How to Hook Up a Car Stereo to AC Power

Nowadays, a person often spends more time in the car interior than in his own apartment. But even in a modern car, adapted for long journeys, it can be uncomfortable to travel at least because of the lack of basic household appliances. They can not be taken with them on the road, because there is no familiar home power grid 220V. True, some devices are still able to power or recharge their batteries from the car cigarette lighter. But not all devices can be powered directly from the car’s low-voltage network. What if you want to take your TV, laptop, electric shaver, regular home computer, drill, other household appliances with you on the road? Most all of these devices run on AC power with a voltage of 220V, and the car battery is only able to provide constant, low-voltage 12-(24)V. All of these problems can be solved quite easily! And today we are going to talk about how to hook up a car stereo to ac power with house hold items.

Instructions for Connecting Your Car Stereo to A Power Supply

Once you have already decided on the power supply converter, then let’s proceed together to connect the sound device.  Connect the device to the AC mains.

First, I will say, that of course, you can plug your car stereo into your home power outlet. with 120 or even 220 volts. However, you can’t plug your car stereo directly into an outlet. However, there are just a few things you need to know to make sure you don’t have a headache or you can’t damage your stereo.

Car Stereos

The reason why car radios use DC power is that cars use a DC battery to start and power the engine. Batteries store DC power, not AC power.

A car stereo system has 3 power wires that need to be connected to work:

• Ground/minus, “GND”
• Power + 12V / Backup radio memory “BATT”
• Accessory on “ACC”

For 99% of car stereos, the additional 12V wire is the red signal wire that triggers the electronics to turn on. When you disconnect power from the auxiliary wire of the radio, it shuts off and goes into low power mode.

That’s It!

Today we talked to you about how to connect your stereo to AC power. Know that it’s not hard to plug your car stereo into the 220-volt mains at home, and the most budget-friendly way to do it is to use a power supply from a computer. If you have an old, unwanted, or non-working computer, you can borrow it there. If not, buy the cheapest one, you can use a used one. And the instructions on how to adjust your car stereo you have already seen today. I hope this article was useful to you, be sure to write comments and your feedback!