Solar charger

[rankjo]

Hi, my solar charger keeps my house batteries topped up when I am parked in the yard at home. But while I am in Florida for the winter, on 110, my starter battery runs down. I don't see why I shouldn't switch the solar charger to keep the starter battery charged, but how do I do that? Thanks Rankjo

 

[172ndLIB]

Without knowing your system it would be hard to answer your question.  But maybe with a little wire and a switch it can be done.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

If you can find the output of the solar charger, put a switch on it (probably double pole, double throw) so you can switch it over to the chassis battery when parked in Florida.  You could also temporarily jumper the chassis battery to the house batteries while parked, but put a diode in the circuit to prevent the chassis battery from being drained if shore power fails for some reason.

 

[rankjo]

You could also temporarily jumper the chassis battery to the house batteries while parked

Hmmm, now that sounds like an interesting idea.
Seems to me I would just need a (+ to +) jumper cable with an on/off switch for travelling and a diode to make the current flow one way only, do I have that right? The negatives are already connceted to ground.

And HEY! don't I have a cable just like that already, called the Starter Booster? Maybe all I need is a different switch for the booster, which is a hold-down type switch. And the diode to prevent backdrain.
Or would it be more elegant to add an extra switch to run the battery booster solenoid directly, leaving the battery booster intact to avoid errors.

I have seen others using a little 2amp charger from WalMart that uses 110 and plugs into the cigarette lighter. Hmm.

Anyway, back to diodes.  Are they an auto parts store item?
Thanks JR

 

[Karl]

For the small current you're talking about, 5amp/50volt diodes can be had at Radio Shack for about a buck or two for a package of two. Hook it up to the solar charger; not the battery, as the current flow from one battery to the other would be too great for the diode. Also, don't forget that a silicon diode has approximately a 0.6V voltage drop, so your solar panel must put out about 14.2 volts to be of any use. The panel may already have a diode installed. Check before adding another one.