Calling all Stereo Battery Charging Guru's

Ok so I have a 1996 Sun Tracker Poontoon. It is time to upgrade from the crappy two speaker system and put a little bump in the party boat. I am going to add three subs not sure how many amps but it will be multiple. I am going to pull some power. Basically I do not know how I should go about the charging system. The motor is a 50HP Merc 2 stroke. Any ideas would be helpful.

Thanks in Advance

Preston

Good luck, but you won't be able to charge your batteries with that little motor.

I'm by no means a guru, but you won't be able to charge on the water. Better plan on partying it up, then recharging when you get to the dock. That means an assload of batteries.

Once you know the amps and their draw, you can figure out how many batts you need to give you x hrs of partying. Design it around your desired "bump-time".

there's my buck'05. I'm sure the guru's will chime in soon...

Decide on your setup first, then you can calculate Current draw at what ever volume level you want. Also decide how you will use the system: only boarding and cruising, only anchoring/party cove, mixture.

If you want to blow people off the water, here's what you do. Go get a small portable generator (Hondas are super quiet). Then pick up some PA equipment and crank it up.

Your not going to have many options with a 50hp outboard motor as far as upgrading the alternator.

Just get enough batteries that you don't have to rely on the 50hp and get a good charging system back at the dock.

Maybe look at an onboard battery charger? You will have to have power at the dock, but it's a heck of a lot easier to simply plug the extension cord into the boat than it is to lug the battery charger back and forth all the time...

Preston,

Everyone's advice thus far is dead on. You're in a similar situation as a tournament bass boat with a trolling motor except you're pulling a bunch more current.

I like the Honda Gen suggestion. Consider this. Run the Honda Gen AC output to a Cascade 100 amp 12-volt power supply. It is far more economical than a charger or converter of equal capacity. You'll still need a smart maintenance charger at the dock.

Design your audio system with maximum efficiency in mind, ei: Class D amps, low mass woofers, bass-reflex enclosures, etc.

With just a bit of restraint you could run all day and night.

David
Earmark Marine

onboard charger is the only way to go.

If its just a pontoon, get 4 or 6, 6 volt trojan t105's. That will pump all day but when it's dead its dead. You will have to charge it from 110 power. 2 6 volts run much longer than 2 12's will and be much cheaper too. Gotta watch the water level though.

Get a solar panel. You have 2 choices that will depend on how much sun your boat gets when not using it:

1. If it is left outside like most pontoons are then just get a 5 watt or less solar panel, 2 batteries, and Perko switch.. You will get 4 hours of stereo play time, and you will never have to pull the batteries to charge.

2. If you truly want no chance of your batteries going dead in a day, then purchase a 20 - 30 watt panel, perko switch, 2 batteries, and a voltage/battery regulator.

I have a 5 watt solar panel mounted on top of the roof where I store my boat, wires hang down, and all I do is connect to battery when not in use.. I never pull my battery, nor connect a charger to it. The solar panel has a built in regulator, trickle charges when the battery needs it, and shuts its self off when full. One of the best investments I made for my boat..

Ken Land
Bullet Lines / Krypt Towers
www.bulletlines.com

A single Stinger or Kinetic battery, such as the Stinger SP1700 will play your stereo for a couple days without a recharge. They're on teh expensive side, but I use most of those on my installs and everyones been happy. Stinger also has a small 6A charger for those batteries that you can install with the battery, then just plug in when you need to recharge.

i have a honda 2000ie and use a converter by the name of progressive dynamics. i have 3 optima 31t dedicated to the stereo and 2 die hard dedicated to the boat. i have no problem running the stereo for 6-8 hrs and as loud as i want with no problem. gen $850 converter $350.also the generator is so quite that you wont hear it. and if you do go this route also buy their battery wizard.

Preston,

I just bought that 2000 Suntracker with a 115.

If you try and put a big system in the pontoon with a 50hp, you will smoke the magneto…..don’t; do it.

IF you do, I wouldn’t’ even run a large battery bank, your ONLY option is generator with a power supply.


Here’s what I did-- I think very practical and cost effective. You cruises at 10-15 mph, you don’t; need something obnoxiously loud to hear it while cruising . It’s a boat you can party on the inside and not have to be outside and around the boat.

Any bass…I mean any…will rattle the crap out of the aluminum sides, it’s unbelievably annoying.

I have an audison amp ( 5 ch-420 RMS, 180 to the sub, 60x4) that push 2 pairs of the JL marine components; I have another pair pushed by the radio. I’ve got an alpine marine free ear sub (actually sounds pretty good) I had to dynomat some of the metal paneling to stop the rattle.

The system pulls 40-45 amps MAX. It’s just to the max that my motor could keep up, but I’m using a pair of 6v t-105’s for power.

All connected thru a batt combiner.

I just got done with the install, and it sounds pretty good. IT’s not tuned perfectly. I’ll wait till I get it back in the water, but overall I’m very satisfied.

Total cost roughly $900. (includes everything but the HU and RCA’s—I had those)

(Message edited by acurtis_ttu on January 29, 2009)

(Message edited by acurtis_ttu on January 29, 2009)

I should clarify. In my original post, I'm suggesting a battery bank that is entirely separate from the boat's electrical system. The tiny motor and alt simply have no way of sustaining a load like that for ANY period of time, whether you have 1 batt or 10.

Adam, I agree. It won't take much to make the 'toon rock.

All of these sound like great ideas. Keep them coming and I will update you guys on what I finally settle on

P

Solar Charger?? pushing 5 or 6 amps is gonna take 2 weeks to charge a battery bank. Yea a 5 or 6 amp solar charger is a great Idea to keep your batterys topped off but its not gonna re charge anything. The way I use a system and they way you use a system might be 2 totally diffrent way's. Our family pontoon boat has what I would call a very small system. It has 2 amps and a seprate battery bank with 2 "92"amp batterys. With the stock alternator charging the stereo batterys the alternator has a hard time keeping up with the draw. So I don't know how some people are saying they can run 3 days off of 1 normal battery. Yea if you have 2 speakers getting power from the head units amp then Yea I can see that working. IMO you have 2 options. #1 if you can plug in to shore power. Build a battery bank that can power your system and then Install a onboard charger somthing with like 30 to 50 amp's and each night charge back up. That's gonna be a quick and easy way to do it.
#2 if you don't have the option 2 plug into shore power then get the generator. IMO the generator is just anthother thing to have to deal with. And unless you are pulling lots of power and or don't want to run ANY batterys then get the Gen. Other wise keep it simple. A small system that will sound good can be powerd nice with the batterys Adam talked about for real cheep

Preston, I had my pontoon boat out thsi weekend, and the small map I have ( 420 RMS) pulls to much current for the boat to keep up with. At higher volumes the voltage drops significantly and the battery's seperate.