Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

[hunter0527]

The boat has an old cassette player. I have a kenwood cd player from an old car. Is it possible to swap them? the cassette player is in the dash on passenger side behind the plastic cover. Whats the difference? Does the stereo really get wet from splash? I boat on a river and wakes are not big. Maybe a lake or two in the future. I dont care too much about the cd player if it gets fried, just want something that works a little better. If it fries then I will look for a marine stereo. Can I install the car cd player in the boat? Comments?

 

[45Auto]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

All my boats have always had car stereos behind the plastic covers. Never had any problems from any of them.

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

It's been done plenty of times. Go for it.

 

[phoenixisrizen]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

I have had one in mine for years.

Go for it.

 

[BuzzStPoint]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

I have heard of many people doing this...

What I would be worried about is your electronics you have in you boat. Lets say freak thing happened and a lot of water did get on the radio and it shorted. This "could" lead to your other electronic devices. Marine radios have a bit of waterproof to them.

How can you get around this?
You can buy water proof radio covers/enclosure. You see a lot of people use them for motorcycles.



Now if you have a boat like mine. All the electronics are just the bow and stern light.. Pop that sucker in and jam away.

 

[davlafont]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

FWIW, the stereo in my boat as it came from the dealer is not a marine-specific unit. Stereos are getting pretty cheap these days, especially considering the amount of technology being packed in there. There are also marine grade units out there, but the prices are higher. If you were in a salt water environment that might be different. I say do the swap.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

I did it 3 weekends ago. My stereo sits in the cabin so I'm not concerned about exposure. If outside, might want to use a waterproof box/cover with it.

 

[Sixmark]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

back in the 80's Bayliner, Crestliner, etc. were installing the same Craig stereo found in many motorcycles, and they were not waterproof. They just had a cover which is the same as what many boats have today.

If you dunk a waterproof stereo and a regular stereo in a 5 gallon bucket of water, neither is going to work.

If any of you are wondering what the difference is between a pc board on a marine stereo and a regular one.....not much, essentially it's been sprayed with a clear coat and has a full face gasket around the face (which is the same thing a cover does)

 

[hunter0527]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

Thanks to all for the reply. I didnt think there would be a difference but since I am new to the boating world, I thought I would ask so that I am not doing something stupid! Thanks again!

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

One area where it does make some difference is marine speakers. not so much water, decent car speakers are waterproof anyway, but for UV. The sun will rot out regular car speakers fairly quickly without a layer of glass blocking the UV. If you use your boat only occassionally and its covered/garaged the rest of the time, not a problem. If it has to sit outside uncovered it will be though.

 

[geeco1]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

The one thing that I have noticed on a lot of "marine" radios lately is that they are getting away from anything mechanical. No CD player, No tape player, etc. Most will have an iPod input, but the head unit itself is all electronic. I think that this is partially due to all of the bouncing that it is subjected to while on the lake.

 

[howlnmad]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

Go for it. Just be sure to get the flip down cover for it.

 

[sethjon]

Re: Anyone ever put car stereo in boat?

You need marine speakers. Depending on where the unit is makes a difference.