stepup 12 to 15v

[perivision]

I hope I'm posting in the correct place..

I just finished building a small amp (amp6 from 41hz.) and I want to use it in my car.

Now my car will normally give me around 13.4v but this amp is rated from 13.5 to 15.5v. So my plan is to simply run it on weak voltage and see what happens.

But what I would rather do is step up the cars voltage from 13 to 15. Is there a simple way I can do this? is there a chip out there I can by and build a simple stepup board?

If not I was planning on buying one of those cheap car adaptors you can get online.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks

PVN

BTW, I did a search on stepup dc-dc and surprised nothing came up.

[hc_TK]

you should change the volt regulator in the alternator.
Than you could get 15v when the car is running, but the 12 v batteries can't put aout more than just above 12 volts

This is a picture of a regulator

[perivision]

IC. However, I should either go through the car and make sure bumping it up to 15v will not cause any problems, or I could simply step it back down again post regulator.

I will check into this.

If I find I cannot do this, is there another way?

Ta

PVN

[hc_TK]

I think you easy can get your hand on a new alternator regulator, and it wouldnt cost to many $..
Dont know if theres any other way to just pump the current to 15V..couse you need a couple of A i guess, and that would probably kille the "some sort of regulator".

what amps have you built?

[N-Channel]

I'm not familiar with the amp6 from 41Hz amplifier. How much current does it take? If it's just a few amperes, then you're in luck: try National Semiconductor's SimpleSwitcher Series of integrated switching regulators. Buck, Boost and flyback, all flavors.

The LM2587 is rated at 5A, and for your app, you could easil.t squeeze out all 5A from it. in its simplest form, an LM2587T-ADJ would require a coil (for energy storage) a steering diode, 2 caps, and three resistors and a compencation cap. Pages 20 & 21 of the following datasheet:

http://cache.national.com/ds/LM/LM2587.pdf

give good examples of typical circuits. Also included are instructions on how to design and make a switcher depending on your situation.

HTH,

Steve

[perivision]

Thats worth checking on. The amp6 maxs at 30w so 1 to 1.5 amp is enough I would think. If I can put something on the amp itself, that would be the best.

[bobobrien9@msn]

i would not suggest running the whole car at 15v that could and probably burn up some wireing and almost gaurenteed to burn up the ecm and dash ecu
i know a little about subs and amps but i am a mechanic by trade
maby find a capassitor? spelling sucks or run a different altanator and batt to the amp connected no nothing else other wise your asking for major problems

[lndm]

Cars should run at 13.8v-14.4v when running. (Try revving whilst measuring). Running at 14.4 may be your best bet - the current delivery would be from a lower impedance than if you used a DC-DC converter - the extra volt is less important than that.

[N-Channel]

Perivision,

While you could mount the DC-DC uppie in the amp's board (they don't take up much real estate), I would be careful how you arrange it with respect to the amp's components, as the uppie's coil can emit EMI and RFI. This can be minimized by using a toroid core for the coil, and winding the turns nice, tight, and uniformly on the core.

Using a chip with a higher frequency, say, 100-150kHz, will result in smaller magnetics and filter caps.

Steve

[perivision]

well whats interesting about this amp is that I wound 4 torret coils and the CPU runs at 800mhz which is why the sound quality is at class A/B level despite being a class D amp.

Last time I checked, the car was giving me 13.4v. If I should be seeing something higher then that, then I may look into a new alternator. This is for a 87 cabreo so I would figure an alternator would not be that much.

As for the amp, I could run it at 14v and it would be happy, so if I could get 13.8v, then we no longer have a problem.

As for the Caps..

I have a large 50V cap that keeps the DC load smooth, but it will not help with the overall watts when I hit lower bass tones.

Right now I'm thinking of having two amps, one for the front and one for the back. By going this route, 13.8 to 14v would be fine.

PVN