I am currently working on a portable bluetooth speaker on a budget and have a kind of ghetto rigged setup. It works right now but it's not in its final form but I am using a solar panel and solar controller to charge two 12v 7ah acid batteries, one i bought and one similar sized with the same stats but an unbranded from an old alarm system in my house that has been replaced. I am using them to power a lepy amplifier that I've had laying around for awhile which in turn is powering to Micca MB42's i found at a goodwill. I am using a Mpow Streambot for the bluetooth aspect but am charging that on its own.Here's a picture of what I'm working with right now but I don't think it will help a whole lot. The painters tape is gone and all of that will be going in a wooden frame when I can finish spray painting it.Question 1: If I have these batteries (7ah lead acid) connected in parallel, how can I figure out my estimated battery life? I've tried a dry run with them connected to the solar panel and it played for about 6 hours before I ran out of time and had to stop it but it was still going strong. Another time I tried it in-doors and only got about 20 minutes of playtime without the solar panel. I tried to do the math on it from googling around and came up with 4.6 hours of battery life but am not sure how to factor in the solar panel. If one of the lead acid batteries hadn't been in use for a few years, is there a chance it has gone bad? How can I check that?Question 2: The battery level gauge on the solar controller always shows 2 of 3 lights even if I've had them charging for 2 days or when the amp shutoff what what I assume was power failure. Is this something I did wrong or is this the result of a cheap solar controller?Question 3: As I previously stated, I am using a Mpow Streambot to get bluetooth signal to the lepy amp, but am currently charging this separately and then plugging it in. Do yall have any idea's on how to get this to charge off of the existing 2 7ah batteries? I was thinking about rigging a 12v plug socket (similar but not exactly like one that I have laying around) and using a usb car charger (again I have a similar one but not exact, but I hope this helps with clarifying my question) to power it. Will this pull only as much power as the small bluetooth dongle needs or will it be an excess drain on the batteries? I'm assuming a small impact on overall battery life but any ideas on realistic change to overall battery life?Question 4: Should I get a toggle switch to switch off power to the amp and bluetooth adapter? There is already a power switch on the amp but the solar controller shows an illuminated "Load" light even with the amp off or unplugged. Again, Is this a result of a cheap solar charge controller or is there actually still a load being drawn from the batteries?Question 5: This is less of a question and more of an affirmation. If I plug the power cord from the lepy amplifier (12v 3 amp wall plug) into the 12v plug into the solar input on the solar charge controller, will it still function the same as far as charging? I assume so as the controller said its good up to 20a and the plug is only 3a, but I want to make sure I am not damaging the batteries.Thanks for reading and any input is appreciated! via /r/DIY http://ift.tt/2oYiEsL
