rv

chiggerdigger

so I put a small system together with scrounged parts ( 60 watt 12v panel,morningstar sunkeeper 12controller, 105 aa marine batt ) realizing its a weak system can I expect it to help much  in my travel trailer ? I only run a couple of small LED's the propane fridge and the water pump ( no showers ) . I previously only ran the gen to charge about 2 hrs. per week, so usage is small , but solar is still iffy. what about using it as a maintainer when not camping ?

Estragon

The 60w panel is on the small side for the battery, but it should still help. If/when the battery gets to 50-60% state of charge (~12.2v with no load or charge source), you may want to spark up the generator for an hour or two to bulk charge, and let the solar finish.

littleharbor2

If your refer runs on propane with 12 volt monitoring/ignition, your 60 watt setup will "help" Your amperage from that panel is less than a 105 amp hour battery would require for a minimally used set up.  Basically it is a maintainer and would give your battery a chance to recharge while your trailer is not in use, provided it is in good sun while not being used. You might consider adding another 60 watt or higher wattage panel to this one. 

chiggerdigger

Estragon said:

The 60w panel is on the small side for the battery, but it should still help. If/when the battery gets to 50-60% state of charge (~12.2v with no load or charge source), you may want to spark up the generator for an hour or two to bulk charge, and let the solar finish.

That's one thing I don't understand , I fully charged the batt before loading onto the solar . I've been running the stereo and playing with the lights. In the morning sun I'm can sometimes see up to about 14v but in the afternoons the sunkeeper show floating at 12.5v is it the 100 deg Oklahoma  days ? 

chiggerdigger

littleharbor2 said:

If your refer runs on propane with 12 volt monitoring/ignition, your 60 watt setup will "help" Your amperage from that panel is less than a 105 amp hour battery would require for a minimally used set up.  Basically it is a maintainer and would give your battery a chance to recharge while your trailer is not in use, provided it is in good sun while not being used. You might consider adding another 60 watt or higher wattage panel to this one. 

A larger panel is in the future !

Estragon

It could be that you have loads on that exceed panel output. Assuming the battery is pretty warm as well, charging voltage should be 14.4ish and float around 13.1v. The fully charged battery should have a resting voltage (no loads or charging for several hours) of about 12.8v.

100° ambient temps will reduce panel output a bit - maybe 10% or so, but will also increase the effective capacity of the battery a bit.

chiggerdigger

I'll try it with the batt disconnected totally and see ....thank you !!

chiggerdigger

follow-up..... just returned from a 12 day dry camp, I did run the genny a little for microwave use ( about an hour total ) but had no shortage of power at all !

Marc Kurth

Good news! It's tough to argue with success.
As long as you are not destroying your battery from undercharging, you can carry on the same way for years!