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Remote PA Powering

What do you guys do when you play a field/beach party? Use a generator, or an ac power converter on someones car?

Do you think it is safe to use one of these http://www.dealextreme.com/details....1983~r.96035782

I have two 500w active speakers and a laptop, and I don't think I will have them cranked all the way up (so they shouldn't draw that many watts). Would it be dangerous to use this on someones car? Or should I just drop the cash for a generator?

All the parties I have played in fields before people have provided generators, but me and some friends are looking to have a party down on the beach, and no one has a generator this time...

Thanks!

I'm no expert and only learning bits and bobs at college at the moment so please if someone else with some more knowledge on this wants to throw their hat in the circle please do.. but...

I wouldn't worry about what Wattage they're showing you. You'll need to find out how much current your active speakers and equipment are going to draw. Then find out what the max current available from your converter is going to be.

Not sure how much current a car battery will be able to provide (5Amps? maybe?)

Anyway i'm probably wrong but i think you'll need to invest in a generator. if you use your car battery to power the system i think you'll be drawing too much current from the battery and it wont be able to recharge fast enough. You might get 45min out of it if it's a good battery.

HTH.

1000w on a 12v system... that would be 83 amps being pulled out of your car battery. there's two concerns coming to mind... one is: you'd need a pretty thick cable to carry so much current. really thick. there's no way you can pull so much out of the cigarette lighter plug, you'd have to hook up to the battery directly, because you'd blow pretty much any fuse otherwise. and second: i can't imagine you'll find a battery that will last very much longer than an hour at that current. you'd have to have the engine running.

you might not need those 1000w completely (besides the fact that the device described at the link you provided most probably wouldn't be able to supply them constantly) - maybe you only need half of it. go figure, but i'd suggest you to go with a generator

generator. btw be sure its placed somewhere vented or open air, diesel-exhaust kills and will send u to prison long time. recently happened in sweden in bunker or something.

quote:

Originally posted by user19503 generator. btw be sure its placed somewhere vented or open air, diesel-exhaust kills and will send u to prison long time. recently happened in sweden in bunker or something.

Yeah, we were planning on doing it outside at the beach. Not stupid enough to do it in a closed space, but thanks for the warning

My friend has what is called a "high output alternator", which he uses to power his 5000w car audio system. He claims that allows him to blast his system for an indefinite amount of time as long as his engine is running.

Is there any truth behind this? Although with the price of the car upgrade, I might as well throw down a few extra hundred and just get a generator for convenience... I found a 6000 watt for $1200, which would give me plenty of room for adding more equipment, lighting etc.

i dont know shit about cars but i thought the dynamo was only on while the car was rolling lol.

quote:

Originally posted by user19503 i dont know shit about cars but i thought the dynamo was only on while the car was rolling lol.

Dynamo yes. Like in my beetle. But modern cars have alternators.

Car audio equipment will work slightly different to normal equipment. In the end they are made to run on a 12v system.

I'm sure your mates uprated Alt will help out big time but i still wouldn't run a gig from his car. Let alone the cost of running the car for a couple of hours.

There's a reason why people use generators. I'd stick to it. But i would try find out a bit more about power consumption etc before you start spending over a k for a genny. I dunno if you'd have to spend that much???

I also doubt very much that your mate has a 5k w system But we wont get into that. Max figures are often quoted (rather than RMS) in the car audio world by people who love marketing BS (usually from Sony's Xplod range or similar)..

Anyway i'd definitely try get a generator. Purely for the fact that you'd have to have the keys in the ignition of the car the whole time you have the car running and last thing you'd want is someone drunk/drugged going near the car/having to worry about it.

If the cops came around and the car was running and you were all drinking you could also be done for it.

Good luck which ever route you decide to go down

we do a party each year on a beach. use a generator with grounded circuits to make sure you protect your equipment, and make sure to check it once every few hours just to make sure it wont run out of gaz.

Those cars with the loud sound systems have big capacitors to reduce the instantaneous load on the battery. But you probably won't have similar capacitors in a PA system you attach to the car battery so you're probably gonna overload the battery on sound peaks.

Industrial or Home Depot type equipment rental places can supply a gas generator cheap for a few days, why buy if you're not gonna need it very often. Make sure you check the generator for oil level (yep I had a rental generator seize up on me that way).

quote:

Originally posted by tvmann Those cars with the loud sound systems have big capacitors to reduce the instantaneous load on the battery. But you probably won't have similar capacitors in a PA system you attach to the car battery so you're probably gonna overload the battery on sound peaks. Industrial or Home Depot type equipment rental places can supply a gas generator cheap for a few days, why buy if you're not gonna need it very often. Make sure you check the generator for oil level (yep I had a rental generator seize up on me that way).

Thanks man, I never thought I could rent one! That makes things ALOT easier on my wallet

Generator. No-brainer.

quote:

Originally posted by tvmann Those cars with the loud sound systems have big capacitors to reduce the instantaneous load on the battery.

Those capacitors are really only for show.. Well, in theory they help make up the difference when the load becomes too big for the battery (read alternator) to supply.

There are loads of threads online on debates whether or not capacitors actually help a system. I know that in the SQ world of Car audio Capacitors are frowned upon. I personally would upgrade the big three (Alternator, battery, ground cable) before even considering a cap.

Renting the generator is a clever idea. Never even thought about that.

Your car won't provide adequate power, but even if it did, you'd have to leave it running for hours at idle and it would surely overheat.

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