DIY Portable Gas Can Radio
 

This is a write up on how to make a LOUD portable radio for camping/houseboating etc...
My friend showed this to me last year and I borrowed his for all our camping trips and it worked out great so I figured I'd build my own this year. I wanted to make it as cheap as possible so I'm sure you could buy a better amp and better speakers and it would sound even better but price was the biggest factor for me so I went with cheap speakers and a cheap amp. If your wondering if this is better than the Dewalt portable radio, I own both and I can tell you its 10x louder, sounds better and lasts much longer. I'll include a list of parts that I used with links also. Here we go:

Old metal 5 Gallon gas can

6x9 car speakers(naxa nx-768) $25
http://www.amazon.com/NX-769-6-Way-S...5468626&sr=8-6

If you really want great sound you can go with these:
http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio--9-...5468737&sr=8-1

Amp: Boss 200w CE202 $38
http://www.amazon.com/BOSS-Channel-M...5468862&sr=8-1

Battery: 12v 18ah UB12180 $43
http://www.amazon.com/18Ah-Sealed-Le...5469224&sr=1-4

Fuse holder and fuses: $8
http://www.amazon.com/Scosche-EAFH-S...5468990&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Link-AGU30-amp...469055&sr=1-10

RCA to 3.5mm cable $10
http://www.amazon.com/Mediabridge-St...5469113&sr=1-3

Deltran Battery Tender Jr. $28
http://www.rvplus.com/deltran-batter..._campaign=bing

Any switch from radio shack $4

Can of spray on bedliner
http://www.amazon.com/Dupli-Color-TR...sr=1-2-catcorr



Total cost is around $150. I can't tell you how long the battery will last since I haven't ran it down yet but I will say that my buddy used a regular ATV battery(which isn't made to last very long) in his and it ran for about 10 hrs before dying so I'm guessing and 18ah battery will last a lot longer. Also after complete, the can weights about 30 lbs. We drilled a hole in the middle of the cap for the battery tender cord and 3.5mm jack to stick out.

Anyway, I hope I explained this well enough. I'll try to check this thread every once in a while to answer questions but if you need to contact me just email at snowboarder4_15@hotmail.com.

Have a good summer!!

Thats a sweet idea. We used to make those out of old coolers in high school. Might have to do another one! Always handy to have one around instead of killing the truck battery

Too funny. I just recently found a website where these guys are dedicated to building systems in various beer coolers. I guess you can make a boom box out of just about anything.

http://www.motorboatyourself.com/

So how is the battery life? Does it have a tin sound because of the hollow steel can?

There's a company in SE Texas that builds cooler stereos too:

http://www.partyinmycooler.com/

This is my 4th gen (and last!) cooler stereo:

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...lerStereo1.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...lerStereo2.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...lerStereo3.jpg

I have another portable stereo that we use a lot, a Soundcast Outcast that a buddy airbrushed for me:

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/9aa8cb5e.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/d3ba600b.jpg

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/m...8/f6a5b224.jpg

Sorry for the hijack! I'm diggin budget and simplicity of the gas can cooler! What battery are you using? I've done wheel chair batteries before and got pretty incredible play times, easily 12-14 hours at high volume. This last one has a Kinetik HC600 which works pretty well too.

I linked the battery in the original post. I'll try to figure out how long it will last when I go on the first camping trip over memorial day weekend.

TJ - Those two radios look sick but they look way to rich for my blood!

How do you charge the battery do you take the speaker out?

Never thought about using a gas can...great idea!

I built a cooler stereo/ghetto blaster with 3 JL 5x7" coaxials and 2 kicker 5.5" coaxials. The speakers are powered by a cheap 200w Dual amp and Dual head unit. I have a group 24 deep cycle battery inside the cooler. It's actually quite loud and will play full tilt for 8 hours before the voltage gets low. I charge the battery with a cheap 12 amp charger.

The battery tender has a 2 foot cable that you can bolt to the battery and then has a connector on the other end. You can see it in picture 2 sticking out the top. At the time I took these pictures I didn't have a drill bit big enough to fit that connector through the cap. So actually both the 3.5mm jack and the battery tender cable should stick out the cap.

That is so cool!

If there is one area of boating I fully admit I don't understand is stereos, amps, and stuff. Ryan, can you explain in a little more detail for a stereo idiot how you charge the battery, and with what you charge the battery?

Love stuff like this - creative

The battery tender is what you use to charge the battery. Basically on one end it has a regular household electric 110v plug and on the other it has connectors to either bolt on the battery terminals(for more permanent application) or it comes with clamps(temporary). In the middle there is a break in the line so you can freely connect the plug to the permanent bolt on terminals without having to access the battery. You can see it sticking out of the top of the can in my 2nd picture. Here is what the battery tender looks like. When the battery is dead all I have to do is plug it in to a regular household socket with the connector that sticks out the top. Hopefully that makes more sense.

That's amazing. I really like this. What did you use to mount everything to the interior of the gas can so the battery and amp don't bounce around? I don't see any screws going through the can.

There is 4 bolts for the amp that you can see in the picture of the back. I also used 2 more bolts for the fuse that's mounted to the side of the can. For the battery my first intention was to use some industrial velcro on the bottom and the back but the tape on the velcro didn't stick that good to the spray on bedliner that I covered the can in so I actually just left it. The battery sits tight between the magnet of the speaker and the back of the can so unless someone picks it up and tries to shake it vigorously it wont be going anywhere.

Any heat issues with an amp enclosed in a black metal case? I have the feeling the AZ sun would fry that amp pretty quick

Ya know I've though about that also but my friend has had one for a few years and he hasn't had any issues.

So I guess my final question to you Ryan is, how much to make one and ship it to me?!?!?!?!

I got a buddy who's got one in a cooler. He always brings that sucker to parties its classic! He has some issues with it heating up but if you crack the lid a bit its fine. Says it does just fine when he floats it on the salt river.

I may try and make one of these guys this summer. What kinda batteries do you guys normally use? ATV or waterski batteries might be a little too small?

Haha well I'm sure it would cost me an arm and leg to ship it too you so I'm guessing it probably wouldn't be worth it after you pay for shipping.

Well I did a little research and learned that car and atv batteries are only made to give a burst of power and then sit on the charger. Fully discharging them seriously kills the life of the battery so you want to go with something with a high ah rating.
I linked the battery I used in the original post.

Alright I finally went camping this weekend and got a chance to see how long this thing will last. We camped from Thursday evening to Monday afternoon and we played it all day when we weren't out on the boat and it never died the whole weekend. I tried to time how many hours we were actually playing it and my guess would be around 35 hours.

Motorboatyourself.com enough said

You could easily wire up a 12v fan and cut another hole or two to get an intake and exhaust fan and keep air moving through that. Wouldn't take much power either. Sorry... I know this is an old thread, just an idea I had.