Maintaining batteries with a small solar charger.

stevebirch2002 · Aug 28, 2015

At that kind of current, dont worry. Fit it on the
battery then measure the voltage - You will be pleasantly surpised

Steve B
From: Douglas Pollard dougpol2@...
[AlbinVega]
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 2:21 PM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlbinVega] Maintaining batteries with a small solar
charger.

The marina I am in doesn't allow me to keep a battery charger plugged in
when I am not aboard even thoug I have a verry good high quality
charger. I bought a 5watt solar Charger from Walmart to maintain my
three group 27 Maintenace free Marine batteries. The Solar panel came
with no battery charger to control voltage The argument being that with
only 5watt ouput no valtage regulater is needed? The panel is capable of
17 to 18 volts. I bought a little solar charger from West marine for less
than $14.00 and installed it between panel and batteries. I may or may not
be right about this but 18volts in a 12 vold battery don't seem like a good
Idea to me. Anybody know why I am wrong? Doug

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zarzeckistephan · Aug 28, 2015

Hello Steve,I have a 24V 5W solar panel (with cigarette lighter plug) would you thing it will work as well to keep my batteries in charge ?kind regardsStephan Zarzecki "Cotillon" V33642015-08-28 17:23 GMT+02:00 'steve@...' steve@... [AlbinVega] AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com:

groundhogyh · Aug 28, 2015

As mentioned, the batteries will bring the weaker panel down to the 12 volt range.If you want better equipment, go up eastern ave about 5 miles past bengies drive in on the left. Used to be called power-up. But the name has changed. They sell panels n chargers.The morningstar sun saver duo will monitor and top up 2 separate battery banks."Douglas Pollard dougpol2@... [AlbinVega]" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com wrote:

The marina I am in doesn't allow me to keep a battery charger plugged in
when I am not aboard even thoug I have a verry good high quality
charger. I bought a 5watt solar Charger from Walmart to maintain my
three group 27 Maintenace free Marine batteries. The Solar panel came
with no battery charger to control voltage The argument being that with
only 5watt ouput no valtage regulater is needed? The panel is capable
of 17 to 18 volts. I bought a little solar charger from West marine for
less than $14.00 and installed it between panel and batteries. I may or
may not be right about this but 18volts in a 12 vold battery don't seem
like a good Idea to me. Anybody know why I am wrong? Doug

stevebirch2002 · Aug 28, 2015

Shouldnt be a problem. 5w is just a
trickle

From: Stephan Zarzecki
stephanzarzecki@... [AlbinVega]
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2015 4:41 PM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Maintaining batteries with a small solar
charger.

Hello Steve,I have a 24V 5W solar panel (with cigarette
lighter plug) would you thing it will work as well to keep my batteries in
charge ?kind regards
Stephan
Zarzecki
"Cotillon" V3364
2015-08-28 17:23 GMT+02:00 'steve@...' steve@... [AlbinVega] AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com:

groundhogyh · Aug 28, 2015

I used to use a 5 watt panel too. I think it worked ok. But i had to move the clips from one battery to the other. I had the main switch set to off.With the cigarette lighter, you would need the switch set to 1 or 2.Also you better not have anything drawing current when the switch is set to 1 or 2 as 5 watts aint much current.You could also snip off the cigarette connector and put two clamps on."groundhogyh groundhogyh@... [AlbinVega]" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com wrote:

As mentioned, the batteries will bring the weaker panel down to the 12 volt range.If you want better equipment, go up eastern ave about 5 miles past bengies drive in on the left. Used to be called power-up. But the name has changed. They sell panels n chargers.The morningstar sun saver duo will monitor and top up 2 separate battery banks."Douglas Pollard dougpol2@... [AlbinVega]" AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com wrote:

The marina I am in doesn't allow me to keep a battery charger plugged in
when I am not aboard even thoug I have a verry good high quality
charger. I bought a 5watt solar Charger from Walmart to maintain my
three group 27 Maintenace free Marine batteries. The Solar panel came
with no battery charger to control voltage The argument being that with
only 5watt ouput no valtage regulater is needed? The panel is capable
of 17 to 18 volts. I bought a little solar charger from West marine for
less than $14.00 and installed it between panel and batteries. I may or
may not be right about this but 18volts in a 12 vold battery don't seem
like a good Idea to me. Anybody know why I am wrong? Doug

dougpol1 · Aug 28, 2015

OK thats Good to know. The lady that owns the marina I am in says
she pays higher insurance rates if the boats are plugged in. I think
a lot of them are struggling with a lot of slips setting empty.
They may be trying to wring a little extra out of us. Doug

On 08/28/2015 08:19 PM,
manningharvey@... [AlbinVega] wrote:

stevebirch2002 · Aug 29, 2015

Unless the pos is common on both batteries then the
only one to be charged will be the house battery

Steve B
From: manningharvey@...
[AlbinVega]
Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2015 1:19 AM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [AlbinVega] Re: Maintaining batteries with a small solar
charger.

Hi, I have a similar situation at my marina. They will allow me to keep
a battery charger plugged in but they will charge me $15.00 a month for the 30
amp service. I have two battery system on Viking one cranking and one house. I
bought a small solar panel on Amazon and fabricated a mounting bracket useing a
large cutting board and two bicycle i phone brackets. I mounted the panel on the
stern rail and connected the red + lug to the positive terminal on the house and
the black - Neg lug on the Negative lug on the cranking. I wathed this being
done on various youtube videos. I have been using this solar charging system for
two years now and I have always had a good charge on both battery's when I
arrived at Viking for a day of sailing.

n6ric · Aug 29, 2015

The only thing you have to worry about with inexpensive solar panels is that they can drain the battery at night if the voltage is allowed to flow back to the panel. Charge controllers keep that from happening. However, with the low current panels, you can put a couple of diodes in line on the positive and negative lines to the solar panel so that the voltage can only flow in one direction, toward the battery. Diodes are inexpensive and easy to wire.Rics/v Blue Max#2692www.ric-maxfield.net

n4lbl · Aug 29, 2015

Ric:Why more than one diode??thanks,,, Alan,,, n4lbl

tiempo2010 · Aug 29, 2015

DougThe problem with a 5 watt panel is that it will not have the capability to keep the 3 batteries charged. 5 watts is about 1/3 of an amp and this is divided into 3 batteries. On a good sunny day figure on 5 hours at full output - that is about 1.7 AH per day divided by 3. The 5 watt panels are designed for the car's dashboard to keep a single battery up, and they are not always very effective at that.I think the minimum size panel should be 20 or 30 watts. Any panel worth buying needs a controller.

vegaboat · Aug 29, 2015

Also, many small panels without controllers are connected to one battery
only. I'd have to wonder about using light wire to parallel the batteries
to charge them all if the main battery switch is left off. And, do you
want to parallel the batteries-same age, type, charge acceptance? I guess
you could move the charge output from one battery to another occasionally.
Ric, "Spinner" #935

n6ric · Aug 31, 2015

Alan,One diode will do the trick when placed on the positive lead. I tend to be overly cautious and with the minimal cost of diodes, it's just easier to make a plug with a diode on each leg.Rics/v Blue Max#2692www.ric-maxfield.net

groundhogyh · Aug 31, 2015

Just use one diode as the diode voltage drop of 0.7 volts each will hinder
the charging somewhat. While giving you the nighttime discharge protection,
you also reduce the effectiveness/speed of the daytime charging by 0.7 volts.
gh

stevebirch2002 · Aug 31, 2015

Voltage Regulators are available on Ebay for less
than $10 (£7). Gets over Volts drop etc
 
Steve B

From: n6ric@... [AlbinVega]
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 7:52 PM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Re: Maintaining batteries with a small
solar charger.
 

Alan,
One diode will do the trick when placed on the positive lead.  I tend to
be overly cautious and with the minimal cost of diodes, it\'s just easier to make
a plug with a diode on each leg.

Ric
s/v Blue Max
#2692
www.ric-maxfield.net

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n4lbl · Aug 31, 2015

Ric & Groundhog:All that was on my mind was the voltage drop.Steve:Voltage regulators have their own issues with efficiency. Voltages in the upper teens without a load are fine for charging as long as they are regulated somehow. That regulation could well be a small PV cell that just can not supply enough current to hurt. As you pointed out a few days ago, the voltage will come way down with the battery as a load for the PV cell.Alan

stevebirch2002 · Aug 31, 2015

I have a 100W PV and two batteries. I use the
Voltage reg to charge both batteries. I also use a switch just in case... So
far, so good and must admit no more flat batteries

From: n4lbl alan.schulman@...
[AlbinVega]
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2015 9:09 PM
To: AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [AlbinVega] Re: Maintaining batteries with a small
solar charger.

Ric &
Groundhog:

All that was on
my mind was the voltage drop.Steve:

Voltage
regulators have their own issues with efficiency. Voltages in the upper
teens without a load are fine for charging as long as they are regulated
somehow. That regulation could well be a small PV cell that just can not
supply enough current to hurt. As you pointed out a few days ago, the
voltage will come way down with the battery as a load for the PV cell.

Alan

On Mon, Aug 31, 2015 at 1:06 PM, 'steve@...' steve@... [AlbinVega] AlbinVega@yahoogroups.com wrote:

dougpol1 · Aug 31, 2015

For now I am hopeing the little panel will keep a battery up. I can
charge The house batteries with the engine. I am Planning on a 100
watt panel or more befor we go off cruising. Been looking at MPPT
controllers but is seems there is a lot of bad facts out there on
them. Looks like it will take a lot of research to make sense out
of them. Doug

n 08/31/2015 05:39 PM, 'steve@...' steve@...
[AlbinVega] wrote: