Rigging boombox to vex battery

[RussC]

It's my first summer having my own boat and I'll go nuts if I don't have tunes while I'm fishing. I'm thinking that I should be able to cut the plug off one of my old boomboxes and solder on some alligator clips to hook up to my vexilar battery, should work right? Do I have to hook up a specific side to positive or negative or doesn't it matter?

[Whoaru99]

First off, you need to be sure the boom box runs on 12V. If you're talking about cutting the AC power cable that normally goes into the wall outlet and putting on alligator clips, that ain't gonna work.

Some boom boxes might have a DC power input jack and you could use that with the appropriate cable if it's intended for 12V operation.

[Ed Carlson]

A lot of Boom Box's may operate on 6 V, through the use of multiple D cell batteries...and have a 110/6V converter plug someplace on the back.

In that case, you could adapt a 12V to 6V in to power it off a portable battery. Once you have established it has a 110 to 6V in...you should be able to find the appropriate adapter at Radio Shack for it.

The polarity should be indicated on the converter pin insert point into the box. I would bring the box with you to Radio Shack and they can figure it out for you.

[Deitz Dittrich]

as the others have said, I think its more confusing than it may seem.. for music in my boat I Run my iPod off of external speakers. Its plenty loud for me, yet not enough to bother other people enjoying the lake.

[CAMAN]

Its not as easy as it seems. I suggest you getting a radio that runs off 12 volt or batteries.

If I want to listen to a ballgame or a little music, I bring my Dewalt radio that runs off my cordless drill batteries. I'm also able to hook it up to an iPod or stream Pandora/Slacker through my Blackberry if I need.

[shizzy]

I have had the same batteries in my old boom box in the boat for about three years now. as long as you are only playing the radio once in a while they will last. I would rather have that then have to worry about pligging it in.

[Jeremy airjer W]

or just install a stereo

[Tom7227]

Whatever you do please think of others while out. I would like to use the AR on the doofi that have music blaring while they're out wakeboarding 30 feet from where I'm fishing. If you like it loud get a nice comfortable set of headphones and help others enjoy the lake along with you.

[RussC]

or just install a stereo

I plan on it eventually but tuition and books for summer classes took care of all the money I'm gonna make this summer, trying to do something as cheap as possible.

[RussC]

A lot of Boom Box's may operate on 6 V, through the use of multiple D cell batteries...and have a 110/6V converter plug someplace on the back.

In that case, you could adapt a 12V to 6V in to power it off a portable battery. Once you have established it has a 110 to 6V in...you should be able to find the appropriate adapter at Radio Shack for it.

The polarity should be indicated on the converter pin insert point into the box. I would bring the box with you to Radio Shack and they can figure it out for you.

Alrighty then, looks like I'm gonna try a different route because that sounds really confusing.

[jeffreyd]

buy a cheap invertor and plug the 110 in to it

[Surface Tension]

If your radio takes eight 1.5 volt batteries then you have 12 volts.

What your asking to do can be done. You'll have to open up the radio. From the battery box you'll look for the + and - wires that go into the circuit board. Solder instead of splice as you don't want the connections loosing contact. Make a groove on the battery cover for your wire to exit from. When not in use wind up the cord and store in the battery compartment. Put a 2 amp in line fuse on the +.

Or buy rechargeable batteries

[whitebassman]

You should be able to pick up a cheap portable radio at like Walmart and such. That is what i used for a few years until i got a boat with radio installed. If you have an iphone you can stream just about anything.

[Whoaru99]

There are potentially any number of ways it could be done.

What would be most beneficial would be to tell us if there is an external DC power input jack, and what if any voltage indication is given by this jack. Also, telling how many batteries it takes could lead to confirming a suggestion such as Surface Tension made.

So, should we keep guessing, or get some solid information?

[broken_line]

i did what surface tension did. it works well just make sure the polarity is right!