Running a 220 stereo on 12v

[Guest]

Some months ago there was a posting on how to hook up a normal 220 stereo to 12v (it appeared to be quite straightforward). Can anybody remember this posting or repeat the advice? Thanks in advance.

 

[Guest]

Steve, I had one from my son in canada, plugged it into 240, bang!! A friend of mine , a whizkid on lecs by passed the transformer, hey presto a nice quality getto blaster for the boat.

It actually sounds great cos its got graphic equaliser, any way he lives in cardiff where are you.

 

[Guest]

simple, safe solution would be buy an inverter. look on the stereo for a consumption in max watts (w). (NOTE, not music output watts, electrical consumption watts) then buy the next size up inverter. Only mod the insides if you or whoever is doing it knows what they are doing, or you might be in the market for a new stereo as well!!!!

kev www.yachtbits.co.uk

 

[Guest]

Re: Running a 220 stereo on 12v - inverters

Any advice on which brand of inverter to go for - or are they all pretty much the same?

 

[Guest]

Re: Running a 220 stereo on 12v - inverters

true sine wave are usually the best type. Sterling are UK made and have a good reputation. (I keep meaning to get them on the site,just haven't had the time yet but can supply)Cherokee are also reliable. (Far east made)

Always go by the constant wattage and don't be misled by peak output figure.

If you are UK based, make sure that the output sockets are UK style! sounds obvious but one or two of the major operators quoting ultra cheap prices supply them with continental sockets. (Have you got continental plugs on your appliances??)

Don't know of any particularly bad brands.

kev www.yachtbits.co.uk Cherokee stockist and Sterling Agents!

 

[Guest]

I'm in Spain-- a long way to go. I don't supppose your friend could summarize the process in an email?

 

[Guest]

Not looking for an inverter or a sales pitch.NM

x

 

[Guest]

We had this thread a while back?

At that time I suggested walking round yer local Dixons or Comet, don’t look at the shiny outsides (well not ‘till later) look round the back at the power adaptors. There is any number of these “Hi-Fi” units on sale with external power supplies, the small type, which plug straight into the mains. Check the plating, we were surprised how many were putting out 12v DC. Don’t talk to the “salesperson”, as nothing they have on sale will be suitable for marine use.

We purchased a radio/cassette/CD player, with clock & remote control from Amstrad, found a plug the same as the low-voltage power cord and powered it straight off the boat’s domestic batteries, no problems at all. This same unit now retails at under £60, which is about ½ what we paid two or three years ago.

 

[Guest]

Re: We had this thread a while back?

Agree, Using an inverter is very inefficient. more watts used to convert up to 240 and then back down again than you would be listening to.

 

[Guest]

Re: We had this thread a while back?

Agree, Using an inverter is very inefficient. more watts used to convert up to 240 and then back down again than you would be listening to.

 

[Guest]

Yours was the one I was referring to.

Thanks Colin. Could you be a little more specific about how to tell if they can be run off 12v? What is the power adaptor? What is the plating you refer to?

 

[Guest]

Hi-Fi on the boat:-

Steve,

I’m not talking about the huge “real” Hi-Fi units, but nowadays there are plenty of “Getto-Blasters” available that will run off mains or a huge stack of internal dry batteries, some are quite visually acceptable in the domestic/boat environment.

http://www.amstrad.com/HTML/p-audio.htm shows some models, similar to the one we bought, which was bulkhead mountable and very slim, it came with a wall bracket and has enough audio output power to fill our cabin quite happily, playing CD’s, cassettes and has a two-band radio, which is reasonably acceptable.

The power supply is quite common to these types of devices, a small external black plastic case with UK plug built-in to the back and a fly-lead, which connects to the Hi-Fi. On the cover of the power supply, you can usually see quoted it’s output, for instance my Co. Lap-Top quotes “Output 15V – 4A” often with a diagram of the actual plug showing the “tip & ring” connections to +ve and –ve etc. The Amstrad one quoted 12volt. A ~ symbol usually indicates AC output, whereas two bars -- == (above each other) indicating DC output. Checking the back of the Hi-Fi itself, may also reveal some detail about it’s feeding needs.

Both the Hi-Fi and the LapTop run quite happily off of the domestic batteries on the boat, which are going to be about 14.3 volts maximum on engine charge. Only the LapTop circuit complains sometimes that the battery volts, engine at rest, are too low for charging the LapTop internal batteries (charge light flashes orange). This also applies to my aged Nokia mobile phone.

As said, wander round Dixons, Comet etc and look at the PSU’s to see if it would be suitable, I would expect almost anything that quotes from 9 – 15 volts would be OK powered by the boat systems.

Invertors are all well and good, but it seems a huge waste of limited battery resources to convert 12v DC to 240v AC, only to have the Hi-Fi take it back down to 12v again? Especially as there are so many good quality units around these days? I believe the really up-market “Bose” units http://www.bose.com/products are very good quality audio and they market a range of specific marine speakers, which may be of interest.

Of course you can fit a standard car radio, but the newer ones are too high-tech for boating, mostly needing constant power to maintain the station memories, the security code and so forth. They also tend to consume a lot of power even when “turned off” and you have a real problem finding room for a suitable aerial position for one of these.

Hope this helps, if you need any more, Email me.

Cheers, CRB

 

[Guest]

Re: Hi-Fi on the boat:-

A car "stereo" cd player with a couple of Tandy speakers works well for me - the active antenna sits in a locker about 1m asl - fm stereo/am radio reception ok. Despite marine environment it's been ok for 3 years - loses it's mind when boat battery switched off but it's not difficult to get it's apm to grab what it can hear.