4-5A 12v DC Supply

[chrisbyrd]

Hi All

Not sure if this is the best place to ask this, but its worth a shot!

I used to have a 'car pc' in my car, which ran off the car's 12v (or whatever it is) supply, but its since been removed and I've found a use for it in the house (dont ask!)

The only trouble is, I'm having trouble finding a 4A 12v DC supply\adapter to power it from the mains in the house

Any pointers for where to look?

I'm going to double check that it actually needs as much as 4A (which seems quite a lot to me), but i'm pretty sure thats right

Ta

 

[davelx]

Maplin.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?ITAG=SPEC&ModuleNo=48517&doy=1m6#spec

or one of these if you want something meatier (13.8V will be fine as that is the charged voltage of a car battery):

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?MenuNo=11910&MenuName=Bench+Power+Supplies&FromMenu=y&doy=1m6

 

[Spark123]

These any good? CPC. (Copy and paste the codes to the search at the top.)

 

[Adam_151]

4A @ 12v is only 48w ...


Such devices are readily available ( http://www.rapidonline.com/producti...t+DC+regulated++power+supplies&moduleno=77155 ) as there is quite a big market for them among ham radio users amongst others

 

[chrisbyrd]

ah, easier than i thought!

perfect, thanks guys

 

[breezer]

whatabout an powersupply from a desktop? last one i got was a fiver

 

[chrisbyrd]

yeah, I wondered that

it'd be too big though

the nice little car-pc case i've got isnt alot bigger than a standard ATX PSU anyway, so it'd kinda defeat the point

 

[ColJack]

I built my own.. made it into a UPS too..

150 VA transformer, bridge rectifier, big heatsinc, 2 big capacitors for smoothing..
powering / charging 2 4.7AH 12V batteries ( kind found in large fire alarm panels..)

all this so that i can run a car stereo on my trolley at work and charge it overnight..

 

[nozspark]

You should realy have a voltage regulator in that circuit aswell, you should not rely on primary/secondary ratios for this!

 

[chrisbyrd]

Bought the 7A version of http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=XM21X&DOY=2m6 today

works perfectly - does exactly what i wanted

thanks again

 

[ColJack]

don't need a voltage regulator...
the equipment is voltage tolerant as it's automotive equipment and the voltage of your car can vary from about 10V up to 13.8V

the open circuit voltage of the set up without the batteries is about 14.2V, and drops to a steady 12.7 volts with the batteries connected..