Re: Battery chargers off grid


[Follow Ups] [Post Followup] [Dodge Power Wagon Forum]


Posted by David Sherman on Sunday, December 10, 2006 at 20:59:21 :

In Reply to: Battery chargers off grid posted by jbxx on Sunday, December 10, 2006 at 17:56:18 :

The cheap solar panel "battery maintainers" work okay for keeping a good battery charged on little-used vehicles in remote places. They're $15 or so. They won't charge a dead battery, but they'll keep a charged one good enough that it won't freeze over the winter. The main thing is to put it facing south and mount it vertical so the snow doesn't cover it. The sun is low in the sky anyway when you need it most, so you don't lose much juice by not having it angled.

Your point about battery chargers leaking current is a good one, and the relay is a reasonable solution. A whole lot of modern electronic device don't turn completely off when they're off. One of the main advantages of the expensive (Trace, etc) inverters is that they're designed for solar systems and so are much better about not draining the batteries. The normal inverters assume you can charge the battery just about any time you want and you'll only leave them connected while you're using, say, a power tool or a lamp.



Follow Ups:



Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:
Subject:
Message:
Optional Link
URL:
Title:
Optional Image Link
URL:


This board is powered by the Mr. Fong Device from Cyberarmy.com