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I've got a small power draw somewhere that's bringing my voltage down to 12 after a week or two of just sitting so I'm wondering if a small 1.5 watt solar panel hooked up to one of the batteries would be good enough to keep me at or above 12.4v?
If the truck is sitting at home/near 120 volts a battery maintainer would be best as it would not overcharge the batteries(even though that small solar panel would not likely do that). If you are off grid there are larger panels that come with a charge controller as well to prevent this. I know that you are in Canada and quite often Canadian Tire and Princess Auto have the larger ones on sale, up to 180 watts.
Whether the larger panel would keep the batteries fully charged is a tougher question to answer as there are a lot of variables.
If the truck is sitting at home/near 120 volts a battery maintainer would be best as it would not overcharge the batteries(even though that small solar panel would not likely do that). If you are off grid there are larger panels that come with a charge controller as well to prevent this. I know that you are in Canada and quite often Canadian Tire and Princess Auto have the larger ones on sale, up to 180 watts.
Whether the larger panel would keep the batteries fully charged is a tougher question to answer as there are a lot of variables.
Rob
I have 150 watts of solar on the TC roof and it had no problem keeping 3x 12v car batteries topped up so and now I've dropped down to 1x marine battery in the TC so maybe I can tap into the solar power after the charge controller and run a hot line to one of the batteries?
A Victron MPPT 75/15 is only about $70, that and a 150W panel would more more than enough. The Victron is a smart battery charger/maintainer on top of being an MPPT.
wpg-I would expect that if you ran a line to one of the batteries it would work, so long as there is a charge controller to prevent overcharging. I'm sure others more knowledgeable will chime in if my statement is incorrect.
A Victron MPPT 75/15 is only about $70, that and a 150W panel would more more than enough. The Victron is a smart battery charger/maintainer on top of being an MPPT.
2 panels with basic solar charge controller. Was thinking I could tap into the hot wire after the charge controller and run a wire to one of the truck batteries or would tapping like that not work?
The 1.5w panel is pretty silly, I wouldn't rely on it.
Originally Posted by wpg_250
If I do that the engine/trans will have to re learn every time I take the rig out.
Have you tried it? I disconnect my batteries all the time and haven't noticed any meaningful change. I would share your concerns for a modern gas powered vehicle with an electric throttle body.
As far as tapping into the solar charge circuit from your truck camper to also keep your truck batteries topped up, it seems promising.
My concern would be the starter pulling current during crank thru the solar circuit, but in my mind the solar charge controller would limit the current. I'm gonna need to think about it for a minute....
Assuming your house batteries are not lipo (and I believe you have indicated that they are not), I think that would be fine,
You actually have most of the circuit there already. The trailer 12v charge circuit already connects the starting battery to the camper house batteries, if equipped.
You could jumper the trailer charge relay so that it was always connected, therefore allowing your camper solar to charge your truck starting batteries.
The downside, in my opinion, would be that the starter could still pull current from the house batteries during crank. If that happens and your starting batteries are low, it could pull excessive current from the house battery circuit and smoke the wires. An isolator or combiner of some sort may be able to sort that out.
I think a little re-wiring of the trailer charge relay so it does not connect during crank (unless it is already configured that way) would solve everything.
Could a battery switch/isolator be used in this application? During stationary times it could be switched to "both" allowing the solar panels to charge all batteries, during driving it could be switched to camper only so the panels only charge the camper batteries and the alternator charges the batteries in normal driving fashion.
My boat has a switch like this to keep one battery ready for starting if we happen to be downrigging/fishing all day.
Could a battery switch/isolator be used in this application? During stationary times it could be switched to "both" allowing the solar panels to charge all batteries, during driving it could be switched to camper only so the panels only charge the camper batteries and the alternator charges the batteries in normal driving fashion.
My boat has a switch like this to keep one battery ready for starting if we happen to be downrigging/fishing all day.
Rob
Yes. I use a battery isolator (have two extra batteries) and this method of charging is very possible
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