Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 17:18:19 -0700
Reply-To: Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Michael Elliott <camping.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Was: Mp3/FM + mono....reccomends? NOW: how much does your CD
unit draw??
In-Reply-To: <c4e7c5f90708311633n7e1e633bta2402e9d68b19460@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
The phrase "rated power" refers to however watts the manufacturer claims the unit can
deliver into some speaker load. I think the KDC-S3007 is rated at 4 x 30 watts, which is
120 watts into all four speakers combined. During that 120 watt exercise the power has to
come from someplace. Like your battery. That's where the 10 amp current draw comes in.
If you're not playing any music, then the current draw will be quite a bit less. How much?
Depends on the design of the product.
How much current does your Kenwood draw when you're playing the music you like at the
volume levels you like? Somewhere between 10 amps and the no-signal condition. It might
not be much more than the no-signal current draw, depending on how loud your music is.
Mellow Yellow's stereo draws about 1.25 amps when it's playing no music or just soft
music. If you're a head-banger and are clipping the shit out of your amp then you could be
drawing 10 amps, sure, and you're asking to be evicted from any campground I camp at. But
if you, like me, listen to soft music -- maybe a little Coltrane or Baker, maybe a bit of
Vivaldi or Puccini, whatever -- then you only need to worry about the amp's no-signal
current draw.
--
Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR
neil N typed:
> Ok. So it seems that my in dash CD/FM unit is a "Kenwood" not a Panasonic.
>
> A search on the net' tells me the KDC-S3007 is 1996 technology. Hmmmm.......
>
> Like, duh.
>
> So I RTFM, and it say's:
>
> Operating voltage ........... 14.4 V (11-16 V allowable)
>
> Current consumption ...... 10.0 A at Rated Power.
>
> Via this page:
>
> http://www.angelfire.com/pa/baconbacon/page2.html
>
> it seems my stereo draws a staggering 144 Watts. Can this be??
>
> Another, ahem, more modern stereo, the Sony CDX-GT310 (kindly
> reccomended to me via pmail), draws 45 Watts.
>
> This could explain, in part, the big drain on my house battery.
>
> Like duh...... --- ;^)
>
> Just in case anyone else was having this problem!
>
> Neil.
>
>
> --
> Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia -
> "Jaco" (Bustorius)
>
> http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
>
> Please send me your Vanagon/Westfalia links!
> http://vanagonlinks.googlepages.com/home
>
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