Solar Charger

[kingmtpg]

New Bird guy here again. I have had a 14x23" solar panel in my shop for
a couple of years. It came off a 5th wheel I had bought, sold the 5th
wheel and kept the solar panel. It was wired directly to the battery in
the 5th wheel when I got it, no meter or anything. I am thinking of
mounting it on my new to me (old) Bird. I am wondering if I can wire it
into 1 set of 2 6 volt batteries (12 volts), and will that trickle
charge all 4 batteries since they all share the same output/input lugs?
Or maybe this whole idea is a bad one? Thanks in advance and for the
other help also. Brad Bloxham 78FC, 3208, Yuma AZ.

[worktohobby]

Hello,

Not a bad idea. Make sure that at the very least it has a blocking
diode to insure that at night the batteries don't discharge into the
solar cell. Your solar cell is small enough versus your battery bank
that you really don't have to worrry about overcharging. You can get an
inexpensive voltage regulator if one is not built into the unit. For
best efficiancy, and high cost, look for one with maximum power point
tracking (mppt).

Regards,

Don Duncan
1987 PT40
Beaverton, Oregon

[Stephen Birtles]

Brad please send me your address again thanks

Stephen 77fc35


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "kingmtpg" wrote:
>
> New Bird guy here again. I have had a 14x23" solar panel in my shop for
> a couple of years. It came off a 5th wheel I had bought, sold the 5th
> wheel and kept the solar panel. It was wired directly to the battery in
> the 5th wheel when I got it, no meter or anything. I am thinking of
> mounting it on my new to me (old) Bird. I am wondering if I can wire it
> into 1 set of 2 6 volt batteries (12 volts), and will that trickle
> charge all 4 batteries since they all share the same output/input lugs?
> Or maybe this whole idea is a bad one? Thanks in advance and for the
> other help also. Brad Bloxham 78FC, 3208, Yuma AZ.
>

[Mike Hohnstein]

won't hurt a thing, however you may want to check the voltage output before you
go to the trouble of installing.
MH
----- Original Message -----
From: kingmtpg
To: WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 12:42 PM
Subject: [WanderlodgeForum] Solar Charger


New Bird guy here again. I have had a 14x23" solar panel in my shop for
a couple of years. It came off a 5th wheel I had bought, sold the 5th
wheel and kept the solar panel. It was wired directly to the battery in
the 5th wheel when I got it, no meter or anything. I am thinking of
mounting it on my new to me (old) Bird. I am wondering if I can wire it
into 1 set of 2 6 volt batteries (12 volts), and will that trickle
charge all 4 batteries since they all share the same output/input lugs?
Or maybe this whole idea is a bad one? Thanks in advance and for the
other help also. Brad Bloxham 78FC, 3208, Yuma AZ.





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[Gregory OConnor]

Brad, if the charger does not keep up with the rested drain of the
bank, it wont maintain anything, will just extend time befor a marginal
amp reading.. Maybe you can hook it up to a single isolated genset
battery or set one up for that purpose.

GregoryO'Connor
94ptRomolandCa


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "kingmtpg"
wrote:
>
> New Bird guy here again. I have had a 14x23" solar panel in my shop
for
> a couple of years. It came off a 5th wheel I had bought, sold the 5th
> wheel and kept the solar panel. It was wired directly to the battery
in
> the 5th wheel when I got it, no meter or anything. I am thinking of
> mounting it on my new to me (old) Bird. I am wondering if I can wire
it
> into 1 set of 2 6 volt batteries (12 volts), and will that trickle
> charge all 4 batteries since they all share the same output/input
lugs?
> Or maybe this whole idea is a bad one? Thanks in advance and for the
> other help also. Brad Bloxham 78FC, 3208, Yuma AZ.
>