BigBadJohn

iTrader: (4)

Iv got 500 feet of wire coming to me for making a bunch of iPod kits and about 100 headphone jacks as well. Just found the exact model of headphone jack that came in my kits so I might order 100 of them as well

Anyway, I just built a power supply out a PC power supply. I think it can handle up to peak of 8 amps. And mounted stock delco speakers to a piece of plywood. Front and back

Just wired the speakers to both a pre '89 and '89+ harnesses in a Y so I can test both kinds of radios.
Got a queastion though.
Okay, Ive got 5 of the 13 wires left
Colors are:

Orange
Brown

Tan
Black
Yellow

What are these wires for?

Im really not sure on the plug that the orange and brown wires are connected to.

I need some help. Have to figure out a way to run these on my work bench or I cant work on figuring this iPod kit out for you guys.

If I can do it, I may be able to sell these kits to you guys on the cheap.

Jboat87

Here's one diagram I found...

BigBadJohn

iTrader: (4)

Already have a Haynes manual but Im not sure of the brown wire labeled as "lights dimming"

If I wanted to power the radio on a bench top would I take the yellow, orange and grey and twist them together and hook them up to +12v and then hook the black to -12v?
If not then what would I do with each wire?
Whats the light dimming wire for and what kind of signal/voltage is sent on here? Whats its purpose?

92RS_Ttop

iTrader: (3)

In order to power it on a bench, you would need to connect a 10 Amp inline fuse to the Yellow wire, and a 20 Amp inline fuse to the Orange wire. Then you can twist them together and connect them to one of the Red wires from the PC Power Supply. The Black wire on the radio's harness would then be connected to one of the Black wires on the power supply. I'm pretty sure that you're going to need more than 8 amps of output from your power supply. How did you wire it into your test bed? What is the amp rating on the 12V rail on the power supply? Are you using a factory radio or an aftermarket radio? Aftermarket radios will require more amps than a factory radio. You can run a car stereo off of a PC power supply no problem, but you have to make sure that the PC power supply can provide enough power, otherwise you risk burning up the power supply and possibly causing a fire. Is there a fan on the power supply?

Your brown wire sends voltage to the radio when the parking lights or headlights are turned on. This voltage signal is what tells the radio to dim the display. It's not needed for your test bed to function correctly. You can leave it disconnected and just cap it.

BigBadJohn

iTrader: (4)

The cross-compare chart on the power supply states 8 amp peak at 12 volts.
Yes theres the stock fan on the back. I also dremeled notches and put another smaller fan on top
Ive got everything separate so its kind of modular. The PC power supply is self contained with banana jacks on top for +12, -12, common; then +5v, -5v, common
Ive got a couple sets of alligator clips with banana jacks and junper wires
I got the front and rear speakers out of third gen camaros in the junkyard and mounted them to an "L" shaped board with the 6x9's on the bottom horizontally and the 4x6's at the top vertically. I have the wires spliced to the same corresponding colors on the radio plugs and twisted both harnesses together with the speaker wires so it forms a "Y"
That way I can use either the pre '89 radios or '89+ radios

Im going to be testing the delco style radios that went in our camaros. Ive got like 8 equalizer radios, one am/fm and then an older 70s radio from an old chevy pickup. Not gonna be testing any high amp aftermarket stuff just stock delco radios since this is the only radio I know for sure the iPod kit will work with

Let me get this straight:

Orange - Has a 20 amp fuse twisted together with the yellow wire and ran to +12v
Brown - Is not connected to anything
Grey - Is connected to +12v?
Black - Connected to -12v
Yellow - Has 10 amp fuse twisted togather with orange wire and ran to +12v


Heres my PS

92RS_Ttop

iTrader: (3)

The gray wire would not be connected to anything. It helps control the brightness of the displays as well and shouldn't be needed. The black wire goes to the 12V common(ground) on the power supply, NOT the -12V. The -12V rail on a PC power supply actually puts out a negative 12V(or reversed polarity 12V, however you want to look at it) and will probably burn out the radio if you connect the radio's ground wire to it. The yellow and orange wires are correct, as long as the fuses are placed between the radio and where you splice them together.


Power supply looks good. Did you have any problems with tucking everything inside for the connectors? What did you do with the rest of the wires, just cut them off the board? I have been planning on setting one up for this kind of thing, but it's pretty far down on my to-do list.

BigBadJohn

iTrader: (4)

I dont even know what the hell I was thinking
I was thinking black/common but I typed -12v

But if I wanted the lamps to run in the radio wouldnt I need to put 12v into the grey wire?

Thanks.
I just desoldered all the excess wires and yanked them out.
There was some extra space in the case inbetweeen and above the heat sinks. I had to think out where I placed my connectors so they wouldnt be near anything and short it out

Only problem I have with it is I cant turn it on with a load already applied to it. I have to turn the supply on and then wire it up or else it will short out. When it shorts out I have to unplug it, and then turn PS on til the power is drained. Then plug back in and turn back on.
I dont know if my PS will be able to handle the load.

Its only 150-200 watts IIRC. I found some 600 watt supplies on ebay for like $35 shipped that have a peak amperage of 24A @ 12VDC. Might look into that.
Also, Hobby Lobby sells 20A @ 12V supplies for charging up multiple batteries at once. Theyre like $60

Theres also so 20A @12V supply on ebay for $67 + shipping. Brand name is Pyramid

92RS_Ttop

iTrader: (3)

Yes, if you want the lights to work in the radio, you would need +12V into the gray wire. If you want them to dim, like they do when the car's lights are on, then you would use the brown wire, although I can't remember for certain if that is supposed to go to ground, or +12V.

You should be able to turn the PS on with everything connected, that is what it is used to in a computer. What does the red switch on top do? If it's wired the way I'm assuming, you should be able to turn the black switch on back off, connect everything up, then turn on the red switch and have your radio power up. If the PS is shorting at that point, the radio is probably trying to pull too much current at once and the PS hasn't charged the caps yet = need a bigger PS.

That Pyramid one doesn't sound too bad, depending on the wattage. I usually get my computer parts from newegg.com though, they have great prices and really fast shipping. Just a word of caution, I'd be careful of the ones on Ebay, especially the high wattage/ridiculously low price ones. They tend to be either really cheaply made, or way overrated. The easiest way to check is to add up all the wattages for the +12V, +5V, and +3.3V rails and see if the total is WAY over the rated wattage for the PS. I've seen them off by as much as 300 watts.

BigBadJohn

iTrader: (4)

This Rosewill (IIRC< Rosewill is Newegg's house brand) is only $20 plus $7 shipping. Its 580 watts and can supply 25 amps at 12V. Its Neweggs cheapest 500-600 watt PS and can handle more than even the overload protection for the radio
If youre interested in it for yourself:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817709011

The PS I have right now is from forever ago (thus the low watt rating). My brother got the PC free from the highschool when they upgraded. Actually, I think I remember using those PC's 4-8 years ago when I was in highschool

92RS_Ttop

iTrader: (3)

Actually, that's about the same spec as the one I have been running for the last year and a half or so. I wish it had been that price at the time, but that's the way computer components go. It's been a great PS for me, no voltage fluctuations(at least not enough to worry about) or heat issues in my pc(overclocked with 4 hard drives). Although, the nice thing about the one you have is that if it dies, your not really out anything.