Regulating voltage for radios in vehicles.

[sgtevmckay]

Greetings folks.

I have a question for the folks with more knowledge and experience than I.

In my vehicle.

I have a couple of pieces of radio equipment.
Suggested power input is 13.6v to 13.8v.

I have both engine power and solar/Lifepo to work with.

Issues;
As we already know; engine power is variable in most vehicles. Even more so with down step alternators in today’s vehicles.
When alternator is operating, getting 13.8 to 14.6 volts is easy.
Once engine is off, we are left at the mercy of most batteries, bleeding charge down to 12.2v or lower over time.

With Solar;
In light I charge up to 14.2v.
At night my Lithium batteries maintain 13.2 to 13.0 Volts (depending on length of night).
So once again this voltage is variable between 13.0 to 14.2 volts.

So enough of the word vomit.
What have folks done to regulate voltage around the 13.6 voltage range?

I have seen folks who simply use cheap voltage regulators/inverters.
But I have concerns about dirty power, especially as from time to time the construction is questionable, creating a number of radio issues.

So I am curious as to what other solutions are available/recommended, or would a cheap voltage regulator/inverter be sufficient?

Looking forward to input

Thanks folks.

[Lscott]

What issue is the lower voltage causing you’re trying to fix?

[SteveShannon]

4 hours ago, sgtevmckay said:

I have seen folks who simply use cheap voltage regulators/inverters.
But I have concerns about dirty power, especially as from time to time the construction is questionable, creating a number of radio issues.

So I am curious as to what other solutions are available/recommended, or would a cheap voltage regulator/inverter be sufficient?

Use a high quality inverter. Look at what’s available through a place like DXEngineering. Samlex is a decent brand with many different types and options. 
https://samlexamerica.com/product-category/dc-dc-voltage-converters/

[Lscott]

48 minutes ago, Sshannon said:

Use a high quality inverter. Look at what’s available through a place like DXEngineering. Samlex is a decent brand with many different types and options. 
https://samlexamerica.com/product-category/dc-dc-voltage-converters/

If all he needs to do is simply boost the battery voltage the following item is what he's looking for.

https://mfjenterprises.com/products/mfj-4416c

For portable power where you need 120VAC I have one of the below 300 watt inverters. Some equipment will malfunction when you try to run them off one of the cheap modified sine-wave types. Mine is discontinued but there are newer models.

https://gopowersolar.com/products/300-watt-pure-sine-wave-inverter/

New models.

https://gopowersolar.com/product-category/inverters/pure-sine-wave-inverters/

[WRUU653]

24 minutes ago, Lscott said:

If all he needs to do is simply boost the battery voltage the following item is what he's looking for.

https://mfjenterprises.com/products/mfj-4416c

I like that battery voltage booster. For the price I’ll just turn the ignition key for more power but I would get it in a second for an over landing rig if cost were no issue. 

[SteveShannon]

1 hour ago, Lscott said:

If all he needs to do is simply boost the battery voltage the following item is what he's looking for.

https://mfjenterprises.com/products/mfj-4416c

For portable power where you need 120VAC I have one of the below 300 watt inverters. Some equipment will malfunction when you try to run them off one of the cheap modified sine-wave types. Mine is discontinued but there are newer models.

https://gopowersolar.com/products/300-watt-pure-sine-wave-inverter/

New models.

https://gopowersolar.com/product-category/inverters/pure-sine-wave-inverters/

I guess I should have been more specific. I was intending to refer to a DC/DC step up converter from Samlex. Samlex has one that accepts 9-18 vDC and outputs an isolated 12.5 vDC:

https://samlexamerica.com/products/fully-isolated-converter-idc-100a-12/

[WRVR303]

Read the specs for the required operating voltage range for you various devices. A typical spec is 13.8 VDC, +- 10%, so they will operate properly anywhere between 12.42 and 15.18 VDC. 

(I have an ambulance converted into an off-grid camper, so I'm pretty familiar with setups like yours.)