Approve our festival stereo

[Scraths]

My friends and I have this old tape recorder/speaker that we would like to make portable, and I want to know if we're doing this the right way.
Here's the taperecorder:
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

Here's the DC IN that we want to use
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

Here's the specs of the taperecorder
Imageshack - p1010416i.jpg

We're considering using a sealed lead battery like this:
Lukket blybatteri, 12V 17AH - Blybatterier - Batterier - Elektronik - thansen.dk

and connecting it to the DC IN using either
Batteri klemme sæt | BN205005 - Elektronik Lavpris ApS

or

a combination of these
Batteriledning - Biltema
and
Boomblaster powerkabel for bil | N-CAR-008 - Elektronik Lavpris ApS

So,
- Will this setup work, and does it make sense?
- What is the best type of batteries for this setup? Sealed lead, acid or maybe something else?
- How do we connect the battery to the tape recorder? Should we connect it directly or use the cigarette lighter receptacle combination? I read somewhere that the cigarette lighter receptacle includes a fuse which could be important?
- And finally, how much battery life can we expect from this setup?


Thanks!

[nightanole]

it sucks 38 watts, odds are 10 watts most of the time. Doing alot of rounding your looking at 1 amp at 12v, so a 12 amphour battery will last 12 hours.

For a battery you want a deep cycle (not a lawn mower starter battery) lead acid or some other battery that is designed to go dead and puts out at least 4 amps. The one you picked looks good. You could also use a nicad. Check out the batteries meant for going in ups's.

For connection i would try to find the crimp tabs that go on the battery, then install a fuse at the battery (5amp) then use one of the connector ends you listed to connect it to the player.

[infinia]

Hi
I would firstly agree with the important safety advice from 'nightanole' about battery connections and fuses.
The battery choice looks good! but it is recommended for long battery service life, ie max charge /discharging cycles, that one should only discharge SLA to 50% MAX , also charging rate to be around 10% to keep heating down.! It's also difficult / time consuming to charge up past 90%. so plan on using 40% of rated total AH (7 AH) for everyday use. Measure the current draw with a cheap DMM and plan ahead when to head for a charger.

[Scraths]

First, thank you for the quick responses!

As for the battery we’re only going to use it for one week and then we might give it away. Is it, in that perspective, important how and when we recharge it?

As for the fuse, none of us have any experience in fiddling with electronic devices, so we would like to keep it very simple. If we go for the combination of the cigarette lighter receptacle, will that include a fuse, and be safe enough just as it is? And will it be efficient?
(Another nice thing about that solution is that it makes it very easy to use the setup for other devices, like recharging our mp3-players, and maybe even using a 3-way socket converter for more than one use at the same time)

[Arty]

"As for the battery we’re only going to use it for one week and then we might give it away. Is it, in that perspective, important how and when we recharge it?"
it is allways, maybe most durable in this sense would be a simlpe lead acid battery made for bikes.
those are small enough, and cheap enough, and unless you leave them flat for long they can withstand quite a beating before going kaboom.

[nightanole]

Originally Posted by Scraths

First, thank you for the quick responses!

As for the battery we’re only going to use it for one week and then we might give it away. Is it, in that perspective, important how and when we recharge it?

As for the fuse, none of us have any experience in fiddling with electronic devices, so we would like to keep it very simple. If we go for the combination of the cigarette lighter receptacle, will that include a fuse, and be safe enough just as it is? And will it be efficient?
(Another nice thing about that solution is that it makes it very easy to use the setup for other devices, like recharging our mp3-players, and maybe even using a 3-way socket converter for more than one use at the same time)

The fuse has to be at the terminal, however you want to it. So if your cigarette lighter receptacle has the fuse at the battery you are good, if it has it at the receptacle your kinda bad. Batteries that big can blow up if shorted out, thats why the fuse is at the terminal.

[Scraths]

Originally Posted by nightanole

The fuse has to be at the terminal, however you want to it. So if your cigarette lighter receptacle has the fuse at the battery you are good, if it has it at the receptacle your kinda bad. Batteries that big can blow up if shorted out, thats why the fuse is at the terminal.

First, I apologize for my absence, but I had to go away for a couple of weeks.

I'm not really sure that I understand this fuse thing. How can I see if the receptacles that I mentioned has a fuse at the battery? And could you link to a fuse that I could install myself? Just so I have an idea of what to look after, when I go shopping for one here,


Thanks for the replies