Topic: cb550 - Enough juice to power head unit?

[snoop]

is there enough juice to power say an alpine cd player and 2 speakers? a sub would be cool too but i dont have room.

How many amps is this engine putting out?

[TwoTired]

The 550 alternator puts out about 130 watts at 2000 RPM, and 150 W at 5000 RPM.

The stock electricals on the bike draw about 115W.  And, when High beam is selected and/or turn signals and stop lights are activated 140 W.  Any excess power production is used to recharge the battery.

How much power draw is required of your stereo?

[physician]

i can help on this one ( I'm a car audio installer). depending on the model, the headunit shoould  need about 4 to 9 amp to drive itself and your 2 speakers ( depending on the volume and the knid of music you will be listening.) i installed headunit on bike 2 times ( honda shadow ) and didn't had any bad feed back except than the rider doesn't ear any music at all from 30 MPH up.

So, with the bad reputation of our bikes charging system, i'll opt for an ipod and a tiny speaker in the helmet, or those communication system with an auxiliary input for musics.

[snoop]

i guess ill do an ipod

[333]

Then theres the issue of use of a fairing or large windshield needed to keep the sound from getting blown behind you at speed.  But with the Ipod method, you should check local laws regatding headphones.  Some states allow them, some states don't, and even others allow only one earphone.

Now I know what you might say next.  That it's only illlegal if you get caught.  Not true.  It's always illegal, you only get in trouble if you get caught!

[snoop]

It doesnt look like I can hook up much from what two tired said.  Would a cell phone or and ipod charge off a 550?

[Chris Liston]

Why would you need it to charge from the bike.  Ipods have like 10hr charge.  charge at home and ride. 

Its a CB550, not a goldwing .

Not knocking your plans or anything.

[TwoTired]

Would a cell phone or and ipod charge off a 550?

Under certain conditions, yes.  But, again I have to ask what the additional electrical drain magnitude is.  What are the power requirements of your cell phone and iPod?

Realize that the 550 alternator makes electrical power only when spinning and at a rate variable with the RPM.
With the headlight low beam on, the bike's steady state drain is about 10 amps or 128 watts.
The alternator output at idle is only about 50 watts, which means the battery is supplying sustaining power.
The alternator makes enough power at 2000 RPM to begin putting energy back into the battery that was taken out during idle.
The battery recharge gets much better at higher RPMs with 150 watt production.

Any additional electrical load placed on the bike will increase battery depletion below the alternator output/bike load break point RPM, and delay battery charge restoration above that RPM.
This may be NO issue if your common riding regime makes the engine spin above 3000 RPM most of the time.  It is the time spent below the RPM breakpoint that depletes and taxes the battery.  When the battery depletes enough, the coils stop firing the spark plugs.  Both the cell phone and iPod will be quite handy at that time.

My cell phone charges with 3.7 Watts.  I wouldn't worry about that additional load, unless I was in stop and go traffic and idling most of the time.  Even then, I would turn off the headlight's 40 watt drain before worrying about the cell phone draw.  I don't know what an iPod charges at.  Wouldn't expect much, though.  It's likely marked on it's charger somewhere.

Cheers,

[snoop]

Well I have a tmobile mda/pda cell phone and I can use it for music/tomtom.  I really only want to use it traveling on long trips so I will be going about 70 the whole time.

[ProTeal55]

I have seen 12 volt outlets on people's bikes before.
Anything can be done, the question is why would you...