Howdy,

I'm looking to build a ice chest stereo for my spring break trip in a month. Thus far, I have the cooler & a Clarion 52w x4 channel head unit. I have worked with auto electronics before but never a stand alone system like this. I plan on using 4 Boss 6.5" marine speakers rated at 100w RMS each.

Thus, my question: I plan on creating this system without an amp so what size battery would you recommend for the power that I'll need. I figure a standard 12v 7.5/8Ah rechargeable battery would work. Yes/no?

I also have a 12volt solar trickle charger that I plan to use to keep the battery from going completely dead bc I cannot afford to buy a deep cycle battery.

Any insight will be greatly appreciated

-Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2011

Oh, and I chose the Outdoor forum because it's for a beach trip (hence the marine speakers) so don't try to rip me a new one for being in the wrong forum. If you feel I'm in the wrong one simply request that I move it and it'll be done.

[This message has been edited by JohnAG11 (edited 2/14/2011 4:26p).]

My buddy bought lawnmower battery from walmart and uses solar panel and it does a good job running the radio when we float river. You can get academy deep cycle for around 40 dollars.

Oh wow, nice. I didn't realize you could get a deep cycle that cheap. The cheapest I had found previously was around $95. But hell, for $40 I think that'd be the way to go. I assume this http://www.academy.com/index.php?page=content&target=products/outdoors/marine/batteries&start=0&selectedSKU=0105-00150-1478 is the one you're speaking of? You don't happen to know the voltage and amp-hour ratings for it, do you?

-Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2011

Paging LgAggie...

I would recommend a marine radio cover for the head unit like the one in the link below. Silicon around the base of the cover.

http://www.amazon.com/PLMRCW2-White-Water-Resistant-Shield/dp/accessories/B000N5WL40

Also, use an mp3 cd or ipod/mp3 player full of good tewns that you can put on random, or make a river playlist. Try to minimize people messing with it.

I wish you luck.

I built one of these last summer for our annual river float trip. A friend helped out w/the electrical parts (not my strongest suite). We went about it different than you are going to though. I don't know how to answer your question, but I like to see myself type so I'll detail how I did it (and do my best to change your mind).

We used an amp instead of a head unit and 6x9's instead of 6.5" speakers. I run an iPod Nano straight into the amp via the red/white imputs (using a headphone jack converter to get into the iPod). I decided on the marine 6x9's to get mids, highs, and bass.

Started by cutting the speaker holes. We tried a rotary tool first and it worked ok but made a mess. Turns out an xacto knife works better and doesn't make a mess.


Next, built the structure inside. We glued and screwed a board to the bottom of the cooler to give a completely flat surface and something secure to mount everything else to. We put something like 20 screws in the bottom board to make sure it wouldn't pull out of the plastic and styrofoam insulation.


Here's the inside. We started w/a free amp and designed the enclosure for it. Of course, it didn't work so we had to retrofit to fit a different amp. That's why its on an angle. The battery is a normal car battery. It worked for a 5 hour float at full blast no problem. What turned out to be the issue was heat. The amp runs pretty hot and and insulated box does a great job keeping it in. It has never overheated and shut down though.


The finished product! We wired up a switch to kill power to the amp partly because we were worried about battery power when we built it and partly because it looked pretty badass. We used some velcro to secure the iPod.


Here is the top view. I was a bit worried about water pooling in the speakers but it wasn't a problem. We originally used only the rubber gasket included w/the speakers but had some leakage when we tested it. We ended up using silicone around the edges of the speakers to seal it completely.



Can I ask you why you decided on a head unit instead of an amp? We ended up w/a 300 watt amp and it is perfect. It was loud enough to drown out the 4 or 5 other cooler radios we ran into on the river. I am not sure a head unit will be able to provide the same power. Also, its so much easier to use an iPod. The only thing I can't do is control it w/out opening the lid which you could do w/a head unit.

The other thing is the speakers. I am FAR from an audiophile so please correct me if I'm wrong but won't you lack range w/only mid range speakers? I was doubtful the 6x9's would give any bump at all but I was wrong. Using the cooler for resonance makes it sound just like a radio should.

I think the only thing I would change would be to mount a car cigarette lighter on the exterior. It is a huge pain keeping a lighter dry on the river and I think it would be a super cool accessory.

Which ever way you go, just build the thing. Its a fun project and your friends will love you.



[This message has been edited by LGAggie (edited 2/14/2011 10:20p).]

I can vouch for LG's sounding good.

Wow guys, thanks a lot! EXTREMELY helpful - especially you LG. I chose to go with a head unit rather than an amp because I have a system in my car and had 2 old head units just sitting in my closet.. and also because of the heat issue you addressed. I contemplated putting a small electric fan on whichever side I seat the amp on, but that could be hazardous to all of the internals. Now, I can get a 350 watt 2 channel amp for about $50 from one of my friends though; would would be more than enough for 2 speakers and would probably leave me room to expand the speaker set a bit.

I am planning to line the inside walls with a thin layer of carpet to help dampen any rattling that could happen but I was assuming that the foam inside would help smaller speakers tune the lows in a little better so thanks for reassuring me of that! Once I get the whole thing done I'll try to get pictures up here.

And I was going to go with 4 6.5" marines purely because I could get 4 of them for the price of 2 6x9 marines. But I'll do a little more shopping around in that aspect.

Other aspects I plan to incorporate(bc I already have them sitting around my apartment):
A 12v solar trickle charger
A cigarette lighter and a 12v power inverter (for charging any small elec)
And a power/kill switch for the amp

-Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2011

Nothing adds to my enjoyment of the outdoors like drunk *******s and loud music.

What did your buddy hook up the remote wire to?

The remote line should be run through a toggle switch and a 15 amp fuse to the 12v battery. It'll allow you to turn the whole system off and keep from draining the battery when not in use.

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If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you can read this in English, thank a Soldier.

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Ka-ching

-Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2011

sorry but unless that stereo box has this in half of the cooler, it's a fail IMO.

I was a little worried that we'd get a rattle between the cooler lid and the sides. Definitely get a cooler w/a latch. That will help tremendously. The other thing we did (I don't think you can see it in the photos) is to put a line of weather stripping along the inside edge of the lid where it closed on the side walls. It eliminates all rattle and I figured it would help seal the whole thing a little better too.

I was just looking at my pictures and realizing I need some Aggie bling of this thing. I'll have to head over to one of the bookstores and pick up some bumper stickers for it!

Nevermind, you can see the weather stripping in the 3rd photo. We finished off the corners after that pic was taken I guess.

I built one two years ago with a Coleman 48qt cooler. I used two lawnmower batteries and a small marine amplifier powering two 6x8's. Had a waterproof box on top that held charging leads for the battery, a switch for the amps remote power, as well a 1/8" stereo jack that went from an ipod nano to the amp input.

Mine still held about a 18 pack of beer and ice though. What good is a cooler if it can't hold beer anymore? I plan on redoing it here pretty soon and revising some things, mainly the waterproof housing for the batteries and amp.

eh, we float w/15ish people so half a cooler w/20 beers isn't going to make a dent in what we have to bring.

last year was quite the production. we had a pregnant friend who was our dd. she stayed at the house and we called her when we got to the crossing. she pulls up in a chevy 2500 4 door 4wd truck pulling an 18' low boy. we pile 18 people, 6 coolers (including the radio) and 24 tubes on and hit the gas. people's face were interesting. some looked like pity, some looked like awe...

I don't plan on sharing my 18 pack with anyone.

good point.

this year, I am bringing Pearl so I can track where my beers go. they seem to just disappear when I drink the same brand as everyone else.

just reading this makes me want to go float! Man I can't wait for the summer time!

Im also going to change the speaker direction. Mine are facing up right now like the picture above. I want them facing out, but I haven't quite figured out how Im going to keep it waterproof when I put holes in the side of a cooler.

Buddy of mine built one and had it sprayed with rhino liner outside. There's an old thread about it on Texasbowhunter.

Mine are completely water tight on top, so I assume they would be if mounted on the sides too. I didn't mount them on the sides because I was worried about the tube covering them up.

On the river last year we saw one of those blue "cubes" that is taller. That looked like it worked pretty good but there was wiggle room in the tub around it and that would worry me.

What did you have in mind?

I'm talking about water tight from the inside. I dont want my icey water leaking into a speaker basket. Right now the backs of the speakers are protected by gravity and foam speaker protectors that are made for car doors.

ice chest stereos

To make it waterproof - look into what you would use to seal a fish tank like silicon caulking. And I think an Optima Blue Top would be more than enough for what ever you need to power.

I go to the river with some people who run the website: motorboatyourself.com which believe it or not is a useful resource.

^I like that guys idea, but it still doesn't hold beer anymore. Why take away the functionality of a cooler?

The subwoofer makes it worth having to have an extra cooler. It is popular when floating.

I think I'm in love

quote:

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his year, I am bringing Pearl so I can track where my beers go. they seem to just disappear when I drink the same brand as everyone else.

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Drink some craft brews.. you can track those just as well

last times I went floating, I just had 3 squeeze water bottles. one filled with whisky, two filled with coke. squeeze, squeeze, done. half a liter of whisky will get you nice and retarded.