How many amps does this stereo amp use per hour??

[Rynofire]

I cannot for the life of me figure out all this amp stuff. I need to know how many amps this stereo amplifier uses per hour so I can figure out how much solar I need to recharge batteries. It only runs the 2 outside speakers from the battery. It is a Sony Xplod 600 watt amp. 4 channel.

[RJsfishin]

Even outputting 10-20 watts per channel, you need a whole lot bigger amplifier, like 100-200 watts if you want good clean undistorted sound on the lowest Bass peaks. If your amp cannot supply the needed watts on the peak bass notes, it will distort, which most all low wattage systems do.
600 watts is not to play music screaming loud. It is needed to keep the lowest frequency Bass notes clean. And it could very well be using all the watts that are available, but only on the peaks. That's why the same music, playing at the same sound level, on 2 different amps, a 20 watt, and a 600 watt,....it will sound 10x better, especially on the heavy Bass notes.
Those low frequency notes that consume mega watts on the peaks, is consuming it for a small fraction of a second, therefore the system only needs to be fused for 20-50 watts of amp audio output.

[wa8yxm]

600 watts is about 60 amps if you are drawing off the house batteries 5 amps if on 120 volts. but the Stereo draws more than that (Likely 2x) at full output

Another thing. You are not likely ever to hit Full Output with that device and thus ower consumption is reduced even farther

The only way to be sure is to plug in a Kill-a-watt meter plug the stereo into that and let it run for an hour or two.. Then by pushing buttons you get the total KWH used, total KW's used, and finally the Up Time of the meter.

Do the math and you have averages. Then we can do the math or you can do it, either way.

[naturist]

There's a lot of confusion here, partly because of confusion over units of measurement. The original question "how many amps per hour" asks for something that makes no sense. "amps" is not a quantity, it is a rate. Thus "amps per hour" is an acceleration. I know, "huh?"

Into the bargain, playing music does not lend itself easily to figuring out how much power (in terms of battery capacity, for instance) will be consumed. The reason is that not only does the answer depend on how loud the music is, it also depends on what kind of music, and will vary from second to second as the music plays because of both the very nature of music in general. Thus it is not amenable to simple calculation.

In purely practical terms, the only way for the OP to get his question answered satisfactorily is to see how long his battery lasts with whatever set up he has, then if necessary, add capacity to the system. If he can't get enough solar power to do the necessary recharge, then more is needed.

[SCVJeff]

This is an impossible question to answer for anyone. Simply play the stereo for a typical time at a typical level, then recharge the batteries with a known charge rate and watch the clock. That's your AH rating

[liborko]

The reason car stereo speakers are 4 Ohm impedance is to increase power. Maximum power delivered to speakers is V*V/R(Z really). You either increase output voltage or lower the speaker impedance for highest power. All that is beside the point. There is only so much volume any human an tolerate. OP speakers would have to be unusually inefficient to require more power to achieve desired volume. That is why I suggest measuring actual DC current to get the picture.
I have Bose home audio system in my motorhome powered by an inverter and its contribution to total current at 12V nominal is less than 2A at any volume. Measured continuously by Blue-Sky IPN-PRO with shunt.

[westend]

liborko wrote:
Forget 600W. Your stereo will never ever produce 600W. Average efficiency of speakers is around 95dB with one watt of power. That is a lot of noise. These things are notorious for overrating and there really is not any standard for rating. High quality home stereos are rated in RMS power usually into 8 Ohm load with stated level of distortion (THD). The only way to get any idea how much your stereo consumes is to measure DC current at 12 V at average volume and at high volume. My guess is it will be less than 3A. Multiply average DC current by hours of use to get rough estimate of ampere-hours(Ah) it will take from your batteries.

I mess around with all things audio. Your take is right on but there are two things that change the completely accurate measurement you state. Mobile speaker systems use 4 ohm speakers and the amplifiers are rated with that in mind. The amplifier will operate at a higher voltage than 12V. If only pushing two outdoor speakers, the amplifier will never output 600W (nor the 300W it is probably rated for into two channels).

FWIW, I operate two car audio amps in my truck, a 600W, four channel amp and a 1000W Class D amp. Neither sees the rated draw as I listen in moderate levels. IIRC, fusing I have is less than the highest rating of the amps. This system is powered by the single truck battery, the original I replaced at 10 yrs, 1 mon.

[liborko]

Forget 600W. Your stereo will never ever produce 600W. Average efficiency of speakers is around 95dB with one watt of power. That is a lot of noise. These things are notorious for overrating and there really is not any standard for rating. High quality home stereos are rated in RMS power usually into 8 Ohm load with stated level of distortion (THD). The only way to get any idea how much your stereo consumes is to measure DC current at 12 V at average volume and at high volume. My guess is it will be less than 3A. Multiply average DC current by hours of use to get rough estimate of ampere-hours(Ah) it will take from your batteries.

[westend]

Rynofire wrote:
225 ah Trojans. Just running 5 led lights for 4 hours, radio/amp prob 8 hrs a day and furnace at night. I'm getting the Renology 100 watt solar charging system to recharge during the day.

Your audio amp is probably consuming something like 2 or 3 amps at moderate volume. I would be more concerned about the furnace draw, motors draw a lot more power than solid state amplifiers. If you have 225 AH of usable capacity, you should be good for a couple of days without recharging. Operating with the 100W solar panel in a full day of sun, you should be golden with the devices you've listed and the run times.

At some point, it gets really obvious that a battery monitor is needed (not that set of idiot lights that are typical). Monitoring the voltage of the batteries may get you close but the monitors are much more accurate. I have a Victron and it is very capable. Trimetric is also a good solution and the combination of that monitor with their charge controller is something many Forum members have used.

Good luck with your solar charging.

[rk911]

Rynofire wrote:
Min 2, most 5. I am recharging with 100 watt solar panel though.

watts is watts and amps is amps. if the amplifier is powered by 12-volts then your max amps would be 600/12 or 50-amps. yes, you won't or shouldn't be running those speakers at full wattage. let's say you run them at 6-watts or 1% of the max volume (to illustrate the point) the formula would be 6/12 or .5-amps. if both speakers are drawing 6-watts then the formula is 12/12 or 1-amp. get it? if you ran your amplifier at a 1-amp draw continuously for 24-hrs the total draw would be 24-ah or amp-hours.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

No refrigerator. No lights. Hmmm. Theoretical 100 watts for x hours. Doesn't take a Cray computer to assume there's gonna be a blackout tonight. Amplifiers are measured by output no input wattage.

A candlelit campsite seems to always begin with the immortal "But I'm only gonna..."

Personally I wouldn't offer a -guess- at this for love nor money. Stereo power consumption needs to be determined beforehand in a driveway not at a campsite.

[Rynofire]

Min 2, most 5. I am recharging with 100 watt solar panel though.

[grizzzman]

Rynofire wrote:
225 ah Trojans. Just running 5 led lights for 4 hours, radio/amp prob 8 hrs a day and furnace at night. I'm getting the Renology 100 watt solar charging system to recharge during the day.

How many days?

[Rynofire]

225 ah Trojans. Just running 5 led lights for 4 hours, radio/amp prob 8 hrs a day and furnace at night. I'm getting the Renology 100 watt solar charging system to recharge during the day.

[grizzzman]

Rynofire wrote:
Hey guys, I know nothing about car stereos and amps. I just bought a pop up and it has 2 inside and 2 outside speakers and the 600 watt amp only runs the outside speakers. That's all I know. Not gonna throw a rave with them, just sit outside by the fire and listen to country music.

well lacking info I would say 200 watts or so would get the job done. what's the amp hours on your batteries?

[Rynofire]

Hey guys, I know nothing about car stereos and amps. I just bought a pop up and it has 2 inside and 2 outside speakers and the 600 watt amp only runs the outside speakers. That's all I know. Not gonna throw a rave with them, just sit outside by the fire and listen to country music.