battery charger

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C

Carl

I'm considering a solar charger to be used while the boat is stored during the week.Should I be concerned with over charging the battey.
 
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Tom Wootton

rated amps

The rule of thumb is: the panel's rated amperage should be 0.5% or less of the battery's rated amp-hour capacity (some say 1 or 2%, but I'm more comfortable with the conservative figure). If you exceed this you can still use the panel but you should add a voltage regulator to prevent overcharging.
 
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Nancy Berg

Flexible solar panel

We have one of those flexible solar panels, about 14 X 20 size. It is rated very low and cannot over-charge the battery. It does not loose power after dark. Those are the 2 things to watch for. We sleep on the boat, run some lights, stereo, VHF, charge our cell phones, depth, speed, etc. Not a lot of use but some. The solar panel tops off the battery and keeps it topped off. We leave it connected when we are gone for a week or so. Often we do not run the motor enough to re-charge the battery but the solar panel does it. It is not powerful enough to run anything directly off of. We use a cigarette lighter plug to hook up. There is a 12 ft cord, we move it around to catch the sun as needed. Easy to stow, non-breakable about $100.
 
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Mr. Chips

What Batteries Want . . .

I found the West Advisor, Page 604, of the 2002 West Marine Master Catalog to be of great help. It is right "to the point," discussing battery types and their charging needs. Also check out the following link. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/commerce/command/ExecMacro/west_advisor.d2w/advisors Look at the electrical section halfway down the page. There are a half dozen brief articles that touch on the info your looking for. Hope this helps. Mrchips
 
F

Frank

Unisolar 11 watt flexible panel

I've had this connected directly to the battery for well over a year with no overcharging and no battery troubles. Sometimes it charges the system for months at a time without over charging. Other times I go out every week and the battery is charged.
 
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