did that with an 1.8w(now their 2.5w) panel for 10 bucks on an old car battery. Tested after winter it was 12.9@night 13.3-13.8 during the day(even hit 14.4v on real direct sun)@200mah. Seems thats enough for winter storage no pwm is needed on these. Those little ones have kept my old quad battery going. Double check the clamps tho, weak wired connections I re-did a couple so far that fell off. Again pick the tool for the job.makaturing wrote: ↑I left a car battery hooked up to one for the entire winter. The battery was removed from the car and taken into an unheated cottage, and the panel was placed in a window. The setup was left untouched for five months. When I finally went up there this spring, I put the battery back in the car and it fired right up, and has been running fine ever since.
Canadian Tire
Coleman 40W Folding Solar Panel with pwm $99
- SCORE
- Reason
Score breakdown ×
- Upvote
-
0%
- Not a good price
-
0%
- Bad product/service
-
0%
- Poor merchant reputation
-
0%
- Unable to get the deal
-
0%
- Other (downvote)
-
0%
- lead [OP]
- Deal Guru
- Nov 21, 2002
- 12014 posts
- 4369 upvotes
- Winnipeg
- Bawler
- Deal Addict
- May 16, 2011
- 2588 posts
- 2052 upvotes
- Clarington
Hmmmm - tempting. Was thinking about buying a 12v water pump for my rain water collection. Would be a good pairing.
- hover42
- Banned
- Nov 12, 2003
- 1821 posts
- 192 upvotes
If I were to place 2 or 3 in parallel on the roof of my RV to maintain my battery, what would be a good charge controller?
- gates59
- Sr. Member
- Nov 13, 2007
- 509 posts
- 303 upvotes
- Ontario
Google MPPT. You can find some on ebay. For an rv I would buy two of them and set them up to have an output of 24v instead of 12v. You have less loss like that and that is how a mppt controller works best. It will only output the 12v needed thought. took me a while to figure out how these new controllers work. I was running tow 65w panels parallel so I get over 24v output and running my controller and all worked quite well. I also never put them on the roof. On the ground so I could move them around to find the sunny spots.
And just to let everyone know. Just put this charger controller in the garbage when you get it. They are good for nothing. It is ok if you are only charging a dead battery to about 75% charged. That is it. Once you get there it will turn the charge on and off every minute or so. Never fully charge a battery.
- Answers
- Deal Addict
- Mar 11, 2012
- 3267 posts
- 1436 upvotes
here's a good write-up on MPPT and solar panels...
http://www.solar-electric.com/mppt-sola ... llers.html
http://www.solar-electric.com/mppt-sola ... llers.html
If I have answered your question, Hit the Ol' THUMBS UP
- zoso454
- Deal Addict
- Jan 30, 2010
- 1255 posts
- 814 upvotes
- Canada
A real mppt charge controller will likely cost over $100. Most of the cheap Chinese ones listed on eBay are fakes...They are a standard charge controller with a mppt sticker on it.
- lead [OP]
- Deal Guru
- Nov 21, 2002
- 12014 posts
- 4369 upvotes
- Winnipeg
there's quite a debate about mppt vs pwm. for a 40watt panel its plenty good and will bring your 12v to a full charge if your 12v is battery is capable.gates59 wrote: ↑Google MPPT. You can find some on ebay. For an rv I would buy two of them and set them up to have an output of 24v instead of 12v. You have less loss like that and that is how a mppt controller works best. It will only output the 12v needed thought. took me a while to figure out how these new controllers work. I was running tow 65w panels parallel so I get over 24v output and running my controller and all worked quite well. I also never put them on the roof. On the ground so I could move them around to find the sunny spots.
And just to let everyone know. Just put this charger controller in the garbage when you get it. They are good for nothing. It is ok if you are only charging a dead battery to about 75% charged. That is it. Once you get there it will turn the charge on and off every minute or so. Never fully charge a battery.
here's good lttle read to start
http://www.solar-electric.com/solar-cha ... asics.html
- AncasterRFD
- Deal Expert
- Jun 15, 2012
- 15662 posts
- 10440 upvotes
- Southern Ontario
Dumb question, if my RV battery is almost dead, will it charge my RV battery AND give my RV a small amount of power to charge our phones/camera through the outlets, provided there is sunlight, or does it not work like that?
- lead [OP]
- Deal Guru
- Nov 21, 2002
- 12014 posts
- 4369 upvotes
- Winnipeg
as long as the battery hasn't sit for too long and has become suphated beyond taking a full charge any more, then yes it will. It'll charge faster with better exposure to the sun vs a shaded area.AncasterRFD wrote: ↑Dumb question, if my RV battery is almost dead, will it charge my RV battery AND give my RV a small amount of power to charge our phones/camera through the outlets, provided there is sunlight, or does it not work like that?
- zoso454
- Deal Addict
- Jan 30, 2010
- 1255 posts
- 814 upvotes
- Canada
One panel is not enough. the propane fridge control board, water pump, furnace fan, leak detector, lights etc will drawing more power from the battery than this panel will be charging.AncasterRFD wrote: ↑Dumb question, if my RV battery is almost dead, will it charge my RV battery AND give my RV a small amount of power to charge our phones/camera through the outlets, provided there is sunlight, or does it not work like that?
- AncasterRFD
- Deal Expert
- Jun 15, 2012
- 15662 posts
- 10440 upvotes
- Southern Ontario
Never even thought of that, thanks.
Would I need any extra parts to connect two?
Or is there a better deal somewhere else then because I need more power?
Would I need any extra parts to connect two?
Or is there a better deal somewhere else then because I need more power?
- gates59
- Sr. Member
- Nov 13, 2007
- 509 posts
- 303 upvotes
- Ontario
Best bet would be to get a second battery. If you go out for a long weekend a second battery is all you need. For longer trips a second battery and close to 100w of solar power would be ok.
- cphenix
- Newbie
- Mar 21, 2010
- 45 posts
- 9 upvotes
- Saskatoon
Make sure you don't buy a car battery! You need a deep cycle battery. For mine, I bought an ~80 Ah deep cycle battery and it will run my CPAP for 3 days without charging. A car battery won't even make it through one night.HiEveryone wrote: ↑I'll be buying a car battery and using it with an adaptor on my cpap machine to go camping this summer...
Would this be able to charge the battery during the day so I can get multiple days use out of it?
As far as this charger, it may extend you a bit.
- AncasterRFD
- Deal Expert
- Jun 15, 2012
- 15662 posts
- 10440 upvotes
- Southern Ontario
Although not eco, someone said a digital generator is more bang for buck, faster, more juice, and not solar dependent, obviously.
I haven't even looked into them.
Is that what people use in large RVs?
I haven't even looked into them.
Is that what people use in large RVs?
- gates59
- Sr. Member
- Nov 13, 2007
- 509 posts
- 303 upvotes
- Ontario
Most larger rv's come with a generator built in. And yes it is way better to have a generator than solar but as long as the noise is acceptable.
- makaturing
- Deal Addict
- Jul 23, 2013
- 3038 posts
- 1059 upvotes
- A small town north o…
A digital generator? I know about random number generators, but if we're talking about electricity, that's a new one on me.AncasterRFD wrote: ↑someone said a digital generator is more bang for buck,
- zoso454
- Deal Addict
- Jan 30, 2010
- 1255 posts
- 814 upvotes
- Canada
I think he meant inverter generator. They are quiet and light weight but can be expensive.AncasterRFD wrote: ↑Although not eco, someone said a digital generator is more bang for buck, faster, more juice, and not solar dependent, obviously.
I haven't even looked into them.
Is that what people use in large RVs?
- wellysm
- Sr. Member
- Jun 27, 2006
- 736 posts
- 138 upvotes
How does this compare to something like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPLETE-KIT-10 ... 3a8595478f
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solar-Panel-100 ... 417d97f595
It seems they are similarly sized, yet with 2.5 x the power.
What do you guys think?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPLETE-KIT-10 ... 3a8595478f
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Solar-Panel-100 ... 417d97f595
It seems they are similarly sized, yet with 2.5 x the power.
What do you guys think?
- HiEveryone
- Sr. Member
- Dec 20, 2007
- 958 posts
- 339 upvotes
Thank you for the advice, is that with the humidifier on or off?
- lead [OP]
- Deal Guru
- Nov 21, 2002
- 12014 posts
- 4369 upvotes
- Winnipeg
One with an inverter. a 2000w honda/yammy or variants. check costco. But parks do have generator noise rules.Alot run bothmakaturing wrote: ↑A digital generator? I know about random number generators, but if we're talking about electricity, that's a new one on me.
Thread Information
There is currently 1 user viewing this thread. (0 members and 1 guest)