The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Car Radio Amperage requirements?

Bolters, I just ordered a voltage booster for the ol' green truck and the manufacturer states a 1 3/4 amp output and the ability for this booster to power a 12 volt car radio.

That's swell... but...

What if one wanted to run one of those NEW MP3 players out there?
I have looked for specs on these products but cannot find their amperage requirement. Am I missing something?

The output of that booster is 21 watts. To operate a radio or MP3 player it must draw less than 21 watts RMS.

Allright! That indeed answers my question. Thanks Joe Lane!

Joe Lane, one more thing (I'm car audio illiterate):
- when I look at the specs for CD players, it states 18 RMS X 4 (chanels?). Does that mean it's 72RMS TOTAL or split over the 4 chanels?

That would look like a total of 72 watts output plus you would need some power to operate the machine itself. Probably 100 watts would be sufficient.

and, since fuses are not rated in watts, that's alittle over 7 amps.

Understood...
An Am/Fm radio will do.
I just thought it'd be the ultimate 'post-modern' statement to run an MP3 player, in a 6 volt behemoth from another time... :p