HELP No Power!!!!

R3l0ad · 01-12-2004, 10:52 PM

Alright so I just redesigned my carpc over the last month and built a new case for it. My previous carpc had an atx power supply w/ a 300W power inverter.... so I wanted a DC to DC solution. So I bought the PW-120 and the ITPS. Well I hooked everything up and I get no power. I know my wiring works because I put the power inverter on the power and ground and I get power from ther inverter... but now I need help. Here is my current power overview for the entire car.

As you can see its not that complicated and as I said I know it is working.

Here is the internal wiring diagram for the car pc... now I have the ignition wire actually running to the remote wire for my amp (temporarily)

So what am I doing wrong here guys??? I hope the diagrams are detailed enough.

Help guys.... I can't figure it out... maybe somebody else has had similar problems!!!

Thanks in advance

MikeH · 01-12-2004, 10:57 PM

R3

Quote:

I hooked everything up and I get no power

What are you measuring? Where are you measuring. ARE you measuring? Do you have a voltmeter? Can you walk along each point of your diagram and measure some voltage?

R3l0ad · 01-12-2004, 11:00 PM

Nope no voltometer. However when I hooked my 300W power inverter I did get power to it... but no I don't have one!! Any other ideas?

MikeH · 01-12-2004, 11:20 PM

Quote:

now I have the ignition wire actually running to the remote wire for my amp (temporarily)

What do you mean by this? You MUST hook the ingnition (ACC) wire to the ITPS or it won't provide a "turn-on" command to you mobo.

R3l0ad · 01-12-2004, 11:59 PM

The remote wire is a wire from the back of my HU that sends a signal to my amp telling my amp the car is on, so turn on. It acts the same as the ignition wire does... it sends a signal implying the car is on. Technically that should not be a required wire if you have a power button on the system itself as I do.

But despite what I think about the ignition wire... where can I find that wire in my car.. you have to understand I'm a freaking retard when it comes to cars... I can hook up a basic stero and amps and my carpc and so on, but when it comes down to finding a wire or what not I'm in the dark.

Altimat · 01-13-2004, 12:03 AM

If you don't have a meter get a test light at least. They're almost free. There should be some extra taps in your fusebox labeled Batt or Ignition. The Batt ones should be hot all the time, and the Ignition ones should be hot only when the ignition is on. If not, you'll have to test wires from your ignition switch with the test light.

R3l0ad · 01-13-2004, 12:09 AM

Thanks for the responses thus far but let me clarify something that may have been a little vague in the my initial post... I know that where the car pc is supposed to hook up... I have power.... I know that. I hooked up my old power inverter to the same +/- that the carpc hooks up to and it powers up no problem. I'm just wondering if maybe its my ITPS and PSU setup that is bad.... anybody here using the PW120/70/60 & ITPS.. and if so do you happen to have pics or diagrams of your setup?

Thanks again!!

MikeH · 01-13-2004, 12:24 AM

R3,

The ITPS will not work without the ignition wire connected to it. I suggest you find a way to tap into an ignition wire somewhere. Perhaps the one that feeds your HU? It should be red.

R3l0ad · 01-13-2004, 12:32 AM

Ok so I just tried something I am hoping is a good sign of a working ITPS, I could be wrong but tell me what you think here. I took the ITPS out of the system and hooked an LED up to the power output thats supposed to goto the PSU and then I hooked a 3V battery to the inputs... and I got some light... so to me that would indicate that the ITPS is at least outputting power.... I'll see what I can do about the ignition wire though!! Thanks for the help thus far!!!

R3l0ad · 01-13-2004, 01:35 AM

Well its not the ignition wire... I just ran a wire directly from the ignition wire connected to my hu and then reconnected it to my car pc and still nothing. I checked to make sure the fuse didn't blow. I am wondering if the psu got messed up or what not. Damn it I was hoping to get this thing running today!!! Well anybody have anymore ideas let me know cause I'm fresh out!!!

MikeH · 01-13-2004, 10:27 AM

Is your carpc chassis grounded? Per your diagram, this shouldn't be a problem, but you might give it a try. Also, if you put a 470 ohm resistor in series with your LED, you could use this as a crude voltmeter to check for 12v. It will only tell you that voltage is present, not what the actual voltage is. You should be able to probe various inputs & outputs of the ITPS & PSU to check for expected voltages.

NightHunter · 01-13-2004, 10:41 AM

YOur fuses should be labeled. Either onn the fuse box cover or next to the fuse it self. By a voltmeter from rat shack or walmart, $15.00 - Analog but gets the job doen. Worth it investment. And go from there.

MikeH · 01-13-2004, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Worth it investment

I couldn't agree more! If you guys are going to be building carpc's, you almost can not get by without some sort of volt/amp meter. Decent meters can be had from $15 up (mine is the $60 RadioShack). Indespensible in cases just like this one.

R3l0ad · 01-13-2004, 05:38 PM

Ok so I bought a multimeter today, and I tested the end of the circuit where the carpc hooks up. When the car is not running it only provides 12.9V (coming from the battery not the ignition wire). However when the car is running I get 14.41V. Should be enough for the ITPS to regulate the 12V needed for the PSU.

Also I tested the output of the ITPS and got nothing… maybe because I don’t have the right ignition wire hooked up so there for it won’t actually allow power to pass through… unless one or the other devices are defective.

I tried to measure the power coming from the ignition wire that is now hooked up the the ignition wire from my stereo and I get nothing. I use the frame of my car as the ground and it shows nothing when the car is on. Is that normal? Maybe I got the wrong wire for the ignition wire maybe.

The reason on I say that is that when the car pc is hooked up for power only... meaning the +/- and ignition and I hook the fuse up, my radio will turn on.

Here is a picture of my carpc how it currently hooked up w/out the lid on on it. This shows how the ITPS and PW120 are hooked up. Let me know if I did anything wrong!!

gospeed.racer · 01-13-2004, 05:46 PM

"I tried to measure the power coming from the ignition wire that is now hooked up the the ignition wire from my stereo and I get nothing"

I believe this is the key...no power from ignition= no turn on. You should have full battery power out of a turn on wire. It sounds like maybe you grabbed the wrong one somehow. Take the voltmeter and probe around for the correct ignition wire.