How to Build a Stereo Cooler
I love to tube the river in the summer, but what’s a hot Texas day, beautiful countryside, and cold beer without good music? It’s possible to buy floating or waterproof radios, most of which double as coolers, but I have never found one that actually generates serious volume. Worse, central Texas rivers are often in deep canyons, with little or no radio reception. I had seen people on the river with what appeared to be standard chest coolers that had been custom fitted for audio, but I couldn’t find anyone online that made them or even any information about how to do it. So, I embarked on a project to make my own Stereo Cooler, and what follows may be the first Internet Guide on how to build one. As a standard disclaimer, if you try to modify a cooler using this information, you agree that I’m not responsible for any injury – use at your own risk! [Edit: Note also that contrary to what some links into this article suggets, this is not a free-floating cooler; you need to put it in a tube to take it on the river]
Things you will need:
- A medium to large size cooler with (very important) a latch on the lid – $30 from Walmart or Academy Sports
- Amplifier installation kit 8 or 10 gauge – $35 from Best Buy, or $20 online
- Waterproof Marine Speakers – $60 online
- 2 channel car amplifier – $50 for 400W Jensen online
- Medium sized 12 volt battery, e.g. for a riding mower – $20 at Home Depot (try to get a sealed one)
- Ratchet tie downs for roof rack – I bought Good Year Tie Downs at Sam’s Club for $20, but probably any kind will do
- RCA to headphone adaptor or cable – You can buy these at Radio Shack or Best Buy; they cost a couple of bucks and look like this
- An electric switch – $3 from Radio Shack or Fry’s, don’t worry overly about A/C vs. DC or the voltage, it’s for a signal line only
- Tools: Exacto knife or box cutter, wire stripper, screwdrivers, pliers, hack saw blade
Note that I built my cooler to support an iPod, so I bought an Otterbox Waterproof Case at Amazon for $40, but you might decide to go without this added protection. Total cost, assuming you already have tools is $200.
First, you need to set up your amplifier. There are a variety of marine amplifiers available, but they’re build to withstand salty air and are not really waterproof. I opted to go for a cheap car amplifier so that if it’s lost in the river it can be replaced cheaply. I’m not an expert on audio, but at the low end of audio you don’t really need to think overly hard about matching speakers omhs with amplifiers, etc. Audiophiles might look down their noses at the Jensen and Clarions I used, but they’re solid, cheap, and do the job. Believe me, they are a LOT louder than they appear for their size and price.
You can see the amp hookups below. +12V goes to the battery positive terminal, GND goes to negative. REM stands for REMote terminal, and typically connects to the “head unit” in your car that has the radio, CD player, controls etc. I chose not to use a head unit for this first project to keep things simple, but we need to be able to turn the amp on and off, so the way to do this is to connect the REM to +12V with a switch inbetween. My amplifier installation kit came with a thin REM wire, and the switch I bought has three settings, and I connected the REM wire to the middle position. This means that the amp is on when the switch is in the middle, but off when to either side, meaning that you don’t have to see the lights on the amp itself to know if it’s on or off. The skirt around the switch is just some heat shrink plastic, it’s probably optional. Note that you can click on the images to see more detail.
Once you have the amplifier hooked up and calibrated (read the amplifier instructions for this), it’s time to start cutting up the cooler. Conveniently, a CD works as a template. Draw the template and cut using a box cutter. It’s very important to not cut the holes too large, they don’t need to be very big we can adjust them later.
Scraping out the foam insulation is messy, so have a dust buster handy. Once you have it scraped clean, cut the inside holes. These can be smaller, and rougher since they won’t be seen. I finished it with sand paper for a smoother look.
Check the speakers for fit, and use a knife or pen to mark the cooler surface where the screw holes on the speakers line up.
The speakers should come with panel clips that will help to securely clamp the speakers to the thin surface of the cooler. Use the clips as a template to cut out rectangular notches large enough so that the hole in the clip lines up with the marks you made on the cooler.
Now you can fit the speakers and secure with the screws provided. The Clarion speakers I purchased have a sticky, waterproof seal on the back, but you could put caulk around the edges for additional water protection if necessary.
Now we turn to the guts of the stereo and the power supply. It’s very important that everything inside the cooler be secured, especially the battery which is very heavy. If the cooler tips over in the water, a loose battery would break the latch and rip everything out of the cooler, and even if the cooler stayed closed it would probably damage the other contents – don’t take a chance on this. I thought about a variety of ways to secure the battery, then came up with the idea of strapping it to the wall of the cooler using a ratchet. This way, it will be tight but can also be removed easily for recharging or replacement. Ratchet tie downs usually come in two pieces with hooks, so we’ll need to modify it into a single loop.
Cut the strap completely off the ratchet, cut off the hook from the other strap, and cut it down to a length that can wrap around the battery and still leave 10 or 12 inches.
Now we have to fix the strap to the ratchet, I used my wifes machine to sew it together, but you could probably use a strong glue or staples if you don’t have a machine.
Cut two narrow slots in the side of the cooler, one above the other, and use a hacksaw blade or something similar to push the strap from the top to the bottom, making sure that the ratchet will be facing the right way up.
Pull it through the bottom slot with pliers, this is much easier than I thought it would be. Apply duct tape around the edges of the slots so that the thin wall of the cooler doesn’t tear.
Now position the battery and strap it in. If you’ve positioned the slots correctly, you shouldn’t have to worry about overtightening. This battery is going nowhere!
That’s the hard part done, now all we need to do it screw down the amplifier into the bottom of your cooler, or onto the side if you have a smaller cooler, and we’re pretty much done. Attach the amplifier switch to the side of the cooler using screws or strong tape and use plastic ties to tidy up the various cables.
The finished cooler. Maybe if I was doing it again I would get a different colored cooler or speaker covers to stand out a little, but its innocuous look belies the power that is inside. With the 400W Jensen and Clarions, the volume easily went so high as to be uncomfortable to the ears! I also found that the system had plenty of bass. It probably would be effective to use a 4-channel amp and add in a bridged sub-woofer, but something about the cavity of the cooler itself seems to generate a strong low end kick. It’s very noticable when closed vs. open.
The cooler is great for floating the river and outdoor parties, and although I’ve never had the battery run out on me yet I figure it has at least 8 hours of continuous play before needing a recharge – enough for a really long float! My only complaint about it is that the sound is very directional. If I were doing it again I’d maybe put one speaker on each side of the cooler, or perhaps even on the lid.
Finally and I hope I don’t even have to say this, but don’t put ice or liquids in the cooler! I’ll occassionally keep items that need to be kept dry in there, but the insides are not liquid-friendly so keep your drinks in a different cooler.
I hope you enjoyed this post, comments and questions are welcome!
[Edit: Please post comments and questions in the Stereo Cooler Forum, thanks!]
Keith
July 5th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Great instructions! Some of my friends are looking at building one….so does the rca headphone adapter that plugs into the amp were good. I thought I was needing to buy a receiver, if not that would be a plus!
Thanks again for the blog!
July 6th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Wow… I have been searching for years to find something like this. Very cool. I intend to use an old headunit that I have but I needed the basic info you provided. Thanks!
July 6th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
The RCA works fine with an iPod for starters, but I’m actually planning to install a receiver/head unit at some point so that I can control the music from outside the case. The only issue with these units are that they are generally a lot less powerful than a separate amplifier. You can always try the receiver first and if you need more power add a separate amp.
July 17th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Nice how-to, great first time build on a radio cooler. I have built several of them (can find them on youtube by searching ‘radio cooler’). But I do think this may the first how-to online I have on a not forum website. I have a couple thread on forum site with build logs of my projects, wierd how they always seem to keep getting bigger/louder though, lol.
July 17th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Great directions for this. I do a lot of river runs, and this would be the perfect accessory!
July 17th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Instead of a head unit, you might try a bluetooth reciever/sender? If the ipod is waterproof you could wear it around your neck and control everything from right there…
July 17th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
So I wanted to post this on How to Build a Stereo Cooler Pt II, but the comments are closed. Just going from the intended purpose of the head unit you bought, my guess is that the Ignition Switch refers to the car’s ignition system, which will supply power to the unit when the key has been turned. I speculate that Memory B+’s constant power is used to keep the clock’s time and the radio presets stored in the unit’s memory.
July 17th, 2009 at 2:35 pm
[...] For a picture by picture walk through, detailed instructions, and a waterproof disclaimer, hit up How to Build a Stereo Cooler. [...]
July 17th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Love floating the Guadalupe every summer, too bad it’s low as hell. The last cooler radio we did got a bit ridicilous but they are fun projects.
I found installing a wired remote to the outside works best and limits you from having to open the case, something like this
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-CDMR80D-Marine-Use-Control-Display/dp/B000VUMXXG
Also you are right, it works best with the speakers on the lid
July 17th, 2009 at 5:06 pm
Thanks Jacob F I think you’re right – I updated the Pt II post.
July 17th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
[...] For a picture by picture walk through, detailed instructions, and a waterproof disclaimer, hit up How to Build a Stereo Cooler. [...]
July 18th, 2009 at 12:21 am
[...] For a picture by picture walk through, detailed instructions, and a waterproof disclaimer, hit up How to Build a Stereo Cooler. [...]
July 18th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Great post. I designed one very similar to this one with an MP3 head unit. I used one of those powerwheel 12 volt batteries and had horrible battery life. I ended up changing it out with a normal small 12 volt automobile battery and it worked wonderfully. We’ve used it on at least 10 river runs and it’s still doing great.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/luisgarcia/135912040/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/luisgarcia/135912080/in/photostream/
Good luck folks.
July 18th, 2009 at 11:08 am
Craig your Radio Wagon is amazing! Great job!
http://www.youtube.com/user/youanimal
July 18th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
You can add to more speakers. That amp can handle 2 ohms and the speakers are 4 ohms.
July 18th, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Hook the speakers up in parallel. It will get your amp hotter but the amp will put out more power.
Oh the blue or green wire will turn on your amp.
July 18th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
[...] For a picture by picture walk through, detailed instructions, and a waterproof disclaimer, hit up How to Build a Stereo Cooler. [...]
July 20th, 2009 at 9:04 am
Solar Panels on the lid to help with charging….lol…just a thought
July 25th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
[...] For a picture by picture walk through, detailed instructions, and a waterproof disclaimer, hit up How to Build a Stereo Cooler. [...]
August 22nd, 2009 at 11:20 am
Keith, Thanks so much for the stereo cooler plans. I just finished my first stereo with 6 speakers installed. The only problem is that I am getting alot of vibration on some music. Did you stuff the speaker holes on the inside with anything? Also, you are showing something on your positive cable? Is this a surge protector for the fuse in the amp? Is this important? How is the stereo grounded? I bought a toggle switch with just on/off but it had 6 connections on the under side. I didn’t know how to hook it up but by trial error I figured out that 1 wire from remote or positive goes to one of the middle connectors on the toggle switch and the other wire from either remote or positive on your amp has to go on the connector on the on side of the toggle switch but also on the same side as the wire you just connected to the middle
connector of the toggle switch. I hope this isn’t confusing! Anyway, I am going to keep messing with my cooler until it sounds right! Probably have to put in better speakers! If anyone needs any info or would like to see pictures of my stereo cooler, e-mail me at michaelc@murray-ky.net Thanks again Keith.
August 22nd, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Mike,
The vibration is probably from the cooler lid or some other loose part of the system. You can test this by holding different parts firm while music is playing and see what dampens the vibration. Once you find what it causing it, fix it with glue or some sticky backed foam bung between surfaces as appropriate.
The box on my positive cable contains a fuse, it came like that in the amp wiring set I purchased, but isn’t necessary I guess if your amp already has a fuse.
The amp is already grounded to the negative terminal of the battery. In automotive audio installation, grounding usually involves attaching to the steel frame of the car, which acts like a wire and is connected to the negative terminal of the battery. It’s not grounding in the sense that high voltage home electrical is, for safety, but is actually part of the circuit.
September 1st, 2009 at 2:52 am
[...] For a picture by picture walk through, detailed instructions, and a waterproof disclaimer, hit up How to Build a Stereo Cooler. [...]
January 5th, 2010 at 11:09 pm
You said you couldn’t find a website that builds them professionally, but I in fact am the owner of a company who does. My website is http://www.tubintunes.com. I have made my products to where it is actually cheaper to buy them through me rather than build them yourself. My background as an installer and inventor has helped me perfect the art of build radio coolers. I even have one that floats by itself down the river. Take a look at the site and let me know what you think about my products. I can be contacted at Delray@brushfireconcepts.com with any comment or questions. Thank you so much.
January 24th, 2010 at 11:32 pm
Hi Keith,
When you hooked your receiver up can it still play from your ipod?
January 24th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
Also Keith if you decide to use 4 speakers, would you need any additional appliances?
January 30th, 2010 at 10:59 am
For four speakers, you would need to buy a 4-channel amp. They’re not much more expensive. On your iPod question, yes you can still connect it by switching connections from the receiver. Alternatively, you can buy a higher end receiver that has iPod integration.
February 12th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
I would put the battery in a battery box and vent it outside to reduce corrosion proplems to your equipment and reduce any chance of explosion.
February 13th, 2010 at 9:42 am
Keith,
Building a stereo cooler for the baseball park while attending my son’s games. It’s definitely going to be cool having it at the ballpark, however, I’m a pure novice when it comes to hooking up stereo equipment. I’ve followed the instructions to a tee but somehow can’t get any power to my amp. I’m using a 10 gauge install kit, a 12V mower battery, a 600W JVC amp and switch from radioshack. I have everything connected exactly like you have it in your amp photo. Fuses are good. I’ve even tried taking the switch out of the loop. Just can’t get the amp to power up. Any suggestions?
February 13th, 2010 at 11:23 am
It sounds like you have everything set up right, but check to make sure that you have the hookups the right way round, +12V to battery + and GND to battery -. Also, I think the amp itself might have a small inconspicuous power switch you need to turn on. Failing that, you probably need to start testing the individual components with a multi-meter (these cost as little as $15). Touch the multi-meter pins to the terminals on +12V and GND on the amp while everything is connected. If you get a voltage, then it’s probably the amp that is DOA. If you don’t get a voltage test the battery terminals to determine whether the battery is flat or the cables are bad. Good luck!
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:19 pm
Just finished mine! It turned out amazing. I still have an amp just like yours (the jensen 400w) but it is really loud even without it. I am going to wire up a switch to it as well. I know the pics do not show it, but there are blue led’s under the headunit and it lights up the cooler nicely. I used Krylon Fusion paint and cleared it so I shouldn’t have any problems other than the bottom chipping but it is the bottom, so what. It has wheels so it shouldn’t even be that much of a problem. Tell me what you think!
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:20 pm
not sure why it didn’t post, here is the website.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48629603@N05/
March 23rd, 2010 at 6:21 am
Looks great Todd! The red paint really gives it a fresh look and goes nicely with the silver components. I really like the small tweeters on the front too. You’ve definitely raised the bar, I might have to get busy again before tubing season starts!
April 7th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
I like seeing other people’s ideas and cooler builds.
Todd
The red paint looks good. I have thought about painting mine but keep talking my self out of it.
http://www.motorboatyourself.com/page12.php
April 16th, 2010 at 11:11 am
I love it and thank you for the info. I’m wanting to add one thing that I saw last year on the river. This guy had a lighter socket with the lighter that you push in and it heats up on the top. Very nice for the smokers in my group. I’m a people pleaser and want to impress. what is the easiest way, if anyone knows, to add this to the mix.
April 18th, 2010 at 7:25 am
You should be able to buy a lighter assembly from a car parts store, online, or you can even rip one out of an old junk yard car. They run off 12V like most things auto, so just connect it in parallel with the stereo (as opposed to in series). That is, just connect the wires from the lighter directly to the battery terminals. Make sure you test that the hook up works before cutting into the cooler. The cooler material is pretty heat resistant so you shouldn’t have any problems there. Please send me pics of the finished result and I’ll post them!
April 20th, 2010 at 7:40 am
I have a marine stereo, marine speakers and a lawnmower battery. But I keep blowing the fuses on the radio everytime I hook it up. What could be the problem you think?
April 22nd, 2010 at 10:33 am
Okay did anyone see the post about tubeintunes
that place is a rip. DUDE come on 668 dollars for cooler i could make my self for $200. Anyway Keith sweet site i have made my own cooler about a year ago. I got my template from TEAMBADMONKEY.com I really like the strap wrench idea though!!!! I am about to make another one this week for the boat. I plan on using no battery. I am going to use aligator clips and just hook it up to my boat battery.
May 2nd, 2010 at 6:14 pm
How well do you think this would work? Well as in, Volume.
May 2nd, 2010 at 6:15 pm
woops http://www.amazon.com/Dual-MXCP25S1-Receiver-Speaker-Splashguard/dp/B002COJ4Y0
May 16th, 2010 at 10:11 pm
Will you build me one? How much? I’m in Austin but I can pay for shipping or go get it.
May 18th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
@ Mike….check http://www.liquidaudiocooler.com for more info on a purchaseable floating stereo.
May 22nd, 2010 at 7:55 am
Hey I was wondering how many amp hours the battery you used has. I am about to try this out, I have 4 infinity 612m speakers that I plan on using, an amp and a car stereo that will be mounted inside the cooler. With all that I was thinking I would need at least 100 amp hour battery maybe more for a 6 hour float. Any advice you have on this would be greatly appreciated.
May 22nd, 2010 at 1:23 pm
Cameron, my physics is rusty, but as I recall current = power/voltage. You didn’t tell me the power of your amp but those speakers are 75 watt RMS (continuous power) so current = 4×75w/12v = 12 amps. This means that a 100 amp hour battery should give you at least 8 hours of continuous play. In practice you’ll get even more than this since the amplifier isn’t generally drawing sustained current.
June 1st, 2010 at 5:49 am
Hey man, I am in Iraq right now but working with a buddy of mine back to build a cooler for an upcoming tubbing trip. I notice you said that you plan on putting a head unit in it to control to music better…. here is my setup and I think it might work for you too!
750 watt kicker amp I pulled out of my truck
Clarion 7 band EQ $30 on amazon
4- Boss marine 6X9’s $130 on amazon
A marine grade battery for days of run time instead of hours
a Pelican waterproof micro case mounted through the lid for easier access to the mp3 player.
I hope this helps and if you have any suggestions.. please email me… thanks man!
June 2nd, 2010 at 10:45 am
My setup includes this amp: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_11596_Boss+CX350.html
along with two 5 inch Pyle speakers…no head unit, just plugging the ipod directly into the amp. Was thinking of adding a subwoofer. How would I connect it…just wire it to one of the two unused speaker channels? (its a 4 channel amp but i only have two speakers hooked up at this point)…or would i need some additional hardware? thanks everyone…
June 3rd, 2010 at 8:47 pm
Will i need a head unit or can i just hook my mp3 straight to the amp..
June 4th, 2010 at 5:40 am
Mike… to hook up a sub to that amp, all you would need to do is bridge to of the channels together.. from the pics i looked at for that amp… you would run your two 5’s off of channels 1&2. use the neg side of channel 3 and the pos side of channel 4 to bridge those channels for the sub. now with that setup you will only be pushing 100 watts to the sub so you are going to be limited on the sub that you run. I wouldn’t put anything bigger than a 10 in a cooler. hope this helps buddy!
June 4th, 2010 at 9:33 am
Great design and step by step directions. any thoughts on the possibility of a cooler large enough to seal half off for conventional cooler purposes (ice and beer)? what would you use to seal or separate the two areas?
June 4th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Chris: funny you should ask that because I’m planning to build exactly that in my new cooler for the summer. The key is going to be waterproofing, and using smaller components so that I can still use a cooler small enough to fit well into a tube.
Mike: Brandon is spot on, you can “bridge” the channels for a sub; the manual that came with your amp should also have more detail.
Andrew: you definitely don’t need a head unit, you can use either or. Several people have commented that they get enough power just from having a head unit with no amp. My initial build used just the amp. You’ll need a cable that changes headphone output to RCA plugs.
June 7th, 2010 at 10:43 am
On March 22, 2010 Todd sent a link to a river radio he had built, that is the most amazing one I have ever seen. I would love to make mine just like Todd’s, is there any way to contact him about his radio???
June 8th, 2010 at 7:10 pm
I am using a Pioneer head unit with (2) 6.5″ speakers and no amp right now. I understand how to wire the speakers but I’m confused on how to hook up the head unit to the battery. I see the the pos. wire and the ground wire. I also have acc. wire. How would I hook this up to turn the head unit on?
June 8th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
All, the comments on this page are getting too numerous to read so I’ve created a forum/board where everyone can post and discuss:
http://www.keithsibson.com/stereo-cooler-forum/
Please check it out and please post pictures of your cooler builds, thanks all!
Cameron, I responded to your question on the forum.
July 1st, 2010 at 9:37 pm
i am building one for an up coming river trip and was wondering how they hold up to the rapids?
July 2nd, 2010 at 7:03 am
Never had an incident on the rapids, though obviously there’s a risk there. Couple of tips: use a medium large cooler so that it fits snugly in the bottom of the tube with a low center of gravity and won’t move around, and/or use bungee straps to hold it down. Most important of all though is that you hold the battery down securely. I use the cargo strap technique, but whatever works for you. Finally, the cooler lid should have a latch, the stronger the better and ideally locking (you will probably have to buy hardware for this). It’s difficult to completely water seal a cooler, but these steps will at least protect it long enough for rescue.
July 2nd, 2010 at 11:18 pm
Nice write up. Pioneer and Kenwood always make decent products (IMO). You can’t really go wrong with either brand. Pioneer and Kenwood products are also inexpensive.
August 11th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-9sy–GgQ4
GADGETS ON THIS BUILD!!!!
August 22nd, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Awesome job! I followed your steps and made my own. The cheap 12V battery lasted 8 hours during our float. Not bad, but I ordered a cheap Solar battery charger/maintainer and it’ll blast all day now! Thanks again for the help!
September 1st, 2010 at 4:06 pm
I built one following your instructions and I am loving it!! You explained things very well! One question I had was about charging. Do you have to disconnect the amp from the battery to hook up the charger or do you just clamp the charger up w/ the amp still attached? Thanks a bunch!
Tony
September 19th, 2010 at 9:48 pm
I had that same question but I went ahead and charged it while it was all hooked up and still playing. I had no problems with doing that but if any tech guy out there know for sure, please share…
September 28th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Sic audio is here it help if u guys need any other help or just want to buy a pre made coolers we got them I think this site is great and he had got it down. Stop by http://www.sicaudio.com for more info
October 6th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
toggle switches are nice for small electronic projects and homebrew electronic stuffs;”-
October 7th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Yours looks nice. I have been building them for years for fun. Anything you can put in a car you can put in this unit. My last was a basic stereo (2 speaker-full range), a power inverter with connections to run a blender from outside, and a 900 mhtz receiver to play from a remote location.
This time I am building from the same stereo and speakers, adding an amplifier for sub woofers. Lastly, I have run a external 12v plug so it can be externally powered with a combined battery booster/power inverter. It is much more clean and easily chargeable, with higher battery capacity. I am toying with an smaller internal battery to keep the stereo memory going. One thing you didn’t mention was the antenna for radio…………manual for me but electric for crazy people………………lol. Just started the new one up and it sounds great!!!!
October 7th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
By the way it was a clarion stereo. I use it for sound with an lcd projector. You have no idea the reactions I get playing a movie off a flat 400 foot cliff at the river……………………..
October 9th, 2010 at 3:16 am
Sounds cool. How do you keep water out of the projector?
October 17th, 2010 at 4:09 pm
I ran the projector from across the river to the mountainside or off a boat….not so shaky after nightfall and calm………………………
October 21st, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Hey this was a interesting article. I found your blog on google and am glad I did. I was looking for a way to subscribe but couldn’t see one? Thanks for the post, hope to hear back from you. thanks
October 24th, 2010 at 2:19 am
Great stuff.I’d like to suggest taking a look at a lot around the idea of graphic bomb. What exactly are you looking for though?
October 25th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
I built one with similar specs but put a Kicker 10″ sub-woofer on the lid, very nice but cut battery life by 50%, sounds great though. Got 2.75 hrs on a recent float, will mount a back up 12v for next trip.
November 10th, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Hey Keith, I am getting ready to build my own cooler but have no idea on what kind of battery to go with. I will be using a 600 watt 4 way amp to power 2 – 6 x 9 speakers as well as an 8″ sub. I actually bought a wet cell lawn mower battery at Walmart for 25 bucks but hear that a deep cycle battery is the way to go. Can you give me some guidance on what kind of battery to buy? As well as where to get one at a decent price? I’d like one that will last 10 plus hours.
November 11th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Chad, any battery will work but if you want to maximize play time deep cycle is probably the way to go. I have a wet cell and it lasts over 6 hours, but I don’t have a sub woofer. Depending on what you plan to do with the cooler, consider also the option of bringing a spare battery! Be sure to build the cooler so that you can replace the battery easily if needed.
January 4th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Love the builds! See yall on the river again soon!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK6zwgPZGPI
January 29th, 2011 at 7:44 am
Roach, very nice build. Great to see that custom fabrication is possible without special equipment, I might give that a try this Spring.
February 6th, 2011 at 11:58 am
Keith, Do you generate enough bass or do you need a sub? I’m not looking to rattle everything around me but just good lows no matter what type of music is requested. Thanks man great step by step instructions. I’ll let you know how mine turns out.
February 6th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
Charles, a good compromise would be to build your cooler with just speakers first but leave enough room for a sub, then you can add one if needed. Personally, I found that I didn’t need one since the cooler itself seems to generate a low kick but your mileage may vary! What I’ve heard from others that do have subs is that it drains the battery quite quickly, so bear that it mind if you want long playtime.
March 1st, 2011 at 1:00 pm
I am in the process of building my cooler now. thanks for the great instructions. Having trouble gettin my amp in from the website. thats all that I have left to finish it. I did find a website with a completely waterproof bag that i’m going to put my ipod or iphone in, and attach it to the cooler on the outside, so that I can change the music. It has an audio jack on the bag. Here’s the link: http://www.thepocketsolution.com/PSI-69403/iPhone+4+Waterproof+Case.html
I plan on running a cable thru one of the drink holders on the top of the cooler and sealing it with a grommett of some kind or some RTV.
March 1st, 2011 at 1:15 pm
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h263/a55hol/1299009992.jpg
March 1st, 2011 at 5:38 pm
Hi Keith – Thanks for the instructions. I found this Pyle all-in-one package on Amazon when I was researching the individual components. As far as the installation kit, amp, and speakers go – do you mind taking a look at this link and seeing if this would suffice?
[Edited out the link because the site looks a little shady - Keith]
Plan on using it for Mardi Gras and will need a good 12-14 hours out of it so I’m going to go with a small auto battery.
Thanks!
March 3rd, 2011 at 8:51 am
Hey Keith, great instructions, I had one question. The switch from the amp to cut the power off, is it connected from the REM on the amp to the + on the amp or the + on the battery?
March 6th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Toby, technically it’s connected to both! I clamped it onto the amp since that’s easy and keeps down on wiring, but whether you attach to the battery + terminal directly or a wire connected to the battery doesn’t matter. They’re both at the same position in the electric circuit.
March 6th, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Rob, check to make sure the bag floats with your phone in it. I bought a waterproof hard case so I could keep my iPod outside the cooler and it worked great right up until I accidentally dropped it in the river and it sank never to be seen again. A $100 iPod iPod is more easily replaced than a $600 phone!
March 7th, 2011 at 10:38 am
For those that have built a stereo- have any of you tried to build a ventilation system? Even just end caps or some kind of vent to allow airflow? The purpose for mine would be for RAGBRAI (bike ride accross Iowa). I’d put it in a trailer and haul it behind my bike in July, but am worried about constant overheating. I would think some kind of system for fresh air-flow would work- but it also needs to remain waterproof! Any ideas or suggestions?
March 7th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Keith
That bag does float, and it will also be strapped to the cooler…I thought about also gettin an IPOD. I do have a question though, can you charge the battery while it’s being used? We’ll be playin music on the patio and I was wondering how i could maybe make an adapter so that it is able to be plugged into a wall outlet. charging….is it necessary to take battery out or can i do it with the battery hooked up?
March 8th, 2011 at 12:49 pm
One more question, i’m thinkin about adding a converter….so that I can plug the entire thing into a wall outlet. Has anyone done that? When we’re not floating the Guadalupe, we’ll have the cooler on the patio at the cabin, so i’d like to use it from a wall outlet then if possible.
March 13th, 2011 at 1:16 pm
Rob, I believe that if you try to charge the battery while drawing power at the same time it will damage the charger, but I’m not sure.
March 30th, 2011 at 10:19 am
I’m startling to build my cooler with 2 6/5 speakers 10inch sub and 4 ch 600watt amp and a deep cycle 12 volt battery running it to my I pod. ny tips.
April 1st, 2011 at 11:05 am
Justin, you can pretty much follow Keith’s instructions to the letter. I used a taller cooler, with the expandable handle and wheels at the bottom, and it worked great. In hindsight, i probably would have put a speaker on each side instead of two next to each other on the front. But it does work and sound great!
April 5th, 2011 at 3:00 pm
If I want to put a switch on my sub hoe would I wire it
April 5th, 2011 at 8:21 pm
Justin, put the switch next to the positive terminal on the battery, before it connects to anything else. That way, the switch turns the power on and off to the entire system, sub and all.
April 5th, 2011 at 10:11 pm
Thanks Keith I wanted to have 2 switches one for the entire system and one to just turn off the sub to save bettery life. Your step by step instruction was a big helpbthanks so much for taking the time to do that.
April 19th, 2011 at 6:53 am
Justin, yes you can do two switches. Put one next to the battery +ve to control the entire system and one on a wire connecting directly to the sub.
May 10th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
Great job keith, Im thinking about making my own really soon, I did want to know how large your cooler was in quarts, and how quickly your iPod died. Did it die before the battery??
May 11th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Jared, I don’t know the size unfortunately, but you should be able to eyeball it from the pictures. It’s an Igloo cooler from Academy and is about 2.5ft wide. It’s definitely bigger than needed to fit everything inside so you could go for a smaller one, but the benefit of this one is that it fits perfectly into a standard tube for floating. My iPod definitely does not die before the car battery. I think the battery is good for around 8 hours of continuous play, but it will depend on the size of your amp.
May 22nd, 2011 at 9:58 pm
Hello, could you tell me if i have to use an amp? Is it possible to just use the marine radio, speakers and a battery?
May 23rd, 2011 at 6:54 am
Elijah, yes you can just use the radio receiver. Although it will be not be as loud it may meet your needs, and you can always add an amp later if needed.
June 6th, 2011 at 7:47 pm
what if I wanna run 6 speakers? can I run them off one amp???
June 9th, 2011 at 11:43 am
Just bought my speakers and amp, i have everything else except a cooler. Now i was woundering how i can build this and still use half of the cooler for beverges. Any ideas on size and how to build it? And would buying soloar pannels help charge the batery?
June 9th, 2011 at 4:08 pm
Nice work man. I’m building one this weekend and bought all the marine stuff through Amazon. I was worried about installation but using your instructions it seems like it should be a breeze. Thanks again!
June 18th, 2011 at 8:01 pm
Thanks Keith for the great information. After viewing this page, I purchased all of the needed equipment for my radio. My equipment will be in Tuesday. I’m putting a pair of pioneer ts-mr2040 speakers hooked to a pioneer gm-3500t amp in a 52 quart igloo. Think it’ll sound good?
June 20th, 2011 at 11:04 am
I built one like this, but the only problem I had was the amp over geared from the play/heat. Any ideals to prevent this?
June 20th, 2011 at 11:05 am
Over heated*. Not over geared
June 20th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
Mike – I’ve seen builds that incorporate cooling fans, but the tradeoff is that you lose waterproofing. What I usually do is put three or four solid ice packs in the cooler before taking it out in the sun. These are sealed packs that you put in the freezer, for lunch bags etc. Don’t use bags of ice, they will leak. Some day, I have dreams of building a sealed water cooling system, but the packs work well!
June 20th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
Hi Keith wanted to know how to connect 2 6-1/2 speakers, 2 tweeters, and an 8 inch sub with a 4 channel amp? Or would it make more sense to just get the 6-1/2’s with the tweeter already built in??? But still need to know how to connect them to the amp. Thank you for your time.
June 22nd, 2011 at 9:22 pm
Keith – I just wanted to say thank you very much for this post…My v.1 of my new boom cooler is FINALLY complete because of this chronicle of your build. THANK YOU
June 25th, 2011 at 9:33 pm
how long will it last on that lawn mower battery?
June 26th, 2011 at 12:08 pm
Keith, have you found out how to make a cooler that can carry drinks? Kind of like this one…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIEuuMPJTtM
Well does anyone know how to make this one? I would love step by step instructions. If you know how you can email me at imortalmax@yahoo.com
Thanks!
June 26th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
how long would it last on that lawn mower battery… i hear like an hour to a hour an a half… plz reply..
June 27th, 2011 at 7:48 am
Ryan, it depends on how many speakers, whether you have a sub, power of amp, etc. The build I describe in this post lasts for at least 6 hours of continuous play. It could be longer, I’ve never actually had the battery run out on me.
June 27th, 2011 at 9:41 am
So I was looking at it and was wondering if I could just stack everything on one side so I could use the other side for drinks?
June 28th, 2011 at 11:43 am
ive made mine, i have 4, 6 an a half speakers. how long will they last on the lawn mower battery? plz reply..
June 28th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
oh. .. can i just use the negative terminal on the battery to ground the amp…
June 30th, 2011 at 7:31 am
Hey Keith, nice post very helpful. One question, I have (6) 6.5″ speakers,marine head unit and an 800watt amp. And want to know can I hook all six to the amp? Which is best way to hookup speakers. I have hooked up like this so far (+) head unit to (+) amp & (-) same way. Then antenna wire from head unit to rem on amp. Then red RCA connector from head to red RCA input on channel one on the amp and white RCA connector from head to white RCA input on channel 4 on the amp. Then hooked 4 of the speakers to channel one on the amp (I assume this would be called in parallel) and the other 2 speakers hooked to channel four on the amp. This seems to be the only way that all 6 speakers would work through the amp. Is this ok to do? Is there a better way?
June 30th, 2011 at 10:13 am
Shane, there is a good tutorial here:
http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/FAQ/Wiring/
There also should be instructions with your amp on how you can bridge or put speakers in parallel. As the tutorial says, don’t try to bridge the amp if your doesn’t explicitly support it.
July 1st, 2011 at 10:30 am
Thanks for the reply Keith. So I asumme I am bridging my amp when I take the red RCA connect to the red chan. 1 input on the amp and the white RCA connect to the white chan. 4 input? Thats what it seems to me. And yes my is bridgeable.
July 1st, 2011 at 12:08 pm
I guess the real question i have is. Do I get more output on 4 channel amp bridged with speakers wired in parallel on the 2 channels vs non bridged wired in parallel to 2 channels vs non bridged wired individually to each of the 4 channels?
July 7th, 2011 at 10:17 am
Keith, I am definitely no electronics guru so I have a couple of questions for u…..
Does a larger amp require a larger battery to power?
Will a 250 watt amp power 2 40rms speakers and 2 65 rms speakers?
Thanks for the help
July 7th, 2011 at 7:25 pm
This was a great How-To. Once i saw this i knew i had to do it! I just finished mine today and its looks n sounds Great! Thx!
July 10th, 2011 at 1:22 pm
Art, you can use any sized mower or car battery as long as it is 12V, the size will determine how long it lasts. I’m not a stereo expert, but the way to think of RMS on speakers is that it is capacity. The only danger is if you have a powerful amp driving weak speakers at too high a volume since you might damage the speakers. Really, any amp will drive any speakers. With a 250W amp it will work fine and you’ll get long battery life, but you might feel like you want more power. My build is a 400W amp with 2 x 50rms speakers. I’d recommend 400-500W for you if you plan to crank it up.
July 10th, 2011 at 1:25 pm
Shane, sorry I don’t know what the best way to set up your 6 speakers would be. I suppose you could just test both ways. Just make sure that the way you’re bridging it is supported by the amp or you risk damaging it. The manual should show the valid bridging methods.
July 11th, 2011 at 5:26 pm
I just finished all the wiring on my stereo, but when I hook up the battery, the amp turns on then off again after a second. I checked all of my wiring but can’t find any problems. Any solutions or suggestions?
July 12th, 2011 at 9:25 am
Dennise, maybe +/- are the wrong way round? I’m not sure, but try removing everything (speakers, switch, etc) except the power connections and see if the problem still occurs.
July 13th, 2011 at 7:17 pm
I am makeing a radio cooler with 4 marine 120 watts speakers and a marine radio what type of amplifier kit would i need
July 15th, 2011 at 11:08 pm
if yall would like to see the 1 i built off of half of these directions… i did mine a lil diffrent… go to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ETOelRDA7I
July 15th, 2011 at 11:10 pm
if you watch my video plz comment rate ro subscribe!
July 21st, 2011 at 9:57 pm
Do you need a stereo amp or can you just use a multi-channel amp. I noticed on websites that sell already made coolers using stereo amps, but I don’t know the difference
July 22nd, 2011 at 10:49 pm
Can you by chance make a video of the whole set up for those of us who that helps better?
July 24th, 2011 at 9:28 am
Kyle,
Stereo means that it will take 2 input signals and amplify them both. Multi-channel amps are essentially several amps built into one device, and usually used where different levels of power are needed, eg in cars that have two big speakers in front and two small in back. It’s also common to bridge channels for subwoofers, combining their power. If you plan to use all the same type of speakers in your cooler with no sub you don’t need multi-channel.
Keith
August 10th, 2011 at 8:05 pm
Hi guys, my build is 1 year+ old and has served me well, I did Keith’s build but added a 10″ Kicker sub on the lid. During a recent visit to Port A, I blew both fuses on my very expensive V Power Alpine Amp…do y’all think this was due to the weather heat or do I need to incorporate a cooling system in the box? Regardless, I’m packing some spare fuses but feel like I’m ignoring the fundamental problem…any advice?
August 14th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
I’ve never blown fuses but I’ve certainly had the amp shut down from overheating on a few occasions; cooling is definitely an issue. I’ve seen versions with PC cooling fans but you lose water resistance. I think the simplest way to deal with it is to put sealed freeze packs in with the cooler before you take it out in the sun. Alternatively, I’ve seen people build partitions so you can put ice and drinks in alongside the amp – two birds with one stone! I suppose if you wanted to get really advanced you could build a closed water cooling system that wouldn’t require air vents and so keep water proofing.
September 2nd, 2011 at 8:43 am
Hey Keith, just put my cooler together, using an alpine cda-9885 head unit. Anyway, i’m having trouble getting the head unit to turn on. I’ve hooked it up to 2 separate batteries (ground to the negative, and the power and the turn on lead to the positive) and it wont turn on. But when i hook the same wires up to a battery charger, it starts up just fine.
Thanks for your help
September 9th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
Brian, not sure about that one, the only thing I can think of is that your battery may not have enough charge.
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