Solor power and autohelm 1000

[KennyH]

Anyone have any idea if the higher voltage generated by a solar panel into a full battery can effect the autohelm 1000. Mine works great for several hours maybe 4-6 and then seems to stop working. I check the battery voltage and it is high around 15volts but it is a sunney day. It is only a 10watt panel into a size 27 battery. I am also suspicious of a bad connection so I plan to use contact cleaner on the connections. Any other ideas are appreciated. It just stops moving but the display is normal.

 

[Jim2]

15 volts

Considering the relatively high impedance of a 10 watt solar panel and the low impedance of a storage battery no way should the battery voltage be 15 volts. Your battery may have developed high internal resistance but you should notice that when you crank the engine. You may have a high resistance connection somewhere but you can confirm that by measuring the battery voltage directly at the battery posts and comparing that to measurements taken elsewhere in the 12v supply circuit when the normal load is present.