Is it possible to get a 13.5 volt AC adapter for car?

[StageLeft]

My car's stereo is absolutely dead and gosh darnit i'm just too cheap to get it replaced. I was thinking about rigging up some pathetic setup with computer speakers. I know I can get somethign to plug into the lighter allowing normal appliances to plug in but they start at $60, so if I can get a cigarette lighter attachment that puts out 13.5 volts I can go straight to the speakers. I have a feeling these all quit at around 6 volts though, right?

EDIT: Yes I just realized that a car battery is at 12 volts, so obviously this would need to include some extra electronics thust raising price

 

[FrogDog]

bump because he told me to.

 

[StageLeft]

<< bump because he told me to. >>

I could have done that myself!!

 

[FrogDog]

<<

<< bump because he told me to. >>

I could have done that myself!! >>

Oh sorry, master, did I not follow your instructions well enough? Cry me a river!

 

[cavemanmoron]

uh take a volt meter to your battery,when the engine is running it should be 13.3to 14.4 volts...........
if not then the alternator is not working properly

 

[Mungla]

From what I understand, you want to run DC-powered computer speakers from an accessory in your vehicle.

Do you know that your car's alternator outputs 13.8 (actually 14~) volts? Also, anything stated to run
at 13.8 volts will run perfectly fine on anything between 12 and 15.

 

[Tominator]

 

[StageLeft]

<< From what I understand, you want to run DC-powered computer speakers from an accessory in your vehicle.

Do you know that your car's alternator outputs 13.8 (actually 14~) volts? Also, anything stated to run
at 13.8 volts will run perfectly fine on anything between 12 and 15. >>

Yep you understand right. I found - for $40 - a 175 watt car adapter to run things directly into the car (like a mini tv for instance), but I also found those adatpers that do 3,6,9,12 volts (like for discmen), and these speakers take that. But I wonder would these computer speakers tax the battery too much?

 

[MajesticMoose]

what about one of those thingies that you plug into the cig lighter and get 120v ac. You could run comp speakers off that

m00se

 

[StageLeft]

<< what about one of those thingies that you plug into the cig lighter and get 120v ac. You could run comp speakers off that

m00se >>

Yeah - I saw that for $40 but it runs only 175 watts. they say that a "boom box" needs about 50, but my computer speakers I want to use also have a decent sub and I'm worried it would overdraw on the 175 watts (the 175 watt one for $40 is the lowest of the bunch...others go up to 800 watts). So if computer speakers + Sub are over 175 watts I want to know if a regular adatper that you plug into cigarette lighter would work (the ones that have the tiny circle end for discmans and the like).

 

[Jerboy]

<<

<< From what I understand, you want to run DC-powered computer speakers from an accessory in your vehicle.

Do you know that your car's alternator outputs 13.8 (actually 14~) volts? Also, anything stated to run
at 13.8 volts will run perfectly fine on anything between 12 and 15. >>

Yep you understand right. I found - for $40 - a 175 watt car adapter to run things directly into the car (like a mini tv for instance), but I also found those adatpers that do 3,6,9,12 volts (like for discmen), and these speakers take that. But I wonder would these computer speakers tax the battery too much? >>




Whats the rating on the original AC adapter? You can draw up to 15A from most cigarrette lighter socket. You can't calculate the current from speaker wattage because its usually waaaaay exaggerataged and doesn't correspond to real power consumption.

Car batteries are 12.6V fully charged and you won't go above that with the engine stopped. 13.8V with engine running and this is the voltage used by most power supply used to run auto accessories from mains such as car stereo display at Circuit City.