Electronics HELP with Mutant Vehicle (San Diego)

JoshuaOne · Post by **JoshuaOne** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 3:21 pm

My fellow Playans!
I'm [2.0]
2011 will be my 3rd burn...2nd for my partner in crime (and cool-ass cousin) - Kilian. We've got a shiny 1986 Mazda MPV in the driveway ready to be mutated...but we need help with some of the electronics...and wiring. Please PM me if you have experience and time to help out!

Here's the LONG version:
We're building a Playa Shuttlecraft.
NOT a NASA shuttle - think more Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica...or Star Trek...
We've completely removed the interior and covered every inch of plastic with bad-ass blue and white fur. Now we need to finalize a plan for the exterior. We don't know how to weld - so we're making plans to skin the car with a combination of PVC and various other metal parts that we hope - once painted - will sufficiently create a shuttle look...we're going for a sorta Mad Max scrap-yard look - with a literal shit ton of lighting...

We're cutting out the roof for a GIANT moon roof - and installing "gullwing" doors - the kind that open UP - instead of OUT. So...we do have big plans to make this thing fun as all hell...

BUT - we need your help!
Here's what's got us scratching our heads:

How much of the audio gear and lighting can/should we run from the actual car battery/alternator? I know it's pretty simple math - what's the amperage it puts out - what are we drawing? Right? Well if we install 10 strands of LED x-mas lights on the interior panels - and run them off DC instead of AC (with a silly DC to AC convertor) - what happens then?

Basically we need help with the math and possibly the wiring.
For instance how do we install a toggle switch on the dash to turn various lights on/off?

Another idea we have is to run global audio and video from an iPad AND old iPhone 3G.
With a basic audio mixer - we would be able to more or less DJ and/or VJ while in the car...
SO again, figuring out what (audio) amps to use relative to the overall draw is key.
And what happens if we add a few LCD screens?

Lastly - one idea we have is to use 40-60 toy ray guns crafted into circles to make the shuttle "engines". Meaning, instead of looking like ray guns, it will have more of a space ship turbo engine look... BUT how do we wire 40-60 ray guns that are powered from 9V batteries with ONE MASTER on/off switch?

Sorry to babble on - but it's honestly 90% enthusiasm and 10% frustration. We had to leave this baby home last year because we ran outta time and money. We're bound and determined to get it on the Playa this year.

If you - or someone you know - have a good grasp on car audio/video and basic electronics...your help would be very very much appreciated. We're not in a theme camp for 2011 - but would certainly reciprocate with lot's of rides on the Playa, maybe even an entire night with the car to yourself. It's DEFINITELY going to be a lady killer = SOFT FUR!!!

We're in SAN DIEGO. Carlsbad specifically. Here's my info: Joshua (PM me for a #) [josh at madmedia dot com]

Thanks in advance and happy holidays to you all!

2.0

Post by **AntiM** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 8:03 pm

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junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 9:17 pm

Hey Josh..

It's relatively simple what you are trying to do, really. You would be surprised what kind of load a standard automotive alternator can support. Nothing that you've listed here would be beyond the range of the current alternator output.

I'm assuming that you meant that you were thinking about switching from DC power (battery) to AC power (house type wiring). This is possible by using a DC to AC inverter, which can be purchased anywhere.. check ebay/amazon. This would allow you to plug in whatever appliances/what not that required 110v.

Toggle switches are easy.. drill a hole, mount switch, on one side you hook up constant 12v power, the other side you hook up what you want switched on and off. All ground wires get hooked to the metal chassis in some way... common ground.

If you're wanting music via ipod, get a cheap ipod ready car stereo from ebay/walmart/whatever. I saw a deal with a decent ipod ready pioneer car stereo and a pair of 6.5" speakers for $75 the other day at wally world. The car stereos they are making these days are pretty powerful.. and would probably do all you wanted. If not, decent but cheap amp will run you around $100.

If all those ray guns were powered by individual 9v batteries.. you wouldn't be able to have one master switch. If they all go their power from one source, then yeah. Toggle switch.

Trying my best to answer coherently after 3 bottles of wine and dinner with the girl. Hope this helps or gets it started..

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:22 am

JoshuaOne wrote:We're building a Playa Shuttlecraft.
NOT a NASA shuttle - think more Star Wars or Battlestar Galactica...or Star Trek...

It's been done.

And if Terminal City finds out that Galileo was sabotaged...

Bounce530 · Post by **Bounce530** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 10:13 am

If you don't know who to weld, how are you installing gull wing doors? do they sell bolt on kits, for that?

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 10:17 am

Bounce530 wrote:do they sell bolt on kits, for that?

Yes, they do.

http://www.verticaldoors.com/

Bounce530 · Post by **Bounce530** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 10:22 am

Those are bolt on "Lambo" doors (which do acutally require a bit of cutting and welding for proper fitment.) I really don't think gull wing doors could be bolt on, as the window frame prob wouldn't be stong enough to support the weight of the door.

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 12:17 pm

http://www.scissor-doors.com/gullwingdoors.php

..but yeah.. good point. None of this is for the faint of heart or non mechanically inclined. But hey.. go for it!

mudpuppy000 · Post by **mudpuppy000** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 1:59 pm

You should be ok unless you run a huge sound system in it. Just don't run anything when you shut off the engine as you'll probably kill the battery really fast.

If you're trying to project sound out away from the vehicle you should mount the speakers facing out vs just using the normal speaker locations. You'd probably go deaf if you cranked it up loud enough for it to sound decent outside the vehicle.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 5:53 pm

Some electronics are isolated ground.

I wouldn't rely on a chassis ground anyway.

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 8:02 pm

Buy an Inverter at any truck stop. I powered a tv and vcr on a 500 watt inverter easily. Its yours if you want it, But I cant guarantee it still works. May have been in my garage a bit too long.

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 9:23 am

gyre wrote:Some electronics are isolated ground.

I wouldn't rely on a chassis ground anyway.

If they're running off of 12v car battery power.. what ground are you isolating? Ground is ground is ground.. whether it's off of the chassis/body or direct to the post.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Tue Dec 14, 2010 9:42 am

It usually means it must be grounded to another device only.
It may refer to designs sensitive to ground loops, no paired grounds.

It was common in a specific type of amplifier that used the ground in a specific way.
Death from improper grounding.
Such amps are less common now.
I still see it with sets of components.

Worst case is speakers and preamp feeds that are isolated ground.
A terrible idea anyway, chassis grounding these speakers will kill the amp section.
I don't know how common this design is now.

junglesmacks · Post by **junglesmacks** » Wed Dec 15, 2010 6:43 am

Ok wait you're talking about two different things here

Speaker wires, yes.. those need isolated grounds to the negative speaker power connection on the amp.

POWER wires.. 12v.. common ground.. can get attached to the chassis/frame no problem.

Sometimes, in a cheap audio amp, you can get feedback or "alternator whine".. cure for that is a simple ground loop isolator box that you wire inline.

EspressoDude · Post by **EspressoDude** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 8:18 am

Joshua:

Fur should be the LAST THING done... When you start welding...POOF..

you will have burning man MPV funeral pyre in your driveway

Marscrumbs · Post by **Marscrumbs** » Sun Jan 02, 2011 8:48 am

A second battery and an isolator then you can run lights and sound when your motor is off without fear.

BBadger · Post by **BBadger** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 9:45 am

For your lighting needs I would purchase a 200AH 6V battery. They're about $250 I believe, but will probably last the entire burn depending on your power needs. You can use a generator or the car's alternator to power the speaker system.

For your LED christmas lights, you can buy battery-powered LED strands for about $10 each that use 3x AA batteries. 3xAA is about 4.5V, so you could rig them up such that they work on your 6V battery by hooking them up with a diode or two to drop the voltage a bit. Regular LED christmas lights use about 20mA, so at 10 of them, you're looking at 200mA. 200AH / 200mA = 1000 hours.

Another option is to use EL wire. It makes for some nice lighting, especially for decorative borders, costs about $1/ft, and uses virtually no energy. You could do most of the "structural" lighting (illuminating the entrances, the borders of windows, the edges) with EL wire, and then have point-sources for the LEDs (blinking, pulsating, patterns).

For your engines, rather than buying an assload of rayguns, buy one raygun, and use an audio amplifier for larger speakers. This will allow you to create a single bigger sound and control the overall volume. You'll be controlling only the power to the speakers, not a bunch of rayguns. Bigger speakers can also create better sound for low tones--great for engines. Then you can make the engines out of plexiglass and LEDs and other good stuff. You could also just use a mp3 player with an engine sound effect too.

Give me a PM if you need some advice with any this. I'm not in San Diego, but I can answer questions.

Electronics HELP with Mutant Vehicle (San Diego)

Electronics HELP with Mutant Vehicle (San Diego)

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