Power consumption vs output

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cgraydotcom

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I tried searching but could not find an answer.

I would like to run a WiiM Amp on an Anker Solix C300 portable power station. It’s got a 300w plug and has 288 watt hours of capacity.

It seems the WiiM pulls around 10 watts under normal use. Is that all it pulls, but outputs 60 watts per channel? Would I be able to operate it for 28 hours, or 2.5 hours?

My goal is to build a kick-butt golf cart sound system. A WiiM, an Anker, and a nice pair of outdoor speakers wont cost much more than a 12v Bluetooth speaker that sounds like poo. Plus the added benefit of not draining the battery on the golf cart when parked.

Thoughts?
 
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cgraydotcom said:
It seems the WiiM pulls around 10 watts under normal use. Is that all it pulls, but outputs 60 watts per channel?
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No. It cannot put out more power than it draws from the mains or the power station. No device can.

The maximum input current is rated at 4 A (see the underside) but in most operating conditions it will be a lot less than that.

The operation time will largely depend on the listening level, so it's hard to estimate. The more efficient the speakers are, the less power the amp needs to drive them.
 
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Ok, so 4amps @ 120v would be 480w, right? The Anker has a 600w power surge outlet as well. But even at a mild 288 watts under normal draw, that’s still just an hour of use. Sound right?

Thanks!
 
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These 4A are surely just temporary spikes. Average current intake will be lower, by far.

I don't want to promise you anything that doesn't happen because I underate your needs for SPL, but I think that an average power consumption of 25 W (equalling a current of <0.21 A) will probably be all you need.
 
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Thank you. It sure seems like the setup should work. I don’t need more than a few hours at a time anyway. I think I have a watt meter that I can plug my WiiM amp into so I can test it. I have that device, just not the portable power supply yet.
 
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I hooked the WiiM up to a watt meter. Average volume it was pulling around 10-11 watts. The meter has a peak level screen also, and at max volume (close to anyway) the peak meter registered 45 watts. I have a C1000 (1800 watt) power station that I plugged the WiiM into, and most of the time it wouldn’t display the output because it has a 20 watt minimum draw before it displays.

So, if my calculations are reasonably close, an average 20 watt draw from a 288 watt-hour power station would last 14+ hours of steady use. Plenty of juice for my needs.

Next question would be regarding speakers. I’m looking at weather proof marine speakers. Something that would be installed in a boat. These would be 4 ohm instead of 8. Looks like the WiiM runs 4 ohm speakers, but advice on that would be appreciated.

Thanks!!
 
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Mr Ee said:
Advice in what way?
Speaker suggestions, or whether the wiim can actually run 4 ohm speakers?
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Good idea, or bad idea? Difference in output quality? It says 60w into 8 ohm and 120w into 4 ohm, but is that strictly because of resistance, or will it draw more power to accommodate the need?
 
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cgraydotcom said:
Good idea, or bad idea? Difference in output quality? It says 60w into 8 ohm and 120w into 4 ohm, but is that strictly because of resistance, or will it draw more power to accommodate the need?
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More power out always means more power in. :)

If you compare speakers by sensitivity watch out for the exact rating. Even (nominally) 4 ohm speakers are sometimes rated at 2.83 Veff. In this case the actual power consumed is 2 W, so the efficiency rating will be 3 dB higher that for an 8 ohm speaker of the same true efficiency.
 
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onlyoneme said:
So it was the scenario closer to the real life usage than to the max power consumption.
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I had it as loud as it would go and it did not pull over 50 watts from the meter. That’s louder than I would ever need it, so it’s probably real life as it can get. I don’t know what would need to be hooked up to it in order to get it to pull 320 watts.
 
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cgraydotcom said:
I had it as loud as it would go and it did not pull over 50 watts from the meter. That’s louder than I would ever need it, so it’s probably real life as it can get. I don’t know what would need to be hooked up to it in order to get it to pull 320 watts.
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You would have to play full amplitude sine waves 😃
 
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