Stereo, battery life, and solar panel questions...

[weijing3333]

Right now I have the old original stereo in my boat, and just the one battery. I know I should get a 2nd battery, and its on the top of the list of things to do. But I was wondering if anyone might now how long I could safely run this old radio till i would need to start up and cruise to charge the battery? I have no idea how much power it draws, prob not much being so old.

Also when I do get another battery I'm surely going to upgrade the stereo also. I wanted to see if anyone could tell me how long they can run an upgraded stereo on the 2nd battery? Just to put a number on it, maybe a 200W stereo with 2 speakers only?

Last question, is would it be worth while (and would it it get the job done) to get one of those small/cheap (harbor freight) solar panels to keep up charge on the 2nd battery?

I expect with the kids a day would be to go out and blast around with the tube for a bit, then anchor somewhere for the rest of the day and swim.

Thanks!

[Rich s]

I don't really have the answer but do you have a charging system for your battery , alternator ? Or do you just plan on running it down and using a battery charger ?

If you look at a deep cycle battery it will give you the aprox amp hrs for usage.example , 180 amp hrs. That's quite a bit figuring a stereo may draw 5 amps , probably at most.

I have a pretty killer stereo system on my boat with a 400 watt separate amp using 2-6x9 and 2-8" speakers . At the dock without the boat running we will play it for hrs at a time and probably never even draw 1/4 of the battery down.

With that said however, I do have 2 batteries on board which both go through the charging system from the motor that will recharge everything once we fire the main engine back up.

As for solar panel :

You really need a decent size panel ( and charge regulator) to have any real effect on recharging a 12 volt battery. We use a 35 watt panel with a 7 amp controller on our 26' camper and it works great for when we are at places that don't have electric power . The cost of that panel was just over $100.00 plus $17.00 for the control regulator . you must use the regulator otherwise the panel will continue to put power to the battery and it could possibly explode .

Good luck

Edited July 23, 2015 by Rich s

[Sk8man]

 I have no idea how much power it draws, prob not much being so old.

In all likelihood an older radio may draw MORE current than a new one because of the older technology and a variety of other size and connection factors. I know I accidentally turned mine on at low volume when I first got the boat and over night the battery was dead. I think they do draw quite a bit of juice.

[Rich s]

In all likelihood an older radio may draw MORE current than a new one because of the older technology and a variety of other size and connection factors. I know I accidentally turned mine on at low volume when I first got the boat and over night the battery was dead. I think they do draw quite a bit of juice.

It may draw more then a newer unit but I don't think it would be much more the 5 amps, most likely less. My amp & stereo are hooked together on a 7 amp fuse at the switch panel and have never popped it, even at max output.

You can do a search to see the conversion of watts to amps . I'm pretty sure my stereo ( granted newer ) has its own fuse on the back of the unit that is a 3 amp fuse

[Sk8man]

I agree Rich even 5 amps would be a pretty large draw for a standard boat stereo setup I would think.

[dukhnter8]

I have a small 5 amp panel for sale if you're interested. Give it to you for cheap, let me know.

Sent from my XT907 using Lake Ontario United mobile app

[weijing3333]

Thank you for answering my questions about solar panels.