electrical help? convert AC to DC by replacing transformer? home stereo into truck.

[cstanley]

i picked up one of these iHome undercabinet ipod radios at sam's club the other day for a little less than $40. I would like to gut the e-tronics out and put them in the truck. it's very cool because it has a powered "drawer" that extends to hold an ipod (or my iphone, as you can see.) according to my measurements, this bit of drawer will fit perfectly in dash, where the ash tray resides. with a little tweaking and good adhesive, i think i can glue the front of the ash tray onto the end of the drawer, and it will disappear. depth is close, but it looks like it'll work.

all components are independent, so the display, control buttons, and drawer unit are all separate and can simply have extra wire length added to place them anywhere. very cool. it also has a very good remote control.

my question is, can i pull out/replace that power transformer to hopefully be able to have native DC power input? I don't want to run it off a power supply.

in the pics you will see the unit open, closed. images of the lid removed showing the power transformer are in the following entry. also seen are the speaker boxes (partially removed.)

i plan on wiring the speaker outs to an amplifier and decent speakers...

anyone have any ideas?

[cstanley]

and the internals... the transformer is stamped DB-E148-4300A and then 6H10.

[cstanley]

no one has any ideas?

[oj70chevy]

Sorry man, I have never even see one of thouse but sounds like a great Idea. Please keek us updated.

[72 cheyenne pdx]

Correct me if I am wrong, but all you want is the side out portion. If so, what you will need to figure out the voltage the slider works on and find a step up or step down transformer if it isn't a 12v source. You would then have to wire in a switch or something to open/close the slider. I have no idea how to mount it.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[cstanley]

yeah, the slide out part is what i'm really interested in, but if i could get it all to work it would be cooler. I guess what you're saying is that I could just test the line-out voltage from the transformer to see what it's stepping it down to?

my real question is if there is a transformer present (there is) then is it safe to assume that current is being changed from AC to DC?

[72 cheyenne pdx]

Correct. It is a possibility that ithe slider is running at 120V, but highly doubt it. It is probably a 120V AC and steps it down and converts to 36V/24V/18V/12V/9V/6V DC. You would just need to get a DC/DC transformer that steps it up or down to the power needed to power it up. Now if you are trying to use the whole system, you may not be able to do. I am unsure if there is anything in the system that is using the 120VAC. If there is, you will need an invertor to power up the. What you can do is open it up and see if where the power wires go, and if there is a jumper on the 120V side to any portion of the system. If there is, you will need an invertor to use the whole system in your vehicle.

With a volt meter, you should be able to determine the power out of the transformer.

[72 cheyenne pdx]

Can you run it off of batteries? What batteries are they using and what is the line voltage for that? It may be easier to go that route.

[Jim_PA]

Can't you just take the transformer out, and splice in 12v if you're sure it's a 12v appliance?

I've learned the hard way that some small electronics are actually 6v

I've hard wired a sirius docking kit to my riding mower, and I also hard wired a set of amplified PC speakers to my truck (as my only source of audio w/the help of any portable music player..). In both instances, I just cut the wire to the transformers, and went right to 12v.

I could be wrong to, but I think a 12v appliance will only draw what it needs. The only problems you'll typically have is if your wire isn't a big enough gauge for what the appliance is trying to draw... which would cause the wires to melt.

[cstanley]

thats what i'm hoping, that i can just bypass the transformer and hope for 12v. I just wanted to know if i could predict that it would be stepped down
to dc current. If that's what transformer is for?

[72 cheyenne pdx]

Let me clarify, because I think I went one way on my first response but may have confused in my other responses.

If the transformer is stepped down to 12Vdc, then you should be able to bypass the transformer in the stereo or just the slider portion (if you go that route). If the transformer is converted to another voltage, like 36v/24v/9v/6v, then you will need a step up or step down transformer to get the correct operating power. Again I am unsure if the stereo as a whole is using 120Vac in another portion of the system. If so, you will need to go the inverter route to run all the the features of this home stereo if you put the whole stereo in the truck.

Sorry for any confusions I may have caused.

[Luvlegs]

It would be pretty easy to just use an inverter (12v to 110v) - a small one tucked up under the dash, then, if you ever want to pull it, you take it back in the house and just plug it in...

Also tried to find something on the net using the numbers off the transformer - ran out of time - headed home - good luck!

[72lb4x4]

First, a transformer is used to step up or down an AC voltage. It does not convert AC to DC.

The electronics in the device run off a low DC voltage or voltages. Voltages because the motor for example may use another voltage than the rest of the electronics.

You need to figure out what the power supply in the thing puts out, and then regulate the truck's 12VDC to that value, or values.

I'd start at the power cord and follow it to where in connects inside, and start measuring voltage in likely spots til I figured out what DC the thing needs.

That may be easier said than done if you aren't too familiar with electronics...

[cstanley]

cool, thanks. will give it a try tonight.

[truckn']

72 is correct, the transformer merly adjusts the voltage up or down depending on the application. if you don't want to go the route of the inverter. once it is determined that it is using a low voltage. you could go to radio shack and buy a cheap little rectifier and it will convert from ac to dc depending on what it requires. hope this doesn't further confuse the situation.

[dirtyd_nd]

Just a thought here. Why don't you take the sliding door out of the radio since that is what you want. Hook it up to a power antena wire(assuming you have one). You might have to use a micro switch to get motor to stop using the power ant wire. Then connect a ipod/iphone to an aux channel and use speakers designed for car audio. I don't think you will get the sounds out of the electronics of that radio that you would want in a vehicle.
Dale

[cntryby429]

I'm new here and to be honest I'm just here to get some info. I'm trying to repair an identical iHome stereo with a blown main transformer. If you've measured the ouputs I'd sure like to know what they are since I can't seem to find the transformer anywhere online just off the number db-e148-4300 stamped on it. I'm currently overseas with the military so I don't have access to little conviences like radio shack and electronic repair shops. I have a strong electronics background also so if you need any help with this truck install I can help. I think these guys have you covered though as long as you know the role of a transformer in AC (and AC only) conversion. Thanks in advance for any help you might give me.

[Buffrock]

I agree with 72, the transformer only varies the ac voltage supplied. Ther could be (read probably multiple DC voltages after the power supply) If you only want to motorize an IPOD then go with actuators, limit switchs(or voltage sensing) and an ipod. In the end it will be easier.

[cstanley]

i think i've all but abandoned this project for something that makes more sense... we'll see, though.