Reaching out to the Catalina 22 community for some help in determining what size solar panel and controller I need for maintaining charge on my battery? I'll admit that I know very little when it comes to this subject but I have been reading as many threads as possible (and there's a lot of em' out there) in hopes of getting somewhat educated. However I'm now stuck in the dreaded 'analysis paralysis' stage where I'm thinking I need a solar panel sized somewhere between 5 watts all the way up to Marty McFly's Flux Capacitor.
When I purchased my used Cat 22 MkII it came with a dead Group 24 lead-acid Deep Cycle battery. The MkII battery box unfortunately is only sized for Group 24. I've been attempting to put together an energy calculation based on electrical items onboard but having trouble determining how many amps certain items pull? Hoping you guys can provide some #'s (or at least a general average) of amps per item:
I foresee our power usage will typically be for 3 - 4 hrs one or two days per week for the stereo, autopilot, depth finder and iphone charger. Lights will only be utilized for shorter time periods like coming into marina during late afternoon/evening sails.
I'm looking at purchasing this Interstate Deep Cycle 24DC Marine Battery from Academy (Academy Deep Cycle 24DC Battery). This battery offers 685 marine cranking amps, 550 cold cranking amps, 81 amp hours and a 140 reserve capacity at 25 amps.
Any help or recommendations you guys can provide in regards to panel and controller size to recharge battery will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Zinger88
S/V Change of Pace
Lake Somerville, TX
~~ _/) ~
When I purchased my used Cat 22 MkII it came with a dead Group 24 lead-acid Deep Cycle battery. The MkII battery box unfortunately is only sized for Group 24. I've been attempting to put together an energy calculation based on electrical items onboard but having trouble determining how many amps certain items pull? Hoping you guys can provide some #'s (or at least a general average) of amps per item:
- Cabin lights = ? amps (not LED but will be upgrading)
- Running lights = ? amps (not LED but will be upgrading)
- Anchor light = ? amps (not LED but will be upgrading)
- JBL Marine Stereo w/ 2 Jensen Marine speakers = ? amps
- RayMarine ST1000 Autopilot = (owner's manual states 40mA in Standby mode, .5A - 1.5A in Auto mode depending on sailing conditions)
- Depth Finder (future item) = ? amps
- Iphone Charger (future item) = ? amps
I'm looking at purchasing this Interstate Deep Cycle 24DC Marine Battery from Academy (Academy Deep Cycle 24DC Battery). This battery offers 685 marine cranking amps, 550 cold cranking amps, 81 amp hours and a 140 reserve capacity at 25 amps.
Any help or recommendations you guys can provide in regards to panel and controller size to recharge battery will be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Zinger88
S/V Change of Pace
Lake Somerville, TX
~~ _/) ~
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