Auxiliary Solar Panel

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thetiebers

thetiebers

New member
Joined
Jul 29, 2010
Posts
3
Location
Pinile,Ca
Hello, --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is it a good or bad idea to leave a small auxiliary solar panel hooked up to the starting battery when stored between trips? The reason I ask is I had a sears die hard that ended up with two cells almost dry when I had my small solar panel hooked to it. Just not sure if that is what caused it. I have switched to an Interstate starter battery. Thanks
 
Anytime a wet cell battery is charged/discharged it will consume some water.  The best thing you can do is monitor the water level of your battery monthly.  Keeping a trickle charger on it will keep it charged but will most assuredly also use water.
 
The newspaper article on the Chinese Solar Panel Maker said that their panels are, on average, selling for $2/watt.  This is 1/4th the cost a year ago.  Is anyone jumping on the solar bandwagon?  If so where are you buying the panels?
 
thetiebers said:
Hello, --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is it a good or bad idea to leave a small auxiliary solar panel hooked up to the starting battery when stored between trips? The reason I ask is I had a sears die hard that ended up with two cells almost dry when I had my small solar panel hooked to it. Just not sure if that is what caused it. I have switched to an Interstate starter battery. Thanks
Click to expand...
When was the last time it was checked before then?

I have a 5 watt solar panel on my chassis battery and 65 watts worth on my house batteries. I have a solar controller on both, but the little controller for the chassis battery is just there for fun,  it really doesn't do much, with only a five watt panel. But thanks for reminding me to check the water level in the chassis battery.

For my chassis battery I use:

http://www.harborfreight.com/5-watt-solar-battery-charger-41144.html which is permanently mounted to the top of the RV.

I use it with this little solar controller (but it's not really necessary, unless you want the light indicators that all is fine):

http://www.harborfreight.com/7-amp-solar-charge-regulator-96728.html

-Don-​

 
RV Roamer said:
Even a 12-15 watt panel isn't going to overcharge anything, so no, it won't "boil" away the battery electrolyte.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that one full amp (for 12 watts) should not even be enough to over-charge my little motorcycle battery in my 200 CC  Suzuki DR200SE.

BTW, ever take apart one of those portable battery jumpers to see what's inside? You will find a motorcycle battery. So it must be possible to start a RV with a well charged motorcycle battery.

BTW, in my old RV which only had a single 15 watt solar panel with a small controller, it did seem to dry out the single house battery more often than expected. The daytime battery voltage would often get up to above 17 volts, even with the controller. The controller I have now shuts off at 14.5 VDC but it charges two larger batteries. And with 65 watts of panels. But with this setup, I rarely have to add any water to the house batteries.

But I don't really see how voltage alone with no real charge current can dry out a battery, so who knows what was really happening.

Tomorrow, I have to remember to check the water lever in the chassis battery.

-Don-​


 
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