Installing a seperate sound system - Help?

[jasonmayall]

Guys,

Some of you may have seen my recent project, in the form of a huge van from the 70's.

Its being turned into a mini camper, in the sense that its going to be somewhere to sit and relax rather than sleep in.

I want to get a TV in the back, with a small car audio set up but i'm a bit confused as how best to get this wired up.

I don't want to use the standard car battery or have it running from anything that is used to power the car - Reason for this is I cant fit a big battery in the small slot so I don't want to be constantly bumping a 40 year old van.

I plan to make a box for a spare, bigger battery within the boot and have it running off a solar panel to keep the charge (it wont get a lot of use).

My questions are,

How would I go about wiring a head unit upto a battery? I assume I'll need a fuse box of some sort?
I've got a spare AMP i'd also like to install, just for a couple of component speakers - Easy to do??
Powering a TV - I've got a cigarette lighter power inverter, Do you think that would be sufficient?

I'm just looking for a bit of advice on how to go about starting this really, I've got about 3 weeks until its going away, so I need to crack on with it!

[Scott]

Fairly simple job.

The head unit only needs a permanent live which will need a fuse, this can be wired directly to the battery (as said with a fuse)
Switched live - I would probably stick a fuse inline here just as a precaution. Wired direct to battery but with the switch to allow you to power the system on.
Earth - You will be earthing the extra battery to the chassis I would imagine so just earht the head unit to the chassis.

Solar panel for charging I cant comment on as it would depend on how much charge it can produce to the battery, clouds etc... Likewise with the TV it would depend on the draw its taking from the system, battery capacity and the ability for the solar panel to charge it/power it.

An extra amp you would just wire in as normal, inline fuse to the battery. Bear in mind thats another load on the battery/solar panel

I would have all the fuses as close as possible to the battery and the lead to the fuses as short as possible so that if something does short then the live side cant continue to short on the chassis and start a big fire and much death

[jasonmayall]

Fairly simple job.

The head unit only needs a permanent live which will need a fuse, this can be wired directly to the battery (as said with a fuse)
Switched live - I would probably stick a fuse inline here just as a precaution. Wired direct to battery but with the switch to allow you to power the system on.
Earth - You will be earthing the extra battery to the chassis I would imagine so just earht the head unit to the chassis.

Solar panel for charging I cant comment on as it would depend on how much charge it can produce to the battery, clouds etc... Likewise with the TV it would depend on the draw its taking from the system, battery capacity and the ability for the solar panel to charge it/power it.

An extra amp you would just wire in as normal, inline fuse to the battery. Bear in mind thats another load on the battery/solar panel

I would have all the fuses as close as possible to the battery and the lead to the fuses as short as possible so that if something does short then the live side cant continue to short on the chassis and start a big fire and much death

Exactly what I wanted to hear. I had something similar in mind, but wasn't sure if it would work or not.

Thanks :)

Re the solar panel, I've got a small one which is used to keep a battery topped up and it does the job well. I've also used one for removing rust via electrolysis and it proved itself, although took about 50% longer than a plug!

My thoughts being that its a small, small van and we wont really be spending all the time we have in there - Maybe just have some music on, or watch a film on the evenings...

I'll let you know how I get on anyway.

[Scott]

Have a look at the proper leisure batteries that are designed for this sort of thing. Much larger but carry far more charge etc...

[jasonmayall]

I've got 11 batteries in my garage right now, ill use one of those and take a spare for now. The whole project is being done on an almost non existent budget to fund my other cars lol. I've got all the speakers, head unit, TV, wiring etc already so hoping it doesn't cost more than a few quid :)