Help with Battery + Power Inverter

[Carey]

Hi all,

An outdoor event is coming up where we don't have access to an electrical outlet and a generator is too loud. However, we want to be able to have a wireless microphone system (using a lavaliere) and at least one amp/speaker so that guests can hear what our Speakers are saying.

I was told that an option is to get a (deep cycle) battery and directly hook up a power inverter to it so that we can then plug our amp/speaker and microphone receiver into it. The event is for a crowd of 40 people, so it doesn't have to be TOO powerful of an amp.

I'm not sure how many watts/amps this would all take, but could someone suggest the type of deep cycle battery and inverter we'd have to get (ie how many watts is enough for each).

The different watts for both the battery and inverters out there are confusing me, and perhaps I don't need as much as I think.

Thanks in advance!

 

[newtekie1]

How much power does the Amp/speaker setup draw?

Get an inverter big enough to cover that power draw, and then a little more. You might need more than one deep cycle batter to make sure it has enough juice to keep everything run, depending on how long you will be using it. And actually you might not need deep cycle batteries if you are just doing this as a one time thing.

 

[Carey]

Thanks!

Yes, this will most likely be a one time thing. About 30 minutes for the microphone, then another 2 hours just running an ipod to the speaker. I'm not sure what the amps are on the Amp/Receiver draw...what's the average on those types of things?

Would a 400Watt battery & inverter be enough, you think for what I need?

Thanks again.

 

[MT Alex]

It sounds like a decent sized "boom box" would suffice for your needs. They draw much less power than an amp, and could easily be powered by a standard truck battery.

 

[Carey]

Can a boombox work in conjunction with a lavalier wireless microphone?

 

[newtekie1]

Thanks!

Yes, this will most likely be a one time thing. About 30 minutes for the microphone, then another 2 hours just running an ipod to the speaker. I'm not sure what the amps are on the Amp/Receiver draw...what's the average on those types of things?

Would a 400Watt battery & inverter be enough, you think for what I need?

Thanks again.

Well the simplest solution I have to find out power draw is to run down to Home Depot/Menards/Lowes and buy a Kill-A-Watt. They are pretty cheap, usually less than $40, and will tell you exactly how much power the setup draws(and anything else you have around the house, it is a nice little thing to have around, IMO).

One of the good things about a setup like you want, in a worst case senerio, if the battery starts to go dead, you can hook it up to a car with a set of jumper cables and the car will power the entire setup while recharging the battery. And a car idleing is generally a lot quieter than a generator.

 

[MT Alex]

Can a boombox work in conjunction with a lavalier wireless microphone?

Yes. Either straight through the 3.5mm jack, or a 3.5mm to RCA cable.

 

[Carey]

If I go with a boombox + lavalier, I doubt I would need more than 400 Watts, correct?

Also, if the Battery I get is 700 Watts, can I go with a 400 Watt inverter, or the inverter always has to be at least the battery wattage?

 

[overclocker]

Yes the higher the amps on a battery the longer it will last and the more power it will put out at once, the inverter is like a bottle neck, as long as your not running more then the inverter can handle you will be just fine. Just make sure the battery can handle more then the inverter.