Power Suppy wired to stock radio harness

**blk02si** · 02-06-2006, 09:50 PM

Well im getting close to installing my pc. I was wondering if I can wire the positive, negative, and acc line from the oem radio harness to an m2-atx. Will this draw too much current? My computer is a complete in dash bolt in, so the power supply will be right there. Ill have the aftermarket clip on the OEM harness with the speaker wires hooked up then ill have those three lines sitting right next to the P.S.. seems only natural to just hook 'em up. Plus my car does not shut down the radio when I take the key out. It shuts down the radio after i remove the key and then opening the door kills it. I would like to keep this power scheme. I know i could use the acc line and wire a relay to a direct line to the m2-atx but I think that it will be fine just hooking it up to the stock harness. Questions:

What gauge are you guys using to wire your power supplies?
Will running off the radio wiring will this cause unwanted noise in the speakers of anything?
Do you see any other proplems with wiring an m2-atx to a stock radio harness?

Thank you for any help / advise-

**blk02si** · 02-07-2006, 03:12 PM

Hrm I guess no one has ever tried this. 32 hits and no response. I guess I will be the pioneer and let everyone know the outcome. But yeah If anyone knows anything about wiring a OS like this please let me know.

**MobiTekLink** · 02-07-2006, 09:01 PM

Originally Posted by blk02si

Hrm I guess no one has ever tried this. 32 hits and no response. I guess I will be the pioneer and let everyone know the outcome. But yeah If anyone knows anything about wiring a OS like this please let me know.

If the distance is no more than a foot or so the latency loss shouldnt' be so great; you can always test it but I think you should be ok.
As for the noise, yeah that might be an issue, I would think that this is similar to a home setup; if you have a line that is not clean then the PSU will be taking all the hits and result in shortened lifespan. (?)
I think that most ppl like a separate more modular approach for better access; I dont really like the in-dash solution because of that.
Good luck

**blk02si** · 02-25-2006, 03:57 PM

Done, works perfect. No noise

**Z28CTYHNTR** · 03-01-2006, 02:22 PM

Thats pretty cool. I was going to hook up my M2 that way, I just read so many threads of people saying its better to hook directly to the battery. Of course, the way you did it is a hell of a lot easier, which is why I wanted to do mine that way too.

**Wiredwrx** · 03-01-2006, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by Z28CTYHNTR

Thats pretty cool. I was going to hook up my M2 that way, I just read so many threads of people saying its better to hook directly to the battery. Of course, the way you did it is a hell of a lot easier, which is why I wanted to do mine that way too.

I would check the fuse on the radio circuit to see what the car manufacturer felt was a safe amperage. Realize that circuits are protected for 150% of the load. While you may not have blew a fuse yet, you MAY be stressing the wiring to an unsafe level drawing too many amps. That is just something to keep in mind.

Michael

**blk02si** · 03-01-2006, 04:52 PM

Car Circuit Fuse = 20 amps

M2-atx max draw is 15 amps

Still working great, no issues. I would def. make sure that your circuit your tapping into is minimum 15 amps before you wire it this way.

-Js

**Z28CTYHNTR** · 03-01-2006, 05:34 PM

Yeah my radio Fuse is 15 amps, and then of course the M2 is 15 amps. You think thats good enough? Im gonna route the damn thing to the battery anyway, Im just asking out of curiosity.

**roadhog** · 03-01-2006, 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by Wiredwrx

I would check the fuse on the radio circuit to see what the car manufacturer felt was a safe amperage. Realize that circuits are protected for 150% of the load. While you may not have blew a fuse yet, you MAY be stressing the wiring to an unsafe level drawing too many amps. That is just something to keep in mind.

Michael

also I think you should use a regulator with the M2-ATX if you're not already doing so. Nice install you have - very OEM.

**blk02si** · 03-02-2006, 01:21 PM

As long as your circuit is rated for 15 amps you should be fine. If you pull more than 15 the fuse on the m2-atx will blow before the OEM fuse goes. My setup is not drawing anywhere near 15 amps though. I would estimate 5 amps max. My largest draw componet is the LCD screen which pulls 2.2 amps. I should also let you guys know that im running my 300 watt amplifier off of another dedicated 20 amp circuit that was orginally wired to a 12v outlet in the center console. So far Everything works awesome. When I did the install I checked after running a few hours for heat in the wiring but nothing, wires were room temp. I have no noise at all either which I guess can be attributed to the fact that all the OEM circuits are grounded at the same point elimanating the ground loop isolation problem. I guess I am lucky that my car has larger wiring and 20 amp circuits stock.