Step down Voltage

[celticfan11]

So I am not sure if this belongs here or not, but here goes.

I need a 5V DC output in my car. I only have 12V DC in my car. How do i go about stepping it down from 12 to 5? Radio shack had no clue, go figure.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Techno Child]

Get a USB adapter that plugs into your power port/cig lighter in your car. These are usually used to charge cellphones/ipods and are available just about anywhere like radioshack/circuit city/bestbuy etc... Cut a usb cable that fits the usb output on the unit, and strip the wires back exposing the red and black wires. These will give you 5vDC.

-tc

 

[celticfan11]

ohh i forgot to add, the reason i am steping the voltage down is so i can hardwire it into the car so my cigarette lighter is no longer being taken up. And i dont want wires all over my car.

 

[Techno Child]

So... Open up the casing on the usb adapter and take the power inverter out, mount it in a fancy project enclosure from radioshack and hardwire it from the trunk... You probably aren't going to find a unit that converts 12v to 5v without it plugging into your cig lighter.

Good Luck

 

[Admiral Michael]

What are you looking at powering? Cause power requirements are a factor when determining what to use when converting.

From there own site:
http://www.radioshack.com/sm-5v-fixed-voltage-regulator-7805--pi-2062599.html

This solution only allows 1A of current but will most likely require a heat sink at that current usage.

I've used something similar to convert a 12VDC wallwart to 5VDC to hardwire my garage door key entry.

 

[celticfan11]

What are you looking at powering? Cause power requirements are a factor when determining what to use when converting.

From there own site:
http://www.radioshack.com/sm-5v-fixed-voltage-regulator-7805--pi-2062599.html

This solution only allows 1A of current but will most likely require a heat sink at that current usage.

I've used something similar to convert a 12VDC wallwart to 5VDC to hardwire my garage door key entry.

i am goign to be powering my sirius radio. It requires 5V not sure on the Amps.

 

[Admiral Michael]

I don't see that taking too much current, you could always do what TC said, just mod a car adapter for the device to make it a permanent install.

 

[LeeJend]

Until you know how much current the radio takes you are wasting your time.
Find out.

USB adapters are ony rated to supply 0.5A so that's 2.5W to run a satellite
radio. That's not much.

As for mounting. Just get a new cigarette lighter socket from an auto parts store and wire it in under a seat or behind the dash and plug an off the shelf converter into the new socket.

http://www.pinecomputer.com/restcarvoco.html 1 A

http://www.pinecomputer.com/restcarvoco.html 0.4A

http://www.powerstream.com/dc6.htm 2-3A