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Solar powered battery charger
Posted: Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:10 pm
by Muzz
Gents...
This wks Cdn Tire Flyer has solar powered 1 Amp chargers. Anyone use one?
Tks
Muzz
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 9:42 am
by OBD
My buddy bought 2 and they look great! Great for the cottage or camping.. Cant go wrong with the price anyway
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:24 pm
by GR8-Scott
Didn't see the flyer...how much??
Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:54 pm
by Muzz
$7.99 reg $39. bought one today.
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 7:37 am
by Jimmay
Watch out and make sure they have a charge controller in them. A charge controller will prevent the solar panel from over charging and killing your battery.
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:47 am
by GR8-Scott
Muzz wrote:$7.99 reg $39. bought one today.
Thanks...gonna go check them out.
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:48 am
by GR8-Scott
Jimmay wrote:Watch out and make sure they have a charge controller in them. A charge controller will prevent the solar panel from over charging and killing your battery.
Good point, thanks for the advice......I'll make sure to look for this!
Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:01 am
by wiggler
Here's what the website says in the features section so it looks like it has some sort of overcharge protection
Features
* Ideal for motorcycles, personal water craft, ATVs, snowmobiles and tractors
* Weatherproof
* Built-in overcharge/discharge protection
* Includes 8' and 10' wire, battery clamps, O-ring connector and fuse
solar power
Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:41 am
by bassman
Would you be able to connect this to a battery that's being used to run a trolling motor at the same time it's being used. Or would it not make a difference because it's only 1amp.
Thanks,
Bassman
Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 3:30 pm
by Jimmay
Let's say you have a trolling motor that averages 25A when running and it lasts for a total of 5 hours if run steady on one 12V deep cycle battery. That means your battery is good for 125 Amp-hours. If you put 1A back in with the solar charger over the same 5 hours, with perfect sun conditions, you will gain 5 Amp-hours or 5 Amp-hours /25A * 60 minutes in an hour = 12 minutes of extra running time. As the power consumption goes up, the extra running time will go down.
These chargers are great for when the boat is sitting for the week, but not much use when you are actually using your trolling motor.
Re: solar power
Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 3:46 pm
by OBD
bassman wrote:Would you be able to connect this to a battery that's being used to run a trolling motor at the same time it's being used. Or would it not make a difference because it's only 1amp.
Thanks,
Bassman
Hey BM,
I dont have the manual with me but it clearly says you cannot use the the charger when its connected to a battery being used. It has to be connected to the battery when nothing else is being used on that battery.
solar power
Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 5:06 pm
by bassman
Thanks for the reply.
Posted: Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:19 am
by Lunker Larry
There is a 1.8 amp cell on sale at Princess Auto right now for 14.99.