[Rhodes22-list] Solar Panel Installation on Rhodes 22

Blue Heron sloopblueheron at gmail.com
Sat Mar 7 18:41:36 EST 2009


David,

My diode from GBI is a black, half inch cylinder mounted in a white plastic
bracket block.  It is a series connection, but I can't recall whether it is
on the red or black wire.

In any case, that doesn't sound like the boxes you found.  They sound more
like junction boxes to bring multiple circuits to the battery.

It is possible your panel has a built in diode as my new one does.  Yet I
still left the old diode in the circuit.

Rick


On Sat, Mar 7, 2009 at 3:40 PM, David Culp <dculp at hsbtx.com> wrote:

> Thanks Rick:
> I give my batteries a pretty good workout.  Probably once a week on an
> annual average basis if I'm lucky.  They get a minimum of 4 to 5 hours
> discharge using CD player and sometimes running lights at the end of the
> day. Batteries have a limited number of discharge/charge cycles and I use a
> lot of those during the year.
>
> Thanks for the idea of checking the diode as I had not realized that the
> panels would draw current when dark, but it makes sense.  I need to take a
> closer look and see if I can locate the diode.  On the forward battery
> posts, there are two small square boxes that are attached to the posts with
> multiple wires running into them; one red and one black.  I had assumed
> that
> these are merely bus bars.  Could you tell me what the diode might be
> contained in and/or its proximity to the battery?  I need to locate the
> diode and then attempt to measure any reverse current flow as you suggest.
>
> Thanks,
> David
>
>
>
> Date: Fri, 6 Mar 2009 20:58:18 -0500
> From: Blue Heron <sloopblueheron at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Solar Panel Installation on Rhodes 22
> To: The Rhodes 22 Email List <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Message-ID:
>       <52e9a140903061758n7f79876dg40c04a17549846a7 at mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> David,
>
> I just replaced a blue panel that was original equipment in '93 because the
> transparent plastic film covering the cells had deteriated, causing them to
> short when wet.  I got a replacement from Defender by the same maker that
> is
> the same width, a little shorter and produces more amps.
>
> Your panels will produce the rated voltage when the sun is bright and the
> air temperature is about 80 degrees.  Trouble is, when it gets dark, the
> panel will draw current from your batteries unless you have a diode in the
> circuit to block the backward flow.  So that's the only regulator you
> really
> need with wet cell batteries.
>
> If your 2 year batteries are wet and last only two years, I suspect your
> diode may not be up to par and is causing your batteries to drain at night.
> You can tell by measuring the voltage across the diode with a towel over
> the
> panels.  Of course you may use your batteries a lot more than me, but I use
> a single deep cycle battery for starting the engine and powering the
> autohelm, radio, etc. about 25 days a year and it will last 3 to 4 years.
> Rick
> On Fri, Mar 6, 2009 at 6:14 PM, David Culp <dculp at hsbtx.com> wrote:
>
> > I have some questions for anyone who may happen to know:
> > I have two solar panels permanently installed on the cabin top of my 1998
> > Rhodes.  They are blue in color and so far, have worked very well.  My
> > first
> > question is does anyone have the same panels from GBI and know the
> > manufacturer and specs?  I can always ask Stan, but hopefully he is busy
> > selling boats right now.
> >
> > I have two batteries.  One up front and one in the laz both run through a
> > nice battery sel/cutoff switch.   I had a battery go bad this year and
> > replaced both of mine with matching 24 series deep-cycle batteries.  I
> > assume that we have an unregulated system as I can't find a regulator
> > anywhere, can anyone confirm?
> >
> > When my batteries were removed on a full sunlight afternoon, my volt/ohm
> > meter was showing me 18 volts coming from the panels which I think is
> > pretty
> > good.  When I wire in the batteries then I start reading their voltages
> > which are 12.5 on each.  I assume that this is normal even though the
> > panels
> > are indicating 18 volts?
> >
> > I don't think anything is wrong because my system was working fine and
> the
> > 2
> > year battery lasted exactly two years.  I just wanted to check with the
> > list
> > as this is my first experience with solar panels; so any information
> anyone
> > has is appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > David Culp
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