GO - DIY Power supply

bestyman · Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2004 5:12 pm Post subject: GO - DIY Power supply

Hi,
I needed another car power supply for my tom tom go and couldn`t buy one so went to Maplins to buy bits to make one myself.

I bought a small plastic box to house it in ( £1.59)
a small ..erm..transformer type thing..with 3 prongs on it (l78so5cv)(£1.18)
5 way tagstrip (49p)
another component to "smooth" the voltage (100uF25v) (38p)
and an inline fuse with 2amp fast blow fuse (£1.29)

other items used are some cable and a jack plug.

This weekend Im going to soldier it all together and house it all in the small black box I bought. Obviously I will check that the the polarity and output is correct (5 volts 2 amps)

The man at Maplins assures me that it will work but I must admit that plugging it into my £500 tomtom will be a brave(or stupid) thing to do as this is not really what I do best..

Unless anyone posts here why they think its not a good idea Im gonna go ahead .

I will report back sunday night :
a) I have just made a tom tom hard ired car kit for less than a fiver arnt I clever or
b) I have just blown up my tom tom go arnt I stupid.

Watch this space - copmments welcome.

Mark

OZ · Regular Visitor Joined: Mar 17, 2004 Posts: 165

Good luck Mark i hope it works. I will be interested in your results as i too was thinking about hard wiring until i read about someone blowing up their unit because he forgot that the ciggie lighter has some sort of power regulator in it, so by cutting it off the damn thing spat the dummy.

metroman · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 14, 2003 Posts: 18

You are a brave man bestyman but you are pioneering the way for all of us. Keep us posted and if possible lets have some pictures to look at ( even if it's a blown up burnt out TTG) seriously though good luck. metroman.

Old_Phil · Posted: Sat Sep 25, 2004 9:12 am Post subject:

It sounds like you have taken advice from the man from Maplins - has he given you a wiring diagram to show you how to wire it together?

The L78S05CV is a voltage regulator, which should convert the 12 V car supply to 5V. The capacitor provides smoothing of the output voltage. Your solution is probably more substantial than the cigar adaptor provided by TomTom.

Strange that the Maplin site shows your voltage regulator as costing 59 pence each not the £1+ you were charged!?

Think of the sense of satisfaction you will get when it works!! Smile

Old_Phil · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 9:37 am Post subject:

Mark,

So, did it work???? Is it as case of broad grin :D or are you keeping your head down Embarassed

. My guess is that it worked fine.

Phil

metroman · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 14, 2003 Posts: 18

It's all gone very quiet in the bestyman household, I hope everything is alright??? Give us a clue Mark.

Dave · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:04 pm Post subject:

...sizzle...

metroman · Occasional Visitor Joined: Dec 14, 2003 Posts: 18

OH Dear!

iancjc · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:18 pm Post subject:

clivers · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:46 pm Post subject:

i expect the GO is fine and that bestyman has fried Laughing Out Loud

_________________
Ipaq 3970, Ipaq 2210 X2, Smart ST V1, Tomtom V3+V5, CoPilot V5, AA Navigator, Tomtom Bluetooth GPS, Navman 3450i Jacket, Navman Bluetooth GPS, Holux GM270, Fortuna GPS-PocketXtrack
, Tomtom GO V5 Classic, Road Angel Classic.

Dave · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:48 pm Post subject:

Where's that bacon ? I haven't heard any more from Mark so I can only assume snap, crackle, pop. I hope that's not the case!

Old_Phil · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:51 pm Post subject:

No, I think that Mark is so pleased with himself that he is back round at Maplins buying up all their stock so he can go into business manufacturing direct-wire power supplies for the rest of us.

delboy0754 · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 4:59 pm Post subject:

Having read this thread, i only hope he doesn't come crying back on here when he finds his Warranty NULL & VOID

MrT · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 5:41 pm Post subject:

Old_Phil · Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2004 5:50 pm Post subject:

How might Mark do that? He's not even opening up his GO (which is permitted with changeable fascias feature). Is there something in the specs that says you can only use a TomTom charger? I doubt it. Especially as its faulty TomTom car charger that seems to be frying other GOs judging by a number of posts to the forum.

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