Solar battery maintainer

nato674 · Jun 3, 2017

Hi there i go away for work for 4 weeks at a time and while the battery doesn't die it does sound a bit low when i get back to use it. Its in a Kubota m7040. Im hoping someone has a solar setup they have had god succes with out there? Im far from any power source so its my only option.

Thanks in advance.
Nathan

dodge man · Jun 4, 2017

They make little solar chargers that just clip onto the battery terminals. They can be had for less than $20 on Amazon. There was a good thread several months ago in the transportation and trailer section where people were using them for the breakaway batteries on trailers. Some had nice setups and maybe some nice pics too.

k0ua · Jun 4, 2017

Believe it or not I have been using one of the Harbor Freight 5 watt panels in the window of one of my barns to keep my lawn mower battery up for years. It works great. Solved the replace the battery every couple of years problem from disuse. I have another one now in another barn for my Kioti. This one was bought from Amazon for $12. These things are well worth it.

TractorGuy · Jun 4, 2017

Is the tractor left outside in direct sunlight? If so a 10W panel should do the trick. I assume it has a fairly large battery. Most any 12V solar charger would work okay in direct sunlight. They work in the shade but not as well so I would upsize if you can't place the panel in the sun.

I use a 10W panel in the shade on my lawn tractor and it works fine. It's been said you can use a 10W and smaller without a charge controller and I have both of mine running direct to the batteries. I also glued a 10W to the hood of my backhoe and wired it directly to the battery. It has been used often enough I can't pass judgement on the charger. It turned out to have a ground problem I have since fixed so it starts every time now.

My generator came with a 24V solar charger installed. It doesn't say how many watts it is on the label but it's a small panel. It sits in the shade and starts every time so far. It's batteries are less than a year old. I run and test it monthly. I also borrow power from one of the generator batteries to run my diesel fuel pump but it only takes a couple of minutes to fill everything when I use that.

Keeping batteries on a solar charger will definitely increase their life span. I have not had to replace any batteries I have on solar panels since I started using them. I have a little lawn tractor battery on my gate opener that is over 5 years old. I originally had a 10W panel on it but went up to a 30W when lightning took out the first one. I have it wired into the mighty mule charge controller that is built into their boards.

reb · Jun 5, 2017

HF sells a small solar cell which some folks connect directly to their batteries. I have heard of at least one case where an individual left it attached for several months and returned to a disaster. They are probably ok for short times, but I tinkered around a designed a regulator to put on the one for my emergency generator. It works fine. There are probably inexpensive regulators available.

nato674 · Jun 5, 2017

Its under an awning but light is a metre away so all good for supply. Thanks for the replys

k0ua · Jun 5, 2017

reb said:
HF sells a small solar cell which some folks connect directly to their batteries. I have heard of at least one case where an individual left it attached for several months and returned to a disaster. They are probably ok for short times, but I tinkered around a designed a regulator to put on the one for my emergency generator. It works fine. There are probably inexpensive regulators available.

I have connected the small Harbor freight panels to my lawn mower battery, from late september to mid April, without any incident. Now if you directly connected say a 10 watt panel without a charge controller, now that would likely be a problem. But these little 1.5 watt panels sold for direct connection to a battery, even one as small as my lawn tractor, are NOT going to be a problem.

reb · Jun 5, 2017

k0ua said:
... But these little 1.5 watt panels sold for direct connection to a battery, even one as small as my lawn tractor, are NOT going to be a problem.

Most likely so. The case I read about involved a snowbird who left one on his car in Florida for however long he migrated north for the summer. Since this area gets more sun than areas further north, I figured I would not take a chance. Besides, I needed a project.