Wiring a Marine Stereo

[RSchurig356]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me the safest and best way to wire a stereo straight to a battery. My boat does not have an alternator and the radio drains the battery if I run it too long. So I would like to have a separate, smaller battery that I could run just the radio off of.

And does anyone have any idea how long a head unit could run off the battery before it completely drains it? Thanks.

[GrimmJeeper]

are you just running a radio with some speakers hooked up to it? if no amps are involved you could probably get a couple hours out of a deep cycle battery. my stereo will drain my battery in 22 mins if the engine isnt running :gag:


:D

[RSchurig356]

Yeah its just a stereo with two 5 1/4" speakers.

[dashboardhero]

don't know if your still lookin for answers, but I'll post anyway. I run an amp and two 6" speakers in my stereo cooler with an ipod hooked up (pyle makes a snowmobile setup with speakers and amp). I use just a regular lawn mower battery that is set up to recharge through a trickle charger with the extra wire that comes with it. It typically lasts me 4 to 7 hours tubin down the river. In my first itteration i used a regular head unit and got 3 hours typically out of one charge on the battery.

[RichP]

Go spend a few bucks on a flexible solar cell with a close rating for what you want. It may solve your problem.