication of battery health. Sometimes the open terminal voltage on a battery might be 12.5V, but under the slightest load, it drops dramatically. That would be a sign of a bad battery, or bad alternator which isnt keeping the battery charged.

The battery is roughly 12.5V with the car off. The battery was just purchased new and installed last weekend, so the .2V it is off from a full charge could be due to it discharging slightly on the shelf or from the slight drains my carputer and car alarm pull when the car is turned off. I haven't driven the car since purchasing the batter because it needs new brakes.

With everything on in my car (carputer, radio, brights, etc), the voltage drops to around 11.85V. If I selectively turn things off and keep the carputer on, I can keep the voltage above 12V. Even with a constant supply of 12V, the Opus will start powering up, turn off, start back up, turn itself off again, and so on.

Can you lower the shutdown voltage threshold on the opus to like 10.5v? I know a lot of the newer ones have that option.

No, the shutdown voltage is fixed at 11V and my battery doesn't drop anywhere close to that threshold.

Assuming there isn't anything wrong with your power supply, you're suffering from a poor power connection. You're measuring sufficient voltage at the battery, which is good, but I think that you'll find a much lower voltage at the power supply itself. If so, clean up your power connections and make sure the wire you're using is sufficiently large to handle the current.

Originally Posted by Mears

I have an original 150w enclosed DC-DC Opus power supply powering my carputer. The PS's remote wire is fed by a three way toggle that allows me to switch among off, constant, and ignition. For the first few years I had the carputer, I was able to run my carputer with my car off (just using the battery). Within the last year or so, I started having a problem where if my car wasn't running, my system would begin powering up and then abruptly turn off. Likewise, if the system was already powered up and I switched the remote line to constant 12v and turned the car off, my Opus would send the shutdown signal.

More recently, it started having the same issue if my car was left idling. I checked the voltage at my battery while idling and it was less than 14V, so I just decided to replace it since it was getting old. With the new battery, I get 12.2V-12.5V with the engine off and >14V with the engine on and idling. It hasn't cut off while idling since I replaced the battery, but it still will not run correctly when the engine is off. It seems like my Opus now requires approximately 14V to operate. Anyone have any ideas what might be going on?

I have an opus 150psu, which I bought new three years ago. It started doing the same thing last year. It WOULD RESTART IF i CRANKED THE ENGINE. it would shut down when I didnt have the car running.I talked to opus about this problem, they said it hard to see the drop in volts even if you have a volt meter on the battery. Any small change could cause the shut down I was told by them. They dont make the 150psu anymore due to several problems they were having . there newer 180w psu is the one to get. Just go to www.opussolutions.com then go to direct buy, I think its $166.00 it has more options and a much better psu then the 150 is. I will be buying this psu soon.

they do not make the 150 anymore. Opus told me that they had problem with those power supplies, thats the reason they make the 180w now. It the same form factor as the 150psu. I just ordered the 180w psu today. cant wait to hook it up. no more speakers popping on start up! And no more crank reboots.

Is there any fix for this, short of purchsing a new power supply? I'm experiencing the exact same issues.

Originally Posted by BikeBoy24

Is there any fix for this, short of purchsing a new power supply? I'm experiencing the exact same issues.

You might be able to send it back to opus to have tech guy fix it (internal problem w/ psu). I just bought a new 180 watt psu by opus. It $165.00 plus shipping. www.opussolutions.com
They had a lot of problems with the opus 150 psu. better off getting a new one. restart problems are none more!