05 Str8 Black XB

**Thrasher** · 12-08-2005, 11:35 PM

Originally Posted by vairu

i heard that you have to ground your mobo to your PSU. I'm in the same situation as you because my mobo is mounted to a piece of 1/2" MDF and my Opus PSU is laying outside of the MDF (on the flooroard for now). I need to run a ground wire from any stand-off (the little gold things that go between a case and a motherboard) to the case of the PSU. Try it and see if it helps man. Supposively a computer will do strange unexplained things when not grounded like this and i have to admit that my computer has done some random *** things.

What if you have an M1-atx that is screwed into stand-offs itself? Is it already properly grounded? I'm getting this weird noise that sounds like one of those old phones that use 'pulse' dialing instead of tone dialing. It happens in like bursts of 4. I can't figure it out, everything is grounded. I dont have a ground-loop isolator, though.

Sorry if I'm hijacking your thread, but I saw that information and wanted to reply to it.

**vairu** · 12-09-2005, 12:48 AM

what do you mean your m1 atx is screwed to the stand offs? Is it in between a stand off and the motherboard? I'm sorry i don't really understand what you're saying, if you could please take a pic and i'm sure i'll understand what your saying. (don't mean to sound rude it's just that i'm missunderstanding what you're saying, probably cause it's almost 1:00 am and i haven't slept in awhile ... lol)

**blackedoutxb** · 12-09-2005, 12:50 AM

naw dont worry about it. What is your mobo mounted to? Mine is mounted to this foam like stuff so my mobo wasnt grounded so i ran a speaker wire from one of the standoffs on the mobo to on of my screws on my psu. I then ran a wire from my psu to the chassis of the car and i grounded it.

**Thrasher** · 12-09-2005, 12:56 AM

I mean the psu and the mobo are both inside the computer case, both mounted to it with stand-offs. And the PSU is grounded in the same place my amp is grounded. Should I ground the standoff to my ground distribution block? I'm really confused.

**blackedoutxb** · 12-09-2005, 04:26 PM

hmm, i guess you could.

**vairu** · 12-09-2005, 04:41 PM

if it's all in a standard type case as in an everyday ATX case then the power supply "should" be grounded to the mobo. I only say this because every computer i've built and worked on (normal HOME desktop computers) has never had a wire running from the mobo to the PSU. My educated guess is that the mobo is bolted to the frame of the case via the standoffs and the PSU is bolted to that same frame so they are grounded to together.

Now you said you have the m1-atx? I'm not sure what it looks like but i'm assuming it's similar to the OPUS which is in a metal casing similar to a regular AC-DC PSU? They should be grounded together but i'd like to see a pic of your case before saying to not ground them. But with grounding i don't think there's anyway to have it too grounded so you probably should run that wire you asked about.

BlackedoutxB, i just wanted to share my view on inveters. I have a cheap $40 inverter (not sure of the output). The only thing i use/used it for was for my PS2 or laptops. Being that i'm going to HIN tommorow and i'm going to have a full car i figured i should hook the PS2 up just to have something else to do then look at GPS/music videos/music/windows crashing, etc.

Normally i don't have my inverter hooked up or running AT ALL with my CarPC.

So i have my inveter (plugged into the cig lighter) than my Liliput is plugged into a cig lighter outlet ON the inverter. The PS2 is the only thing else plugged into the inverter. Now for my audio i have a 1/8" male stereo connector running out from my CarPC's onboard sound card and the other end of the cable has 2 RCA connectors (red and white). These are plugged into an RCA audio 2 way spliter. So i have the 2 RCA's from my CarPC plugged into the splitter, one end of the splitter (male) runs to the back of my HU for the Aux input, the other end (female) has my PS2's 2 RCA audio connecters plugged into it. I don't have 2 inputs on my HU so i had to do it this way. So i have everything plugged in, i fire up my inverter (basically sitting directly below my liliput about 1ft. and about 10" away from my carPC under the seat) and the Lili's screen dims slightly and has "noise" all over it. On top of that, the little EQ graph (or MIDI graph w/e it is) on my head-unit stops functioning (i don't have any idea why) and i have a constant buzzing sound coming out of all my speakers (not loud but definitely there) and i can barely hear the sound my PS2 is outputting (buzzing overrides it). Even my CarPC's audio was barely hearable and the buzzing was still there with Just the inverter on, not the PS2.

Basically what i'm saying is having an Opus or similar DC-DC PSU is soooooo worth the money. I'm going to have to figure out something because i need to use the inverter in order to play my PS2. I think i need to run it directly to the battery and position the inverter as far from my PC, PS2, Liliput, HU (basically in the rear of the xB). And away from any cabling from my PC, i think that would stop the buzzing and noise on the screen (although it'll probably be there just less noticable).

Anyways just my .02

**blackedoutxb** · 12-10-2005, 11:06 AM

yeah you should have the inverter in the trunk or something and run a 8 guage or 4 whatever you want back there from the battery.

**racerx3165** · 12-10-2005, 02:18 PM

Ok i am thinking of getting a Scion Xb since my mustang is being such a pain, is there any reason you can think of why not to get one, most likely the CarPc for the Xb will be at least a year and a half away but the Stereo will go in ASAP. My wife thinks they are ugly and unreliable, i think it has its own apeal and its a Toyota and will run FOREVER. Figured id ask a few owners before i run out monday and get an 06 5 sp Plain old Xb.

**vairu** · 12-21-2005, 09:22 PM

I don't know why anyone would consider one unreliable. Mine's been great so far and i haven't heard any complaints from other owners. For the money you can't go wrong. It just depends on if you really want it or not. There's a lot of room to work with in them, but it's not going to be the fastest vehicle on the road anytime soon

**blackedoutxb** · 12-27-2005, 12:35 PM

This car is far from unreliable. It has lots of legroom and headspace. Like vairu said it is not that fast. You will save a ton of money on gas. It costs me around 22 dollars to fill up my tank and the tank will last me about 325-350 miles depending on how i drive. It is a great value and you can not go wrong if you purchase an xb.