Does a stereo run down your battery with a outboard???

[Daytona19]

My new boat does not have astereo and I was thinking of puting one in but the previous owner said with an outboard you could un th battery down easy. So I was wondering if anyone ha had expirence with this and could relay do's and dont's. Thanks.:confused:

[QUICKSILVER]

Most outboard charging systems aren't made for accessorys. Some fishin' motors have better charging systems for trolling motors and fish finders. Don't expect your charging system to handle a big amp and speakers. Buy some jumper boxes from Sams or someplace for accessorys. They don't weigh much and you can swap them out for ones on shore, to not haul the weight around. High performance outboards aren't going to suit the needs of skiers and partiers for all around use. They are for haulin' ass.

[Backfire]

A) What size is your battery? group 24, 27,29,31?
B)What mca (minimum crankings amps) is it? 450, 500,700,850,1000,1100,etc.
C)What is the amp draw of your radio/cd/tape with what size speakers and what watt and how many speakers?
D)Will you have an amplifier? What size and what wattage is that?
C)How long will you play this unit continuously? The entire time you are at the sand bar?
D)Do you have jumper cables?, and a friend that doesn't play his radio?
E)Do you have a battery charger to charge your dead battery?
F)When you leave the dome light on in your car at night is your battery dead the next morning? Just that itti bitti light!

A deep cycle trolling battery hooked up parallel to the engine battery with an battery switch to isolate it while you play your tunes is a bullet proof way to go. See, no problem!
Backfire ;)

[WILDMAN]

I Gotta agree with Backfire. I setup every boat with 600-1000 watt stereo's. As long as you have a separate battery, you'll be OK. Here's a pic of the 1000 watt system in my Rallysport.

[NO FEAR]

What kind of Sub's you use Wildman and how many for say a 1000 watt system?

[Capt.Insane-o]

and a battery selector switch. The 2.5's barely have enough oomph in the alternators too keep up with the ecu, trim pump ,jack plate and gauges. Trust me, you don't want to run low on voltage while running. I live about 5 miles from you, call me at 793-0018 and i can help you out.:cool:

[WILDMAN]

The Rallysport has a 600w 4 chanel to run 4 8inch tri-axial's and a 400w mono to run a single 12 inch sub. I've found since that the 600w 4 channel almost sounds better with 2 6x9's on the rear 2 channels and a 12inch sub on the front 2 channels bridged. I use Profile amps. They look cool and don't cost too much. If you have any problem the 1st year, you send it to them and have it back in 10 days, no questions asked! I put the 600w systems in all the Liberators I sell. If you want me to put you together a system, let me know. see-ya, WILDMAN

[B.Leonard]

Is that 600/4 (150 per channel)? And is that RMS or max? (RMS is the power the amp can supply continuous without "clipping" the input wave form)

Many amps advertise a high max rating or an RMS rating at a very high percent of distortion (Total Harmonic Distortion).

My home A/V amp is a Yamaha 100w X 5 with a 250w JBL 12" sub and it CRANKS. I think its all RMS rated though. Although it might no be able to keep up with that "Golden hits of the 80s" pimp music of yours! LOL! ;) ;) ;)

If you put systems that good in your boats, I can't wait to hear your home system in the den you're building :D

-BL

[WATERWINGS]

I have 4 6x9's and 2 10's with CD, EQ, and two amps 1020 watts total,I charge the battery every night, and have no problem. I had problems before I got a new battery, have had to use the pull rope!

[Rickracer]

....it wouldn't be a bad idea to invest in one of those "jumper batteries" or "Booster Packs". A little easier than a pull rope, :D .

[Steve Reist]

I run 2 Interstate Megatron 78's with a cont. duty solenoid that
hooks the batteries in parallel when the engine is running and
seperates them when off. All the stereo gear is hooked to the
aux. battery so if you have presence of mind to shut the key off,
ya can't kill both batt's. We run 2 amps etc. and sit on the
sandbar for hours with no problems. You know, Budweiser, good
lookin ladies, BS sessions, etc and the time gets away. We also
have a 35 amp alt. on the fishin' motor. Don't recommend a deep
cycle unless you're going to charge it with a dedicated charger
after every use. Boat alt's will not fully charge one cause they
need a 16V finish charge to fully charge them. I also like both
batt's to match so they charge evenly.
Good Luck, Steve

[sho305]

Great info guys! I have also had luck running 5 1/4s or tweeters paralleled off the 6x9s in the front, using resistors to quiet them if needed; if you want to keep it simple. You can get great performance from one or two amps if you tune it right. You can get away with cheaper subs and sub amp, but spend on the crossover, head unit, and mid/high amp & speakers. You'll get more sub bang for the power if you can use ported sub boxes, and 2 ohms is nice too, for those who don't know. A separate battery is the way to go. Four 6x9s are not too bad either if you can get two in good bass enclosures and have an amp.

Also had a good experience with the jump packs too. My 2yr old battery failed a cell, and I ran the jumper the last half of the summer. I worked so good, I am thinking of just using two in the boat and no battery.:D Unless I put subs in this boat. They are much easier to carry around too.:cool:

[Mach2]

My 200 Merc only has a 6 amp alternator. My system consists of a head unit, one 4 channel amp rated at 30 watts per channel RMS, and one 2 channel amp rated at 100 watts per channel RMS. The stock alternator can barely keep up with my lights at night, let alone the stereo, but I get by.

First, I charge up the boat before each launch. I installed a cigarette lighter socket in the back by the splash well. I plug in a 2 amp trickle charger that automatically turns off once the battery voltage exceeds 14.4 volts. This way I am guarenteed the boat will start at the ramp. Then I only play the system loud while running, or only for short periods of time with the boat off (less than an hour). Finally, when I get the boat back home, I charge it up again.

This is a good comprimise if you do not want the extra weight of a battery and isolator/switch.

[vector mike]

I have a stereo in my Viper that has 6 waterproof speakers and a Bass Cannon. I run it all on one battery that I use to start with also. I leave it on for 2 or 3 hours at a time and still start the motor. You can play a stereo on your stock charging system as long as it doesn't pull too many amps. :)

[sho305]

The biggest problem I have is getting the sub(s) in a box. In a <20' there are not many places sometimes. Get more noise with a box & ports. I did make a 5th order(all inside & just the port coming out) box with a single dual voice coil 10" that sounds pretty good, and no crossover needed with those. Can't wait to try it in a boat, but not finding room in mine. It must be about 2.5sq ft.

[Scott]

Yup, You were correct....ya just can't leave things alone! HeHeHe!

Good post! Lotsa good Ideas!

[KaptainKirk]

But I will say this spend the money to run NOTHING but ancor wire,and heat shrink and liquid tape everything!
Use adhesive lined connectors everywhere you can!
Also use BLUESEA waterproof breakers for all your battery runs, not onlyu does this keep you safe but you can kill the power completely from drain.
BUY a jump pack, keep it charged every week.
Buy a battery charger and top off your batteries every chance you get after a outing(then you can run deep cycle like opti's)
I ran two amps, and ran each one off a battery( Do you like bass?if you do like I do give the bass amp its own designated power)

Surprised I haven't read anyone mention Farad caps for storing power for bass?! of course if ya do that wrong ya gonna have a fire problem but thats another element.
Run proper gauge wire for everything, don't skimp causes fires and ya lose sound.
If ya do it right the first time it will last forever and ya can build on it with time (especially after ya nuke it)
Also run the system in the driveway until ya get to 10 on the volt meter then ya know how long it will last with ya anchored out( you will be surprised at how short a time this is)
Post more later...
K.K.

[WATERWINGS]

here are the 10's in one big box , battery and trim pump are behind box, fuel tank is in front of speaker, this is before I added the two 6x9's in place of the 4" JBL's.

300 watts run the two front 6x9's and now 720 watts run the two 10's and two 6x9's, all off one battery (new) that is charged after every outing.

[JW]

I have a 400 watt rms amp under the dash, only running one set of 6X9's Tri-ax's under the back seat and a pair of all weather Bose in the front. Plans are to add another pair of 6X9 under the seat, all 4 firing forward, then mount a 12" subwoofer into the center of the back seat in a tuned enclosure.

I've had my battery die on me in the past, when I had my XR6. I pulled the cover and pull started that 2.5. Now that I think about it, I dont know if my 225 promax even has a rope coiled up in the top of the cowl...............

[Rickracer]

You'll be a much happier camper. :D

[Reese]

But do have 4 ported component 6.5" (2 back, 2 front) will be running 200 watts with one group 31 battery...if I ever get this thing finished!!!