My carputer project: Solaslim - Page 4

_maelstrom · 08-27-2003, 03:42 PM

Do you have your screen and your computer grounded in the same place? Did you ground the motherboard? I know alot of people on this forum recommend grounding your case, but neither of us have a case to ground so I'm thinking grounding the motherboard might help.

I know the static is a result of a power issue. When I have the pc hooked up to an extension cord running from my house, the screen is crystal clear. When I run the pc off the car battery, that's when the static appears.

I actually took out my cigarette lighter and replaced it with a switch and I've been using the lighter's 12V to power the computer. The screen was originally hooked up to the factory wiring, but I was advised by a local car stereo place to run a power wire directly from the battery to the screen to help solve another issue I had. (Whenever I turned the
volume up, the screen would flicker when there was a hard bass hit. Running the new wire didn't solve that problem either.) When I ran the wire for the deck, I also ran a wire directly from the battery to the switch for the PC. That didn't help either. I'm convinced it has something to do with grounding, but I'm not quite sure where to start to diagnose the problem.

I just got some new parts and will be redoing everything that has to do with the PC (along with taking out my Blaupunkt DVD player), so I'm hoping to resolve this issue in the process. Any advice you could give for wiring or anything else would be appreciated.

nthai · 08-28-2003, 04:35 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by _maelstrom

Do you have your screen and your computer grounded in the same place? Did you ground the motherboard? I know alot of people on this forum recommend grounding your case, but neither of us have a case to ground so I'm thinking grounding the motherboard might help.

I know the static is a result of a power issue. When I have the pc hooked up to an extension cord running from my house, the screen is crystal clear. When I run the pc off the car battery, that's when the static appears.

I actually took out my cigarette lighter and replaced it with a switch and I've been using the lighter's 12V to power the computer. The screen was originally hooked up to the factory wiring, but I was advised by a local car stereo place to run a power wire directly from the battery to the screen to help solve another issue I had. (Whenever I turned the
volume up, the screen would flicker when there was a hard bass hit. Running the new wire didn't solve that problem either.) When I ran the wire for the deck, I also ran a wire directly from the battery to the switch for the PC. That didn't help either. I'm convinced it has something to do with grounding, but I'm not quite sure where to start to diagnose the problem.

I just got some new parts and will be redoing everything that has to do with the PC (along with taking out my Blaupunkt DVD player), so I'm hoping to resolve this issue in the process. Any advice you could give for wiring or anything else would be appreciated.

wow, lots of question.

Let's see:

I grounded my screen behind the dash's area, and the computer to different the cig. light. I didn't ground the motherboard (how people do it?).
I've tried to power my screen directly from the battery (through the fuse, of course), but it didn't help much with the static at all. I never had problem with the volume like you did.
I might move my puter to the case and place it under the pass. seat in the future. Right now, it's kinda too hot in the glove box.

Please share with me once you got your problem solved. Thanks.

P.s. I'm just a beginner @ this carputer game, and still have a lots to learn.

Luna · 08-28-2003, 06:08 PM

Well I dont know as much about cars as I do about computers but I know alot about computers. Computers including TFT LCD screens are extremely sensitive to the quality of the electricity it is getting. You said it flickers when you get a heavy bass hit? How big are your subs how much power. You may want to consider wiring in a UPS to the cars electrics because that will prevent any kind of surges, prevent any kind of losses, and more or less condition the line . Once again computers - extremely sensitive to the QUALITY. btw I don't think its the grounding but anything is possible
Hope I was helpful

-Luna

Quote: Originally Posted by nthai

wow, lots of question.

Let's see:

I grounded my screen behind the dash's area, and the computer to different the cig. light. I didn't ground the motherboard (how people do it?).
I've tried to power my screen directly from the battery (through the fuse, of course), but it didn't help much with the static at all. I never had problem with the volume like you did.
I might move my puter to the case and place it under the pass. seat in the future. Right now, it's kinda too hot in the glove box.

Please share with me once you got your problem solved. Thanks.

P.s. I'm just a beginner @ this carputer game, and still have a lots to learn.

_maelstrom · 08-28-2003, 06:53 PM

Nthai,
Thanks again for the quick response. I have my glove box out right now to fit all the new parts. I was hoping to work on the wiring today, but it's raining and I don't have room in my garage to work on my car in there. Hopefully I'll have plenty of time this weekend. I'll definately let you know how things turn out and hopefully what I did to get everything working right.

Luna,
Thanks for the input.
I have 2 10" subs and a single 2 channel amp. The amp puts out 150W RMS per channel. The HU puts out something like 22W RMS per channel. The amp is wired directly to the battery with 4 gauge wire and a 40amp inline fuse.
I actually tried a UPS sometime last summer. It didn't help with the static or anything else. Would adding a 0.5 or 1.0 farad cap help?
The PC system has regulated 12V running to it. When the screen is on, I have it set up so it draws it's power directly from the battery instead of the factory wiring. Would it help to regulate the 12V running to the screen?

The thing that really bugs me about all this is I've had a computer in my car in some form or another for the last 4 years. This setup I'm running now is the only time I've ever had this kind of problem with static on the screen.

dummptyhummpty · 08-28-2003, 07:07 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by stkdidy ntshidy

a capacitor is used to level out the power consumption from the alternator. when a system (esp with high wattage subs) hits a loud note, it drains more power for a brief moment...a /\/\/\ kind of pattern is formed (graph of power consumption). a camacitor draws power from the alternator evenly and remains charged at all times when the system is turned on. when a big note is hit, the cap provides the extra punch to the amps instead of directly from the alt...thus it keeps the lights from dimming (as much at least) and allows a higher wattage system to be run off a lower output alt (eg a stock alt).

Just wondering but I have a 1250watt sub amp then my 200 something watt factory system. Is that enough to cause the lights to dim? I havn't noticed any thing.

Luna · 08-28-2003, 07:19 PM

I am really surprised the UPS didnt help at all are u sure it was drawing power from the UPS because there are ports on it that only provide surge protection and other stupid settings too.

Umm what kind of static exactly is it... ? flickering, audible static , distortion ? what ?

_maelstrom · 08-28-2003, 07:24 PM

Spaceboy,
The amp is something like 700W max and the HU is 180W max. When it's turned up it is enough to dim the lights.

Luna,
The UPS I tried was back when I was using a regular ATX power supply. The one I picked up had all the bells and whistles. Voltage regulation, line conditioning, battery backup, surge protection.....

I have to say I'm really impressed with the amount of help and advice being offered up. This is by far the best forum I've ever been on.

dummptyhummpty · 08-28-2003, 07:34 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by _maelstrom

Spaceboy,
The amp is something like 700W max and the HU is 180W max. When it's turned up it is enough to dim the lights.

Weird, haven't had that happen to me. If it happens, I know what to do. Also does any one know why my car thumps when I turn it off? I just added subs and the amp for them. Also nice install, I really want to do this now.

Luna · 08-28-2003, 07:36 PM

LOL , I am new to this forum as of like 10 minutes ago and I like it alot too! , lol Have you tried a capacitor like someone else said? It might be drawing too much , does the "carputer" rebooted randomly or have you had to replace any toasted parts or any general instability, Because other components are also very sensitive to bad power, And if it was a good UPS then I am having trouble seeing why that might be happening, is the screen very close to anything magnetic / electromagnetic / microwave ?

Again what kind of static is it ?

nthai · 08-29-2003, 09:22 AM

_maelstrom,

My system has a 1 farat cap. Since we have the same computer set up, maybe the cap explain why my screen has minimal static comparing to your. Best of luck & success on your installation this weekend.

Spaceboy464,
The 1250watt sub amp you have is the total output or the RMS? What kind of sub do you have?
Currently, I have one 15" MTX Thunder8000 which gets about 250 RMS watts, and my lights are never dimmed. It must have been the capacitor.
Anyway, about your question "Also does any one know why my car thumps when I turn it off?"
I guess it could be the grounding point. Maybe you could try to ground the amp to a different spot on your car's chasis.

Luna,
Welcome to the forum. I, mysefl, enjoy this forum a lot too.

_maelstrom · 08-29-2003, 06:57 PM

Luna,
The static is horizontal lines that scroll across the screen. And then like I said before, the screen flickers when the volumes up and there's a hard bass hit. The thing is the static only appears when the screen is showing one of the aux inputs. When the standard FM tuner is on the display, there's no static whatsoever. At first I thought it was a problem with the A/V box that has all the aux inputs on it. But everything is clear when the PC is running off power from my house. The problems only arise when the PC is running off the car's power.

dummptyhummpty · 08-29-2003, 07:40 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by nthai

Spaceboy464,
The 1250watt sub amp you have is the total output or the RMS? What kind of sub do you have?
Currently, I have one 15" MTX Thunder8000 which gets about 250 RMS watts, and my lights are never dimmed. It must have been the capacitor.
Anyway, about your question "Also does any one know why my car thumps when I turn it off?"
I guess it could be the grounding point. Maybe you could try to ground the amp to a different spot on your car's chasis.

Here is the info strait from the site:
Max Power (1 ohm) : 1250w x 1
RMS Power (2 ohms) : 750w x 1
RMS Power (4 Ohms) : 400w x 1
The amp and subs (2 10s) are both Planet Audio. I did not hook the subs up, I had a shop do it. I will be going over there today so should I have them fix it? I told them and they said it was normal...my friend says other wise.

acornstu · 10-28-2003, 03:43 PM

just cut the stuff out that isn't important and mdf and fiberglass a bigger pod if you got the room like me it's easy if not then i dunno

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