New solar backyard/party/camping rig
Posted: Sun Mar 31, 2013 5:07 pm
So I bought some close out 12v 5 watt solar trickle chargers from Lowe's a year or so ago and thought they would come in handy some time, and I had a little free time to at least get the project started...
Birthday party in the back yard yesterday with an Otop12 and an autotuba:
You may notice the unfinished wooden box on top of the Otop12. It holds one of the 5 watt solar panels, a 5ah 12v SLA battery and will eventually have my Lepai 2.1 ( http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=310-308 ) amp mounted in it, too.
The Lepai amp has stereo outputs with a subwoofer output. It had the AT (JBL1002d driven) connected
More pics of the solar panel/box:
The box will eventually Duratexed with matching corners, the amp will be mounted inside, a 12 v cigarette lighter plug installed so cell phones can be charged, and possibly another solar panel mounted in a hinged lid so both panels will be protected when closed and when opened both panels exposed for twice the solar power. Also, since it is the same size as the top of an Otop12 or Jack 12, it will have buckles to mount it securely to the Otop.
How did it perform and how much battery life? I just set the top box in the sun yesterday until about 4 pm to charge the battery. The battery had never been used prior and I don't know how much charge it started out with. At 4-5pm I set up the Otop and AT and played loudish music until after dark when I turned the volume down. We left it playing (using a cellphone playing Pandora mixes) until about 1:00 am when I turned it off and stumbled to bed. So it played for a good 5 or 6 hours on battery alone, and of course the music was clean. My 22 year old daughter says I am a party genius and wants to go camping with her friends, taking this setup.
Birthday party in the back yard yesterday with an Otop12 and an autotuba:
You may notice the unfinished wooden box on top of the Otop12. It holds one of the 5 watt solar panels, a 5ah 12v SLA battery and will eventually have my Lepai 2.1 ( http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=310-308 ) amp mounted in it, too.
The Lepai amp has stereo outputs with a subwoofer output. It had the AT (JBL1002d driven) connected
More pics of the solar panel/box:
The box will eventually Duratexed with matching corners, the amp will be mounted inside, a 12 v cigarette lighter plug installed so cell phones can be charged, and possibly another solar panel mounted in a hinged lid so both panels will be protected when closed and when opened both panels exposed for twice the solar power. Also, since it is the same size as the top of an Otop12 or Jack 12, it will have buckles to mount it securely to the Otop.
How did it perform and how much battery life? I just set the top box in the sun yesterday until about 4 pm to charge the battery. The battery had never been used prior and I don't know how much charge it started out with. At 4-5pm I set up the Otop and AT and played loudish music until after dark when I turned the volume down. We left it playing (using a cellphone playing Pandora mixes) until about 1:00 am when I turned it off and stumbled to bed. So it played for a good 5 or 6 hours on battery alone, and of course the music was clean. My 22 year old daughter says I am a party genius and wants to go camping with her friends, taking this setup.