Clownzer

Hey Guys,

I will be powering a MacMini off of a Carnetix 1900 and will need to power three 7" LCD panels. One being a touchscreen and the other two will be headrest mounted monitors.

Any ideas of how I should power all three? Will I need to run another PSU like he 1900 down?

Thanks

Clownzer

MP3Car.com

 

Clownzer

Any Ideas on this one?

golfguy

A Mac Mini specs out max continuous power at 110W from Apple's website. A Xenarc 700TSV is shown as <8W at Xenarc's website. A Lilliput is about 9W. A P1900 can put out 140W. So, assuming you have three screens and a Mini, you'll be almost to 140W. I would add one screen at a time and see what happens. You can always add another regulator if one of the screens pushes it too high.

__________________
Any day is a good day for golf.

Mazdaspeed6 Carputer Progress:
(Check Speedy's Install)
Purchase [*****] 100%
Design [*****] 100%
Install [*****] 100% (Stable for now...)

2k1Toaster

Monitors come with regulators. Xenarcs are inside the monitor, and lilliput is on the wire in the "egg". No need to power them off your PSU at all.

__________________

Clownzer

Then how would you suggest powering them? I really don't want to use DC to AC converters and have a power strip running off of one.

Thanks!

2k1Toaster

Just wire to the +12v from your car. That simple.

__________________

Clownzer

Duhh,

Awsome! Thanks again so like the computer I dont need to worry about the startup and shutdown "crank" issue. It wont blow all my LCDs out?

Thanks

h3rk

The LCD's have power supplies either in them or as part of the DC power cable (for the lilliput). The LCD's power supplies turn your car's unregulated 12V DC into the regulated voltages it needs, regulated +12V.
Computers need power supplies too. But until a few years ago, your only choice was an AC in power supply that among other things provided regulated +12V and +5V DC output to the motherboard and all of the other components that plug in with those white 4 wire molex connectors. Since your computer's parts need regulated power, you can't just plug it into the car's 12Volt system, and besides, what about the 5 Volts?

In short: Yes, you do need either an inverter and AC power supply, or a DC-DC power supply. I'm sure this stuff is in the FAQ somewhere, but it's not like I'm killing trees, I guess.

Clownzer

Ok great write up! By this last part you meant... in short yes COMPUTERS need the inverter or the DC-DC power supply since LCDs do NOT need them because it is already built in.

Correct?

Thanks again

h3rk

Yes.

Now with Lilliputs, some people have had problem with the "egg" regulator, so people have used 12V 'point of load' regulators. If you want, look them up in the forum with the search feature, and then in the store if you want one.

MP3Car.com