computer power supply for gerage system?

[JaM Customs aka mprete]

hey ive done a little research on the subject but couldnt get real clear answers on a couple things. first off has anyone done this? i was thinking of taking a computer power supply and hooking it to a head unit to give it its 12 volts. then hook up a couple speakers and put them in boxes and wolla.

my questions-

will a power supply last long inside a sealed box with only the fan that is on the unit itself? i was going to build a box to mount under a cabinet with 2 speakers and the HU in it.

what would you suggest to do? thanks

[JaM Customs aka mprete]

no body knows how to do this?

[Rebel4055]

The PSU needs to have room to breathe it can be put in box but it has to have good airflow going across.

Using a PSU to power a HU is fine to do.

[Katt]

Ive personally done this, Works great on a 400+ Watt PC Power Supply. You will need to connect or put a switch between i think the green wire and one of the 1230413 grounds on the 20+4 or just 20 pin harness. I maybe wrong on the green wire, but that's how i had one. There's a tutorial online on how to make one work, If that's all your doing is 2 speakers, and the headunit, You should be fine. If you wanna run an amp, That may be pushing it. If you want to, you'd be better off getting a heavy duty 12 power supply, and using that. But to answer your question. Yes.

Not sure on the airflow thing though.

Edited December 15, 2010 by Katt

[JaM Customs aka mprete]

ok cool, it would actually be 4 speakers, (if you saw that thread on the wal-mart deal on a pioneer hu and 4 speakers thats what i got). but the other 2 would be in a separate boxes mounted in the garage. and no amp. just something to listen to not anything like what steve has created... but actually i just thought of a different idea for the box that would work good with the power supply separate in the back with a couple little fans on it. i just thought a power supply would be cheaper then one of those 12v power supply things. thanks guys.

[bassl0va]

You could always get a ThermalTake PSU. They have single 12v channel models and don't cost all too much for such a great product. I have powered a class A/B 50.4 bridged into 2 4 ohm channels, the voltage barely dipped below 12v. The lowest I saw was 11.8v I think, that would certainly be enough for a HU.

[JaM Customs aka mprete]

actually i did some looking around and found a regular ac-dc power supply for like 30 bucks. im going to pick up one of those, its like the same price and i wont have to mess with switches or possibly burning anything up.

[Guest]

for a PSU, take all yellow wires and use them for 12v+ power, and take all adjacent black wires for ground (make sure same number of wires), take big harness, find a way to connect green wire to adjacent black wire. you're done.

[bassl0va]

actually i did some looking around and found a regular ac-dc power supply for like 30 bucks. im going to pick up one of those, its like the same price and i wont have to mess with switches or possibly burning anything up.

How many amps can this power supply...um...supply?

[JaM Customs aka mprete]

here is the power supply i will probably be using, http://www.frys.com/product/6366531?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG, but i built my box on google sketchup but i dont know how to add the file on here... if you want to see it tell me how and ill post it.. but do you think that PS would power an amp? im not planning on using one but maybe in the future...