Solar powered battery charger/maintainer for truck dash

[powerscol]

If your asking me we get plenty of sun between storms and I can easily clear the windshield. Truck is parked facing South. I am also just considering a plug in unit. I need the extension cord out there to plug the block heater in if I want to use it anyway. Just takes an hour for it to warm up for an easier start.

 

[Fallon]

Think my 5 watt pannel was under $20. My minder & 15 watt pannel was over $100. Not sure what the BatteryMINDER runs without a pannel offhand I'll reutilize that 15 watt pannel elsewhere. You can find some cheap charge controllers rated up to 20@ all over Amazon & Ebay for under $30. Generally no desulfation on those though.

Have a 100 watt (if I rember right) Renology suitcase for my 17' Casita travel trailer running through a Bogart Engineering battery monitor & charge controller. Planning on permantly mounting about 200 watts of pannels on that in the next year or 2. Have 9.8kw of pannels on my barn roof resulting in a $10 a month basic grid connection charge monthly power bill.

Colorado is one of the top 5 states for solar power. Lots of sun even when its cold, lots fewer clouds than warmer sunny places. Our altitude means a lot less air to block the rays. My barn panels are within 15 degrees of due south. However i dont worry about the truck pannel other than not pointing north. Its not fighting any significant drain. I'd be more concerned if I had some minimal load taxing the battery.

 

[Fallon]

120v BatteryMINDER Charger/Maintainer/Desulfator on sale at Northern Tool for $20. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200332201_200332201 I can't say I've used that one, but $20 is dam cheap for a quality maintainer & I've been happy with the solar one. I'm probably going to grab one.

 

[John_Mc]

120v BatteryMINDER Charger/Maintainer/Desulfator on sale at Northern Tool for $20. http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200332201_200332201 I can't say I've used that one, but $20 is dam cheap for a quality maintainer & I've been happy with the solar one. I'm probably going to grab one.

That's an older version of the BatteryMinder maintainer. Still a decent charger, and won't overcharge your battery, but lacks some of the features of the current generation (3-stage vs 5-stage charger, temperature compensation to name a couple). Still, for $20, you can't go wrong. I still use mine (along with 2 other newer 12 V BatteryMinders and a 24 V aviation Battery Minder).

 

[94BULLITT]

Can you run an extension cord to it?

 

[94BULLITT]

Perhaps this article could help:



OK, but the sun doesn't shine all the time. There is the nighttime thing. So now it is looking like maybe the little solar charger might just might barely keep up with the parasitic draw.. but there is the cloudy day, dirty windshield thing too.. So now it might be a little iffy.

The windshield also has a UV filter that knocks back the solar panels power.

 

[Fallon]

Can you run an extension cord to it?

I dont see why not. Its just a big wall wart power supply.

 

[John_Mc]

Can you run an extension cord to it?

Yes, I do it all the time.

You can also extend the DC side of things. In fact, BatteryMinder (and others) sell DC extension cords with the appropriate plugs on them. Because the amperage is so low, there is not a lot of Voltage drop. This comes in handy of you are maintaining more than one battery with a single BatteryMinder

They also sell ring terminals which can plug in in place of the battery clips. You leave them on the battery full time - great for a vehicle with a battery that is tough to reach. Other handy accessories: Bulkhead fittings, y-adaptors, etc.