The Boominator - another stab at the ultimate party machine

[rubennn]

Originally Posted by fousifop

Thanks for the reply Saturnus. The halfinator is stereo tho yes? I assume this has drawbacks, eg two halfinators /= 1 boominator? I already have the two amps, maybe I should ask; what is the best way to wire up one mono halfinator, with a 2 channel amp. It seems the only way to get all the information (eg It seems hard to find simple info like 'Just wire the speakers as normal for the halfinator' is to read the entire 300+ page thread, so that's what I'm going to go do now

The halfinator is in stereo, yes! And theoretically it has drawbacks but if you hear the halfinator live running a stereo signal it's really compellingly loud - not as loud as the boominator of course but you get the idea.

I built a halfinator and was satisfied with the result - and I actually didn't build it absolutely correct. I would go for the stereo solution.

It was also previously mentioned that you could run both speakers in parallel on one channel and use a large resistor between the terminals of the other channel. However you will obviously lose the music from that channel. I can not vouch for this solution unfortunately.

[Buckapound]

Fousifop, if you want mono, run each pair (woofer + tweeter) of speakers off one channel of the amplifier, and tie left and right of the input together so they're feeding the same signal to both amp channels. You could also hook this channel summing up to a switch, so you could go back and forth between mono and stereo.

[fousifop]

Thanks, I been reading through the thread, there are lots of pages to get through! I'm thinking I will just use 1 channel of each amp, unless I can get my hands on 4 ohm HP10Ws, otherwise by the sounds of it I will be down on dB. I made a quick animation of my plans so far, easier that trying to explain it. Each half will have one 7.2Ah battery and TA2020 amp. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7tF1tEl14E Thoughts?

[whalebreath]

Does anyone have an opinion on my question re switching to mains-charging? Anyone done it before?

[Saturnus]

Originally Posted by whalebreath

Does anyone have an opinion on my question re switching to mains-charging? Anyone done it before?

If you got a solar charger already you don't a mains charger (and it probably won't work either). You just need a regulated supply of about 15V. Connect it to the solar charger, so that the solar charger charges the batteries. Remember a blocking diode on the solar panels so they don't draw the power instead.

[gmarsh]

I use a 19V laptop power supply to feed the solar charger in my Boominator for home charging. I use a separate solar panel which plugs into a connector on the box, laptop adapter plugs in there instead of the panel. Pretty simple.

I've found that a lot of thrift shops will have a bin where they throw old wall adapters etc, and finding a $2 laptop power adapter or printer power adapter is pretty easy. IT departments also tend to be a good source for them.

Saturnus - keeping an eye on your mini Boominator development now. I love my full sized one but it's a bit unwieldy/heavy - we discovered that a golf cart is dangerous to drive with a Boominator strapped to the roof

[danielwritesbac]

I've used:

Laptop adapter > Incandescent car bulb > diode > battery.
The car bulb is a current limiter that protects the laptop adapter (so that it doesn't shut off from overload). The diode prevents battery discharge when the cord is unplugged. Wow, super easy and convenient. With an 1156 bulb, it can charge a car battery, or with a little "glovebox" bulb, it can charge a drill battery. And a drill battery is useful for extended run time with a wide voltage range audio amplifier. That's also more than twice as powerful as the TA2020. The wide voltage range alternative amplifiers are also quite easy to use with solar panels, by simply not requiring a regulator.

[Buckapound]

Whalebreath,

I have a switch arrangement for my boombox that would suit yours, I think. I have a dedicated charger as well as a regulated power supply, and a switch that changes between the two. I posted a circuit diagram and also a little sketch of the switch terminals as well on May 10, 2011--not sure what post number that is. In your case, I'd also add a switch to choose the charging method, mains or solar.

[Probedude]

Here's what I use to recharge my 12V SLA batteries.
2 Stage SLA charger

[HifiBoyDenmark]

Om soldering my amp6 right now but I just measured the r5 and r6 resistors to be 82Kohm instead of 56Kohm. Can any one help me?

Edit: found answer at page 237