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Old 04-04-2012, 09:42 PM   #1
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Solar battery charger

I am on hold with my bus conversion till I get a job, so I am thinking about putting on of these http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...2045_200422045 to keep the battery up on it. I am not sure what is drawing power but not a major concern as I have a deep cycle battery on it to to start it for now.

Its only 17 dollars so not like its a major expense to take on, the reviews seem to be good just a easy way to keep the battery up with little or not effort.

I think my cig lighter is bad so I may have to replace it but wont be very hard.

Let me know your thoughts.

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Old 04-04-2012, 10:10 PM   #2
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Re: Solar battery charger

That looks pretty good at a fair price. 47 people out of 51 gave it high reviews. I will order one now myself, to see how it does. Thanks!
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Old 04-05-2012, 02:35 PM   #3
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Re: Solar battery charger

Yeah I think its a good idea... Kind of tired of jumping off the bus. With that many people saying its ok dont think it can be too bad
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Old 04-05-2012, 02:46 PM   #4
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Re: Solar battery charger

those are a common topper upper. the connection it uses you can buy plugs like that at automotive stores and just wire it right in lol.
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Old 09-26-2012, 11:26 AM   #5
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Re: Solar battery charger

I had one of those on a bus with a very slow electrical draw down. It didn't keep up. Depending on how far north you are, in the winter it will barely make a fraction of it's rated power. A dash light is probably around 5+ watts; that thing is rated at 1.8w, and that will be under ideal conditions.
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Old 09-26-2012, 01:27 PM   #6
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Re: Solar battery charger

I have 2 like that. They don't provide enough juice to fry an ant. I think you want a little more wattage.
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Old 11-25-2013, 10:45 PM   #7
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Re: Solar battery charger

If you live in the south you would want about 5 watts of panel per battery to keep it charged, in the north you might want 8-10 watts.
Make sure you check the voltage being put out at noon on a sunny day, it should be at least 13.5v to get even a partial charge,
It has a blocking diode which is good to prevent the battery from loosing power to the panel, clean the panel monthly, just a wet cloth should work,
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Old 11-27-2013, 07:15 AM   #8
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Re: Solar battery charger

The main reason for these are to maintain a fully charged battery not recharge a battery that goes dead because of a drain. They will only produce enough power to over come the self discharge of the battery. Sorry but this wont do what you want to do.

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Old 12-03-2013, 01:27 PM   #9
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Re: Solar battery charger

BUBB and cschlessman, y'all are about a year late with your advice!
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Old 12-09-2013, 02:08 PM   #10
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Re: Solar battery charger

Well better late then never

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