Home audio/entertainment system off deep cycles?
First time posting on this forum so bear with me. Some friends and I had a brilliant teenage idea to buy a school bus and make it an RV/party bus. It's a 2004 SF-65 Freightliner, 28ft, CAT 3126 engine(inline 6).
One of my goals and key features of the rig is going to be a full audio system. Including a: home audio receiver(unknown wattage), 4-5 speakers(~10-100W per speaker), LED TV(~80W), Xbox 360(~270W).
Pretty sure I have a pretty solid plan I just want to confirm or get suggestions before blowing $300+ on electronics. Everything I'm doing is trying to be as cost effective as possible.
My plan so far: 2 deep cycle batteries(what are good ones for under $100, golf cart type preferred) that charge from the alternator with a 10AWG wire running from the starter batteries to the deep cycles with a cut off switch for when starting the engine or when it's turned off so I don't drain the starter batteries. Using a cut off instead of automatic isolator to save money.
Then from the deep cycle batteries I will run various 12v systems like lights and phone chargers and things. Also from the deep cycles I will have an inverter(which brand, wattage, pure sine wave or not?) which will power the receiver which will lead to everything else, and then maybe one or two other things occaisonally. Most power will be for that though. We don't need any other appliances RVs have.
Since this is going for the cheap I will only be using one component at a time on the inverter so I can get a smaller one, there are so many on the market for all sorts of prices and I have no experience, I just want one I can use occasionally that won't blow up on me for under $100 if possible. And if I was just using the deep cycles without the engine running how long would this last with moderately priced batteries?
I calculated I will need around 500W to run everything on the receiver the TV, Xbox and speakers(never at max volume if using the TV). But I think it would be best to go at least 7-800W just to be safe, also wondering if i need a pure sine wave or a normal inverter because of the audio receiver and it's potentially sensitive nature.
Another question I have is if my alternator will keep up with all this. From my research I've found that most bus alternators run about 150 amps minimum, that translates to 1800W at 12v which should be more than enough but I don't know how much the bus uses while running.
My main concerns are that I can get something reliable that won't burn up my receiver, and that we won't be 50 miles from the nearest town and find the starter batteries are dead in the morning. What do you think?? Sorry for my terrible writing and maybe dumb questions.
One of my goals and key features of the rig is going to be a full audio system. Including a: home audio receiver(unknown wattage), 4-5 speakers(~10-100W per speaker), LED TV(~80W), Xbox 360(~270W).
Pretty sure I have a pretty solid plan I just want to confirm or get suggestions before blowing $300+ on electronics. Everything I'm doing is trying to be as cost effective as possible.
My plan so far: 2 deep cycle batteries(what are good ones for under $100, golf cart type preferred) that charge from the alternator with a 10AWG wire running from the starter batteries to the deep cycles with a cut off switch for when starting the engine or when it's turned off so I don't drain the starter batteries. Using a cut off instead of automatic isolator to save money.
Then from the deep cycle batteries I will run various 12v systems like lights and phone chargers and things. Also from the deep cycles I will have an inverter(which brand, wattage, pure sine wave or not?) which will power the receiver which will lead to everything else, and then maybe one or two other things occaisonally. Most power will be for that though. We don't need any other appliances RVs have.
Since this is going for the cheap I will only be using one component at a time on the inverter so I can get a smaller one, there are so many on the market for all sorts of prices and I have no experience, I just want one I can use occasionally that won't blow up on me for under $100 if possible. And if I was just using the deep cycles without the engine running how long would this last with moderately priced batteries?
I calculated I will need around 500W to run everything on the receiver the TV, Xbox and speakers(never at max volume if using the TV). But I think it would be best to go at least 7-800W just to be safe, also wondering if i need a pure sine wave or a normal inverter because of the audio receiver and it's potentially sensitive nature.
Another question I have is if my alternator will keep up with all this. From my research I've found that most bus alternators run about 150 amps minimum, that translates to 1800W at 12v which should be more than enough but I don't know how much the bus uses while running.
My main concerns are that I can get something reliable that won't burn up my receiver, and that we won't be 50 miles from the nearest town and find the starter batteries are dead in the morning. What do you think?? Sorry for my terrible writing and maybe dumb questions.
