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ISO Info about 12v car lighter to Recharge a 120v AC Electronic Device. Thanks!

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Roosta:
So, here's the deal...I'm probably over thinking this, but I want to be sure before I make a purchase.Let's begin, shall we?

The Layout. . .
I'm buying Sony Xboom portable Party Speaker Model GTK XB60 to use when I go to and work electronic music festivals. Before I checked out on Amazon, it occured to me that I should check the power source configuration because I need to be able to charge in places that don't have electrical hookups. So obviously I need a speaker I can either recharge/power via a power bank, generator, or my car which is usually parked at my campsite or nearby the camping area. My preference is power banks they're relatively affordable for a decent one. (Anker 10kmAh w/dual usbA quick charge ports and will recharge my JBL Clip & Google Pixel 3XL from 0-100% 3 times each on a single full charge MSRP 69.99) However, it just so happens after tons of research, the one dang speaker I finally choose to buy recharges via 120v AC, 60hz 2 prong wall socket cord. The cord is removable (not fixed to the speaker) & the other end of the power cord that connects to the speaker is (not positive of the variant here, hoping I can get some clarification?) as far as I can tell a C7 female (notched ”figure 8” shape with 2 holes just like an 8) that plugs into the male coupling on the speaker (a recessed housing with 2 round prongs) I'm also confused about the gender on this connection because normally the pronged side is the male but in this scenario the end with the holes slides into a fitted housing but still slides over the prongs . Lol so idk, ANYWAAAAY...
What the ultimate goal here is to find the best method to recharge this large PA style Party Speaker that normally gets charged via a wall socket but instead with the 12v DC outlet in my car, a power bank with USB A ports, or through a small AFFORDABLE NON GAS Powered generator (can't have fuel powered genies at the pretty much every camping music festival I've ever worked because of the noise, pollution and almost guaranteed fire hazard because one or many people who don't know what they're doing do just that burn down a tent City because they didn't know what they were doing).

The Concerns. . .

I think the charging the speaker via the car would fine but be slow going and the car has to be on for hours just wasting fuel (took about 7 hours to recharge the afore mentioned Anker 10kmAh power bank from dead to full via usbA to micro USB in an Anker Fast charge 3A that fits into the 12v socket) I think the GTK XB60 has a 15kmAh battery inside so that's gonna take a looooong time to charge up! If I used a power bank to recharge it I need to find a USB A to C7 charging cord and a new power bank at least as many mAh as the speakers internal battery with probably the fastest recharge capability rating on the market which my bank account is already having nightmares about. And then the quiet gasless generator is probably the best option because they come with multiple charging ports usually with USB A, 2 prong wall sockets, micro USB, etc. They can store a lot of energy (the large powerbank style) or generate there own but the only kind I know about that's not gas powered are solar powered and almost none of them comeWITH a solar panel. All of this by the way is research I've been drowning in for the past month or so and I just want someone to be able to tell me definitively which method I've listed above will work the most efficiently, won't damage the brand new expensive speaker I'm buying by degrading the lifespan of the internal battery, won't cost as much as the damn speaker, and if there's some alternate option I haven't thought about!

The Question. . .

Out of the above methods which is the best option?

If I go the 12v DC car charger route, would trying to find a 12v to C7 (if that's even what that plug end is called) so I can plug the charging cord directly into the speakers 120v AC port? Or would buying a 12v converter or inverter (don't know the real difference between the two, I think converter since I want to convert the car batteries power from DC to the speakers normal AC but hopefully someone can clarify)be better so I can just plug the two prong into the converter/inverter box?

Is there an affordable power bank 15k mAh or larger that could recharge or help to off set how rapidly the speakers battery dies while in use? Again I have to have a way to plug the speaker in to the power bank!

Generators! I would love to have a generator so I could power lights and electronics while camping but they're expensive and most festivals ban them and any flammable fuel source like gas, diesel, kerosene, propane tanks larger than the personal Coleman tanks. They usually allow non-gas powered generators like rechargeable and solar powered but they're even more expensive and all of the ones I found don't come with the solar panel. Combined I've priced then at around $500 dollars to be fully set. . .that's 200 more than the speaker lol. Obviously it's an investment for the future and it could power a lot more than just the speaker but I just can't right now.

Is there anything I've ignorantly mispoken, used the wrong nomenclature, completely don't understand, overlooked, or just plain don't know that you've noticed? If so, please enlighten me! I'm a student of all things until I cease to be, and my father recently passed away so I no longer have access to 75 years of experience and wisdom regarding all things "handy man" that he regularly mentored me in.

Anyway, I think that's it. Below I'll attach photos of the specs for the speaker with accompanying photo of the actual speakers power input ports, and specs on the speakers power cord. I WANT TO STRESS THE FACT THAT I DO NOT WANT SUGGESTIONS THAT WILL DAMAGE THE SPEAKER OR ITS INTERNAL POWERBANK SUBSEQUENTLY DEGRADING THE RECHARGEABILITY AND OVERALL LIFESPAN. NO GAS POWERED GENIES ARE AN OPTION. SOLUTIONS THAT COST MORE THAN $200 ARE NOT VIABLE AT THIS TIME. YOU CAN GIVE ME A GOOD RIBBING ABOUT HOW OVERLY METICULOUS (probably obsessive) IVE BEEN IN MY RESEARCH AND MY GENERAL LACK OF KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING OF ALL THINGS ELECTRICAL...BUT ONLY IF YOU HELP ME FIND A WORKING SOLUTION!!

Thanks for the help!

MosherIV:
Hi
Welcome to the forum.
You have 2 choices
1. Find a car lighter socket to usb adapter that can output 1A or more (they are fairly common now)
2. Look for something called 'car inverter' They convert 12V to 120V AC, however they do not create true clean AC but more of a square wave. Some mains equipment do not like thus 'modified sine' mains.

If you charge from the car without the engine running, it will run the car battery down.
You may want to top up the car battery with a large solar panel.

Ian.M:
The Sony GTK XB60 Speaker nominally needs 120V to 240V AC, 55W and there is absolutely nothing to suggest that it may be able to accept low voltage DC input.   Its USB connection is for playing media files from USB mass storage devices and/or charging USB devices.  It cannot be used to charge the speaker.  Unless you are willing to hack it to bring the internal battery connections to the back panel, there is no way to charge it direct from DC.

You can probably use an inverter in your car to get 120V AC,  but even at only 55W load, an inverter that's 90% efficient will need over 5A at 12V, (possibly a bit less at 14V in with the engine running), so if you own a smaller vehicle, you'll need to be really careful.  e.g. the manual says it needs 4 hours to charge,  so if you shut it off immediately its charged and unplug the inverter your battery will be down by 20AH.  If the cheap inverter has a high quiescent current consumption and you dont get back to it to disconnect it as soon as the Sony battery is charged, you could easily be down 30AH overnight.  If the battery is in good condition and fully charged and you are driving the next day enough to recharge it, you'll get away with it, but if you don't drive the next day and ýour battery is getting on in years, or you need to charge it a second night, odds are you'll need a jump start to get off the field you are camping in.   OTOH if you drive a big truck with *LOTS* of battery ampere hours or a RV with a separate 'house' battery, you will probably be fine weekending.

The other issue is will it charge properly from the output waveform of a cheap inverter?  I've had various chargers that wouldn't unless you put a 40W or 60W incandescent bulb in parallel with them on the inverter output.  That would double the current consumption and make charging without the vehicle engine running extremely inadvisable.

IMHO it would be worth looking for amplified speakers (or an amp + separate speakers) that will accept 12V power in, then getting a Lead Acid Leisure battery (i.e. a deep cycle one) and a charging kit for it sold for use in small RVs, boats and caravans that will charge it off your vehicle alternator when the engine is running.  The Sony speaker has an internal battery of 2500mAH at a nominal 14.4V, or 36 Joules energy.   Even a crappy little 70AH leisure battery will have about 50AH usable capacity (you never want to run it right into the ground as that kills Lead Acid batteries) at an average of 12.5V which is 625 Joules energy.  That's 17 times more so even if the 12V speaker system is only half as energy efficient as the Sony, you'd still be able to run a week long festival just on one charge. Avoid SLAs and maintenance free batteries as the key to long battery life is to give it a really good gassing charge as soon as possible after you run it low, then top off the cells with distilled water to replace what was lost gassing off.   If you are really skint, a second hand car battery from the scrappy would probably be good for half that, and could keep you going for a three day weekend.  You'd also have readily available 12V for LED lighting, charging USB devices via a vehicle adapter etc.  OTOH the battery will be about twice the weight of the Sony speaker for a 70AH one  so its more heavy kit to hump around the field and venue.   A folding sack trolley is your friend!

Incidentally, when it comes to home comforts, I wouldn't advise running a 12V fridge as they typically average several amps draw, so running one for 24H will need a really big battery.  You are better off freezing down in advance 2L bottles filled with 1.8L of water then squished till its at the top before putting the cap on so they dont burst as they freeze., then putting a layer of them in the bottom of á large well insulated coolbox with a thickish layer of newspaper on top so they don''t freeze your provisions.  You want the total ice volume to be about a third of the coolbox capacity. That's certainly good enough for long weekends.    Fill the bottles with potable water and you can drain off the melt water into a thermos flask every morning for chilled drinking water. 

IanB:
Just to mention, the reason that speaker has a mains plug and charges from the mains is because it is BIG. Not only is it big, but it also has a BIG battery inside it, which is how it can run for up to 14 hours on a charge. So this is a BIG speaker, with a BIG battery, that requires a BIG power source to charge it. Did I mention the whole thing is BIG?

So forget the idea of charging it from piddly little sources like USB power banks or solar panels. It isn't going to be practical at reasonable cost. Little portable power sources won't have enough juice to charge something big that needs a mains plug. In fact, you will notice the speaker has a USB outlet for charging phones and stuff from its internal battery. This speaker is meant to provide its own power that it brings with it.

I don't see an easy way to recharge it unless you can find access to a mains outlet at reasonable intervals. How long will you be away from connected mains supplies between uses?

(Technically, I see that it uses a 14.4 V, 2500 mAh, 32 Wh lithium ion battery as a power source, which is similar to the kind used in power tools. So theoretically they could have designed it to use plug in power tool batteries where you can carry spares. But they didn't do that, so you seem to be stuck with the internal battery.)

IanB:

--- Quote from: Ian.M on September 08, 2019, 10:34:46 am ---The Sony GTK XB60 Speaker nominally needs 120V to 240V AC, 55W...
--- End quote ---

This specification is weird. Firstly, the manual says it will take about 4 hours to fully recharge the battery, and the battery is 36 Wh capacity, so the charging power should be about 9 W plus losses. Secondly, the manual says it will run for 3-5 hours at maximum volume on battery power, which implies a power consumption of around 7 to 10 W. So where is the rest of the 55 W going when it's plugged into the mains? I guess we could have 10 W for music, 5 W for lights, and 10 W to recharge the battery, which is 25 W or so. Maybe they are just being very conservative.

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