Solar battery tender

[oosik]

All my outbuildings are wired with 120V power. We get enough winter snow and overcast days that solar wouldn't provide much power.

Example - I have a solar powered beacon light. It's across my lake and up on top of the cliff. This time of year it peters out after about two hours of dark. During warmer/sunny weather it shines all night.

 

[rd_macgregor]

I have a Coleman brand battery tender with direct battery connection or cigarette lighter type plug. Unfortunately, the 12V power outlet on my Kioti is energized only when the key is ON, so I can't use the tender the easy way.

 

[charlessenf]

I have this setup works great......View attachment 676092View attachment 676071

What make, model, etc? Hard to tell what it is from the pitchers! Please

 

[charlessenf]

I have a Coleman brand battery tender with direct battery connection or cigarette lighter type plug. Unfortunately, the 12V power outlet on my Kioti is energized only when the key is ON, so I can't use the tender the easy way.

OK, but does it work?

 

[charlessenf]

I just ordered a (quite fancy) 10 amp solar battery charge/controller off Ebay from China for EIGHT BUCKS! With temperature compensation too. Just sayin.

And, 2+ years on, how's that Chinese Tender Working?
If it is, how about a link?

 

[charlessenf]

Yea, I've been there and checked it out. I'm thinking I need (3) items;

Amazon.com: Battery Tender 12V, 27mA, 5W Solar Battery Charger - Weatherproof by Deltran 21-1163: Automotive

Amazon.com: Battery Tender 25 FT Extension Cable for Battery Charging and Maintaining by Deltran - 81-148-25: Automotive

Amazon.com: Battery Tender Ring Terminal Accessory Cable: New World Diamonds: Automotive


I assume the third item will allow me to plug into the tractor without having to open the hood to disconnect the cables. Am I right?

Kevin

The Extension and Accessory Ring Terminal bits need not be BRAND NAME search on Amazon for "Quick Disconnect SAE Extension Cord" (for instance) and you should find several less expensive alternatives. Pay attention to the WIRE GAUGE in an extension - smaller the number the better - " our 18 AWG gauge cable is more flexible and thicker "
Up to 10GA available: " 10 AWG SAE Cable Connector, SAE Socket Chassis" allows you to add a socket to the tractor so you can leave the charger in place and not have any loose wires about. Could also use it to make up your own 'extension' with regular wire and a soldering iron.

 

[charlessenf]

I swap my 30W panel back and forth between a car and tractor from time to time so I ran the panel positive wire through a toggle switch. I turn the panel switch off before I disconnect the controller and turn it back on after it's connected to the other battery.

A 3 POS DPDT Switch would allow you to have both connected simultaneously and switch between them with the OFF in between!
GAMA Electronics 30 Amp Toggle Switch DPDT 3 Position On-Off-On
Or, why not connect both batteries at the same time? With a splitter extension?

 

[charlessenf]

""Masculine Republics give way to feminine democracies and feminine democracies give way to tyranny" Aristotle"

So, Aristotle was a misogynist? ("Aristotle believed women were inferior to men. For example, in his work Politics (1254b13–14), Aristotle states "as regards the sexes, the male is by nature superior and the female inferior, the male ruler and the female subject".")

He also believed in a geocentric universe. "In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus detailed his radical theory of the Universe in which the Earth, along with the other planets, rotated around the Sun. His theory took more than a century to become widely accepted."

So, what did Aristotle actually get right after all?

 

[nyone]

Personally, I'd be afraid of an 8$ solar battery charger. Don't get me wrong, I buy cheap stuff from China all the time, but for this, I'm going to be a little more careful. I don't want to cook my battery or burn down my tractor and shed. Like I said, I'm a novice when it comes to electricity.

Kevin

Me too. That $8-20 battery tender is just going to be a 12v wall wort style tender.

 

[cqaigy2]

All my outbuildings are wired with 120V power. We get enough winter snow and overcast days that solar wouldn't provide much power.

Example - I have a solar powered beacon light. It's across my lake and up on top of the cliff. This time of year it peters out after about two hours of dark. During warmer/sunny weather it shines all night.

Not wanting to side track the thread, but what's the beacon for?