Powering my carpc (newbie needs help)

**Armstrong** · 06-26-2006, 06:32 AM

Hi guys newbie here

I am trying to work on a car pc for my 1995 Alfa Romeo 155 TS Super. I'm deciding to use a low power pc, probobly a Pentium 3 500 mhz one hooked ip on a 300 watt power supply and connect it to a 750 watt inverter. The problem is, a few years back, I tried installing an aftermarket car alarm, an amp, and a woofer to my car. The car ran ok for a few months but after that, problems just came one after the other. The biggest problem was the ECU got really messed up that it wouldn't receive any codes from the keyes anymore and it won't start. It took me almost two months and about $1500 to get a replacement ECU from the dealer. So I removed the car alarm, the amp and the woofer and everything runs fine until now. Because of this, I'm afraid that if I hook up this car pc directly to the car battery, it would mess up my ECU again.

Anyone have experience on this car? Theoretically, should hooking this rig directly to the car battery give any problems? If I hook this up on a second battery, how much time will the battery be able to run the computer?

Thanks in advance

Sincerely,
Kevin

**xenarc29** · 06-26-2006, 08:51 AM

It's unlikely that the AMP and subwoofer caused your ECU to die... particularly if it was hooked up directly to the battery. STAY AWAY for power inverters!!! That is a sorry way to hook things up. First of all, the power requirements of that big inverter will exceed the power requirements of the PC. Second, it will inject unwanted thermal noise into your system and give you a perfect receipe for static on your screen, that will be impossible to get rid of. Stick with DC-DC components all the way through your system. I'm assuming your using an old 300watt power supply from an old desktop PC. Spend the extra money and get the proper power supply. 300 watts is huge for the average car PC... Remember, we're not up to running super computers in cars yet... If your trying to run an old desktop in your car... Bad choice... That's asking for trouble because of the power requirements. I've done a million installs for many different applications. Say with DC-DC components... Stuff meant to be in cars. I wouldn't worry too much about second batteries and stuff for your small system. It's not necessary. If your looking for extra long run time with a second battert, go with a deep cycle gell cell, and not a regular car battery. Regular car batteries are made for cranking your car and that's it.

-Patrick

**Tibby93** · 06-26-2006, 11:51 AM

Originally Posted by xenarc29

It's unlikely that the AMP and subwoofer caused your ECU to die... particularly if it was hooked up directly to the battery. STAY AWAY for power inverters!!! That is a sorry way to hook things up. First of all, the power requirements of that big inverter will exceed the power requirements of the PC. Second, it will inject unwanted thermal noise into your system and give you a perfect receipe for static on your screen, that will be impossible to get rid of. Stick with DC-DC components all the way through your system. I'm assuming your using an old 300watt power supply from an old desktop PC. Spend the extra money and get the proper power supply. 300 watts is huge for the average car PC... Remember, we're not up to running super computers in cars yet... If your trying to run an old desktop in your car... Bad choice... That's asking for trouble because of the power requirements. I've done a million installs for many different applications. Say with DC-DC components... Stuff meant to be in cars. I wouldn't worry too much about second batteries and stuff for your small system. It's not necessary. If your looking for extra long run time with a second battert, go with a deep cycle gell cell, and not a regular car battery. Regular car batteries are made for cranking your car and that's it.

-Patrick

Well... Hmmm.... Im convinved. Well said Pat!