Thread: 2006 F-250 PSD-Dell SX270

Equipment:

2006 Ford F-250 CrewCab Lariot Diesel 4x4
FRD04-AUX Auxillary Input Adapter by P.I.E.
Dell Optiplex SX270 2.4 P4, 1GB RAM, 1x20GB HD, 1x40GB HD Module, CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive Module
Small USB Keyboard, Mouse, D-Link Bluetooth dongle. DeLorme GPS, Dell 1470 WLAN adapter. USB HUB, etc...

The PC


Started off with a test. Since the SX270 has an external power brick, and that power brick is rated for 12VDC, 12,5A, can the system handle the fluxuations of the car's alternator? I hacked off the end of one of the power supplies I got from e-bay, and took the power brick apart. the circuit board was clearly labeled. V0, GND, and REMOTE. V0 had the red and brown wires to it, the GND had white and black wires to it, and the REMOTE had green and yellow wires to it. I noted that the LED on the power supply only comes on when connected to the system. I tried the following: RED and BROWN wire to POS, BLACK and WHITE wires to Ground.


The result was that the PC powered up. Great. power works. so I hauled my flat panel to the truck with an inverter, and powered it up... works. started the truck, powered down during cranking. No problem... don't need it on during cranking anyway... powered it back up with the truck running... no problems seen. so I decided to try the FM Modulator to see if we had any system noise. it was clean... no hum or whine. I drove it for a week with the PC on the floor of the truck. and decided that it could handle the voltage fluctuations while playing MP3's, and GPS functions.

My next step was to mount the PC. I ordered a Wall plate from E-bay for that system, and located my 2nd best mounting location. (I wanted to go under the seat, but the system was a bit too thick for that) so I went below the glove box. I also painted the system and the wall bracket, and bolted it using existing holes in the glove box (modified the wall bracket with new holes)



Next was the wiring...

I run 2 leads. 1 (red wire) to the positive terminal of the battery (through a fuse holder), the 2nd (black wire) near the battery where a ground wire bolts to the sidewall.



Then I wired the power cord to the cables I run through the firewall.



I have the PC powering up, and I have placed the USB WLAN, GPS, the PIE adapter all behind the dash, The GPS and WLAN are sitting on top of the factory head unit, and work fine there. the PIE unit is behind the 4WD switch, and the cables run down to the PC.

I still have a lot to do. and will update this thread as I go...