How to Power a Car Stereo with a Battery Charger?
Sometimes you want to sell your old car but do not want to give away your stereo/radio system with it. Well, you don’t have to give it up as you can use it well in your home. You can easily build your home theatre system with the help of a car stereo system.
You can either use it indoors inside your room or you can set it up outdoor as some of us like to listen to some soothing music while enjoying in the pool.
Yes, you can power a car stereo with a battery charger. A car battery supplies 12-volt power to the car stereo to power it up. So a 12-volt battery would be sufficient.
So, in this article, we will tell you about the procedure to power up your car stereo system and what usefulness can come out of it.
How to Power a Car Stereo with a Battery Charger?
In this process, you need to be careful about some things. Firstly, you should install the system in a spacious place so that the wires don’t collide with each other.
Secondly, you must choose a dry place, wet places can be hazardous to you and the system may also damage due to short circuit.
Thirdly, your tools must be of good quality, you might want to insulate the wires properly to avoid any mishap.
Tools required to power a car stereo
All right, so there aren’t many tools required for the process. Here is the list of the tools that you will need.
A wire cutter: A sharp insulated tool to cut off the wires. Available in different sizes and shapes.
A crimping tool: Used to join two metal wires into one by holding them up.
Alligator/Crocodile clips: A small, springy metal clip for making connections between two conjoined wires.
Battery: A device used to provide electric supply to electrical devices.
Choose such a wire cutter that has a grip span of 6cm to 9cm so that it would prevent your fingers from pinching in when you close or press the cutter.
Do not damage the wires, for they can create a shock.
Avoid working in dark areas or spots with relatively low lights, make sure there are no children around and you are wearing your safety gloves and glasses.
You might consider it doing in a stable plane surface.
A step-by-step guide to power a car stereo with a battery charger
So if you have fully understood the required tools and process. You should start doing it right away.
First of all, you should dismount the car stereo system and put the battery charger nearby. Now from the stereo’s harness loom, find the wires in the back, cut off half an inch of the insulated part from the red and yellow wires.
The yellow and red cables are switched power cables. Now, after stripping off the wires, put them together and twist them with one another, put the twisted pair of wires into a positive crocodile clip.
With the help of crimping tools, crimp the wires into the crocodile clip. Now, you will see another black wire on the car stereo’s harness loom, take that wire and cut off half an inch of the insulated part.
The black wire is also known as the ground cable. It’s a negative side cable.
Now, like we have put the red and yellow wires, we will put the black wire accordingly into another crocodile clip. Crimp it as well with a crimping tool.
When you are done with both the wires and their crimping, turn to the battery side. Carefully connect the red and yellow clip to the positive side of the battery, and the black clip to the negative side. Before doing that you should be 100% sure to check that the battery is turned off.
There is one thing you need to care about is that these wires do not overlap or collide with each other. A safe distance should be present between both these wires.
You may also put insulation tape on the bare copper part to avoid any mishap. Be extra safe with electricity.
Now it’s time to check the system, turn on the battery charger from its main switch. Do the same procedure for the car stereo system.
Your stereo is now ready to play some music.
Common problems when you power a car stereo with a battery
Firstly, there is a big possibility that there will be an unpleasant hmmm sound coming out of the speakers.
Reason: A charger does not have a steady or smooth current, using it on the electronics can cause them to behave abnormally.
Secondly, it can damage the car stereo system.
Reason: The abnormal or unorganized pattern of current can lead to a short circuit, and may damage the stereo permanently.
Thirdly, make sure that you put the positives on to the positive side and negatives on the negative side.
Reason: Simple, it works like that. If you do not follow it, the system would not get any power.
Do not let the wires touch each other. Maintain a safe distance.
Reason: wires colliding with each other can cause electric shock. Try to put them aside and insulate them properly. Try joining them with long insulated wires if need be.
Loose wiring can cause issues. Be extra right.
Reason: If you don’t twist the red and yellow wires together tight, it can create a short circuit. Make sure that the wiring is tight and fixed properly on the crocodile clip.
So this was the process to connect the car stereo with a battery charger. The question arises now is it is okay to use the car stereo out of the car? What good can come out of it? Is it dangerous to put it inside our home and to set it outdoors?
There may be some risks that can be experienced while using the car’s stereo system.
One big risk by installing it outside is the weather condition. Your system could be a big risk if the weather is windy or rainy. Strong gusts of wind can make the wires touch other creating a collision and resulting in damaging the wires and system.
Same can be done when there is raining outside and the system is exposed to rain.
Talking about indoors, as we have spoken earlier about the nature of unfiltered currents of the batteries, this can cause an abnormality in the stereo system.
The abnormal behavior of the system can cause it to damage or even worse burn. The burning can lead to a big scale fire so one must be extra cautious about it.
The constant 60 Hz hum can also create fatigue and headache to you and your family members.
Now let’s discuss the precautions you should follow while handling the battery.
Precautions
You must always keep the battery in an open, fairly ventilated space.
Always use a wooden board to place the battery. Wood is a bad conductor of electricity and it is recommended for electrical related work on wood.
Never keep anything near the battery that can catch fire or is inflammable.
Your battery and the battery charger must be clean and tidy. Dirt particles should not enter inside the battery.
Always wear safety gloves while charging the battery. Do not charge it with wet hands or it will leave you a good shock to remember.
Don’t forget to wear non-conductive shoes.
Do not wear any metal things on your hands. Also, try not to put any metal thing above the battery terminal.
Make sure that the battery terminals have the connectors tightly attached.
Maintain the water level of the battery to the maximum level. If the water boils up fast and you sense that there is extra heat coming out of the battery, stop charging it at once.
To avoid and shock or spark, first, connect the battery to the battery charger and then connect the charger to the main AC supply socket.
Make sure all the wires, connected to the battery terminal are well insulated. Bad wires can damage the battery severely.
Always have a fire extinguisher nearby in case of an emergency.
Lastly, use a good quality battery and battery charger. This may cost you a bit more but it will surely be worth it.
So some days back, I was at my cousin’s party when all of a sudden electricity went out. The party was just about to begin and there was no music at all.
So we did the same procedure. Well luckily, we had a hardware store nearby so we bought all the required tools with ease.
The process took us about 20 minutes to set it up fully. It turned out to be a successful operation and we enjoyed some good music for like 4 to 5 hours.
But we will recommend you to use this process in case of an emergency. Alternatively, you can connect the car stereo with your computer’s power AC supply and it will work out quite well.
So we hope that we have made you fully understand how to power a car stereo with a battery charger and the safety measures you should follow to avoid any contact with danger.
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