Testing a Car Amp on AC?

[Cuthroat]

So basically I have several broken amps lying around and I'm not sure whats wrong with all of them but I'm planning on fixing them and reselling them. Then buying more broken ones and fixing them on the side. Anyway I need to be able to test them in my house on like an AC standard wall plug if thats possible. I'm not looking to hook up any audio or play anything but I just need to test them. I have a sub lying around that I can hook up if I need to but whats the easiest way to hook an amp up to a wall plug if there is one. If not what do you recommend to do for testing an amp?

Thanks, please excuse the noobish questions.

-Cuthroat

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[brian84corvette 10+ year member]

ac power will kill any amp dead forever.

you need a car battery to try and hook up the amps to. 12.5 volts at the minimum

 

[bbeljefe]

I don't mean to insult you but frankly, if you have to ask that question, you should not attempt to repair an amplifier. Understanding the difference between AC and DC voltage as well as understanding how AC voltage is converted to DC voltage is foundational knowledge that one must have in order to even begin to understand how an audio amplifier works.

 

[Da64u 10+ year member]

What I use is a power supply from a computer. Gotta rig it to work and it won't put out much power. Enough to turn on the amp but that's about it. If you hook jup a sub and it plays a note it will shut off. There are other better power supplies you could use but that's just the cheap solution.

 

[mak]

You can use a PC power supply, just take note the amperage that each 12v rail is capable of. You can generally get an inexpensive 500w-1kw computer power supply that will do 10-20a, or more, combined on the 12v rails.

You won't be able to fully drive most amplifiers without sending the PSU into a panic, but it will give you a power supply to test for basic functionality of pretty much anything 3.3v, 5v and 12v.

Good luck.

 

[Hammer Knock]

simple. use car battery, keep it charged.

 

[akheathen Premium Member]

as stated, if you have to ask that question, or even think about plugging anything into a wall outlet that is not made for 120vac, you should not even think about touching the inside, much less plan on selling them. either have them fixed by a qualified pro, or spend at least a year learning how they work and how to test/repair them. i'm not trying to be mean, but i have seen many real nice amps, trashed beyond recognition, caught fire, and worse, shocked people due to untrained "tinkering"

 

[earth_bender]

man do your thing parts-express.com meanwell power supply i think 50 bucks 12v 39 amps good for test benching if u like me DIY selfer do your thug but look into this power supply works fine i'm running car audio off of it it's small but it's does what it do

 

[infamous_e46 5,000+ posts]

Lol wtf