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Hi, could anyone please help, I have 7watt solar panel and would like to know if I can attach directly and leave it to trickle my Aux battery whilst in storage as i dont always get the chance to take it for a run to charge it up.
Will this damage it in anyway? The aux is the 2nd battery that is used to look after the ford side of things like the radio code, alarm etc. it has a separate battery for starting the engine and this has never had any issues and starts first time every time.
In the summer this will give about 50mA in the winter about 5mA. (on average)
In winter this will have hardly any effect. In the summer it will help but you may well find that the discharge is more like 100-200 mA. and so even then it will not be enough. I find that in the winter I find that even a 140W panel is not enough to cancel out a 170 mA drain.
I find that in the winter I find that even a 140W panel is not enough to cancel out a 170 mA drain.
Sorry dont agree with that statement, I have an 80w solar on the roof, I rarely use the EHU at home and I can switch the charging from Habitation Battery to Vehicle Battery, and it copes admirably never had a flat battery due to the solar not being strong enough.
Our small solar panel (4watt) keeps both of our batteries (leisure and main battery) charged all year round when stored without th need to plug into the mains. We are lucky though that the van faces south here, but it was effective in GB where for a year we had to keep the MH in the local public car park and the batteries remained fully charged there too.
Our small solar panel (4watt) keeps both of our batteries (leisure and main battery) charged all year round when stored without th need to plug into the mains. We are lucky though that the van faces south here, but it was effective in GB where for a year we had to keep the MH in the local public car park and the batteries remained fully charged there too.
Tend to agree with steco1958 our 85w panel via a battery master keeps the habitation, Ford auxilliary and vehicle batteries topped up with no need to have the charger running
______________________________________________________________ Roger -- ----- -.. .-- --.-
Hi, could anyone please help, I have 7watt solar panel and would like to know if I can attach directly and leave it to trickle my Aux battery whilst in storage as i dont always get the chance to take it for a run to charge it up.
Will this damage it in anyway? The aux is the 2nd battery that is used to look after the ford side of things like the radio code, alarm etc. it has a separate battery for starting the engine and this has never had any issues and starts first time every time.
Kind regards
Hi
In answer to your question; I believe you can connect directly and that it's not big enough to require a charge controller, i have a sunsei 7.5 watt which is now spare which stated in its instructions that it could be connected directly.
It is a question of what the drain on the battery is. A good clean battery with no discharge will stay topped up but Fiat 250 and other modern vans do have a constant drain. Mine is 170 mA.
A 4W panel will give 0.3A when in strong sunshine and pointing directly at the sun. In the winter you will only get a maximum of 8 Hours daylight so divide by 3.
The sunshine will not be strong, many days it will be overcast, and the direction will not be correct most of the time. So divide by another 10. This gives an average current of 11 mA.
On Fiat data the minimum discharge is 50 mA and so in winter this will have little effect. With other equipment it can be even worse. (see above)
I used simply to disconnect the battery and then the panel was not needed anyway the battery stayed above 13V for several months.
My point is that a 4W panel in winter will not do any harm but it won't do much good either if the battery stays charged with the panel it probably would without.
Other makes of van available and they may have different discharge figures.
My point is that a 4W panel in winter will not do any harm but it won't do much good either
I agree with that.
Personally, I would look at the possibility of upgrading to a larger panel and fitting on roof permanently, however if the money is tight and you want to try this unit connect it direct to the battery with either crock clips or not and bolt, don't forget to fuse it just in case.
Thanks guys,
I do not know the current drain / discharge I am afraid.
It looks like I need to take it for a good run every few weeks then to keep it topped up and get a battery master thing fitted for when i bring it home / on site so I can top it up that way aswell?
Cheers.
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France
Ford transit aux battery
