Wire a car stereo to a computer PSU

This is the second case i have made. i am going to teach you how to mod your old computer case into a stereo and wire a car stereo to a computer PSU.

Tools:
-wire cutters/strippers. (or just use a knife like how i did)
-needle nose pliers
-solder-less butt connectors (unless you plan to solder your wires)
-Computer PSU
-computer tower (or any other metal case)
-car stereo
-dremel or similar
-tape measure
-pop rivet gun
-paint
-time
-a speaker terminal
-a drill

optional:
lights, plexiglass, etc.


it would be nice to have a jigsaw, like this- http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00917235000P , so i can make an instructable for a speaker box

Step 1 Know your wiring

Wiring from PSU:
yellow____12v
red______5v
orange___3.3v
Black____ground

Wiring from stereo:
Red_____ign sitch
yellow___constant 12v
black____ground


VERY IMPORTANT!!!!!!! In order for your psu to work when not connected to the mother board, the green wire MUST be connected to any ground wire.

if you wish to add a switch to the PSU so you dont have to unplug it all the time,
-carefully take apart the psu.
-be careful not to touch the capacitors.
-cut the blue wire (positive), strip it, and add a butt connector to each end of the blue wire.
-then connect enough wire to extend to the switch (depending on where you put it).
-connect the wire to the switch. i used hot glue to keep the wires from touching each other on the switch.

MAKE SURE YOUR MAIN POWER CABLE IS UNPLUGGED. i flipped the breaker when adding in the switch.

Comments

[Kevanf1]

Well done, nice 'ible'. I would echo what others have said and suggest soldering the wires now that it is a permanent fixture, you'll get better conductivity that way. Have you considered putting a car stereo into a fully working PC? It shouldn't be too difficult and the stereo itself could go into a 5.25 bay possibly with a bespoke surround plate.

[severepb]

my teacher had the same idea of putting the stereo into a working pc. the last pc i had was built from scrap parts because i didnt have much money at all.

but also, one of the problems is that if the radio volume turns up too high, the PSU cuts power to prevent an overload. i wouldnt want that happening while browsing the web.

one optional way to fix that is a bigger PSU,

[Kevanf1]

Wow! I'm rather surprised that it was tripping out just by having the volume turned up. I'm sure I have read of someway of preventing this from happening possibly in another instructable. I shall certainly bare it in mind when (or if knowing me) I try this little mod :-)

Take care mate.

Kevan

[severepb]

let me know if you find out a way to bypass it.

thanks,

kevin

[benenarmor]

You could get a small 12v battery to connect to the constant/memory wire of the radio so you can save your settings.

[benenarmor]

Also, you can get a cheap soldering iron, and it is not difficult to solder. That would be better than hot-gluing the wires to keep them connected.

[severepb]

im sure that you could. but i would make a switch so that you dont have both the battery and psu powering the headunit, otherwise 12+12=24v. i would have to go test out a way for it to work.

also, i didnt solder for 2 reasons.
1. i was inside while wiring this. it was about 100 degrees farenheit in my garage.
2. i wanted to be able to just cut the wires and reconnect if needed.

[benenarmor]

The Constant/Memory (Yellow) wire of a radio while installed in a vehicle always has 12v going to it. When the car is on, or while it is off. Otherwise, your radio would lose the saved settings. When you have a 12v constant source going to the Constant/Memory (Yellow) wire, and a 12v switched source going to the Ignition (Red) wire, it will not overload the radio. The red wire just tells the radio to turn on and draw power from the yellow wire.

Alright, its your project, I was just saying soldering is the best way, but I guess it doesn't really matter.