[Rhodes22-list] NRe: ***POSSIBLE SPAM*** Re: Solar battery chargers

[cjlowE at sssnet.com]

A 1.5 watt panel most likely won't cook a battery very quickly. I live in
Ohio,have a 10 watt panel, and my battery's last about six years.
 Some things to consider before purchasing:
What are you wanting to power (load) ? If you use GPS a lot,anchor out (
anchor light), run a DVD player or other high amperage loads,a 1.5 watt
panel won't keep up.
Another thing to consider is do you have any parasitic loads, like a clock
on a radio,memory for channels on the radio or powering an anchor light on
a mooring?
Are your lights LEDs? How much do you yes them? LEDs use about 1/10 of the
watts of regular lights.

If I were you,I would buy the 1.5 watt panel from harbor freight and while
there,buy their cheep multi- meter (< 5 $). Then you can check the state
of charge of your battery. If your battery has 12.8 volts, leave the solar
panel unplugged. When it gets down to 12.5 V ,plug it back in until it
gets back up to 12.8 V. If it never gets back up to full charge, you are
using more watts than your solar panel can replace and you need a bigger
panel.
That 12.8 volts is not set in stone, that is what a new battery should
read. An older battery may read12.3 or12.4 .
You should not let a battery get much below 12 volts before charging, it's
real hard on them.
 If you find that your panel is consistently overcharging the battery, you
can put a piece of window screen over the panel to partially block some
of the sun or mount the panel where some of the rig ( mast or boom) cast
a shadow over the panel during the arc of the sun.
I mounted my panel with 3 little squares of Velcro, if the wind is up I
just bring it in the cabin.
Just a few things to think about,

Jerry Lowe
S/V Country Rhodes '86




.  Thanks, Rick.  It sounds like I need to educate myself a bit more
> about direct-current electricity.   Do most folks who have solar chargers
> install a voltage regulator, and if so, does anyone have any
> recommendations on specific ones?
>
> Frank
>
>
>> On Aug 21, 2016, at 1:43 PM, Rick <sloopblueheron at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Frank,
>>
>> Without a voltage regulator between your charger and battery, a deep
>> cycle
>> battery won't last very long.
>>
>> Rick
>>
>> On Sun, Aug 21, 2016 at 8:37 AM, Frank Goldsmith
>> <goldsmith.cf at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Rhodies,
>>>
>>> My first post — often a lurker, never a poster.
>>>
>>> I’m thinking of getting a solar charger to use for keeping my
>>> deep-cycle
>>> battery topped off.  Does anyone have any advance on a brand, features,
>>> source, etc.?  And how does one run the leads down to where the battery
>>> sits, under the v-berth cushions?  It would seem that the wires could
>>> get
>>> crimped or could allow moisture to travel along them.
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>>
>>> Frank Goldsmith
>>> Asheville, NC
>>> 1985 Rhodes 22 (refurbished around 2001)
>>> (Kept on Lake Keowee, SC)
>>>
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