Radio Set-Up in my Tomberlin E2 LE

[farrbar]

I recently purchased a Tomberlin E2 LE and have been trying to decide what to do for a sound system. I ordered the Tomberlin rear seat, so I have some space under the back seat.

Here is what I have come up with so far, and I am interested in your thoughts:

1) I plan yto power the system via its own 12v battery. I don't want to tap into the batteries powering the motor, thus reducing run time or possibly creating other electrical issues.

I will probably mount the battery on the floor below the backseat inside a marine battery box (like you would see on a small fishing boat). These are weather resistant and can be purchased for under $15. (go to west marine or overtons web page and search "battery box").

I plan on having 2 ways to charge this extra battery: a) I will install a set of remote battery posts under the seat, and when I plug the cart in I will just throw my car trickle charger on these remote posts (thus, not having to crawl under the seat and open the battery box each time). b) In addition, I will also add a small 5 watt or 7.5 watt solar panel to the roof of the cart that will charge the battery. On sunny days I can just park outside to charge the radio.

My other option, would be to use a portable power pack, like this one. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=96157

The benefit to this would be the power inverter, but it would be more difficult to incorporate the solar, and it would not look as neat as a remotely mounted battery box.

2) As far as location of the head unit, I was thinking that I would mount it to the underside of the rear seat, just above the battery box. However, I would use a marine head unit that has a wired remote control, allowing me to dash mount a small control module that would adjust volume, track, station and input. In addition, I would run a cable to one of the glove boxes that would allow me to hook up an I pod.

The reason I think I want to remote mount is that I don't want to give up the little glove boxes. I want to save these for storage, insurance card, copies of local laws and the like.

3) Speakers - Here is where I really want input. I have heard mixed reviews on the roof mounted, center mounts that go on the front edge of roof. I was thinking about mounting a pair at the top of the rear roof posts, this would benefit front and rear passengers.

These are just my initial thoughts, but look forward to your comments. Thanks

[farrbar]

Ok, so I did most of what I planned, just skipped the Solar Panel. See attached.

[snookwheel]

Very nice! I've been thinking about adding some 'tunes' too.

[portland]

Looks really nice. Any pics of the speakers?

[thiggins18]

Yeah I would like to see some pictures of the speaker setup also.

How did you mount the cd player? It looks like a marine enclose mounted to something. What did you mount it to?

Thanks

[farrbar]

the cd player was mounted to the bottom side of the rear seat using a marine enclosure. I put the speakers in a box built from mdf, and covered in black vinyl, to try to match seats. i'm out of town, so here is the only pic i have of speakers (tape was just until silicone used to hold speaker grill in place dried)

[Aka1ceman]

There is a 12v converter on board. It supplies 12v to the cig lighter and ignition. Some have tapped into this to provide 12v for a radio.

[Torey G]

New to site. When you tap into the 12V, does it shut off the radio with the key switch, or are you installing a shut off switch too.

[farrbar]

Originally Posted by Torey G

New to site. When you tap into the 12V, does it shut off the radio with the key switch, or are you installing a shut off switch too.

I put in a toggle switch (see first picture, it is the thing circled in red)

[Torey G]

Sorry only opened the back of the cart pic. Nice job.