Solar battery tender?

[Casco1]

My tractor its for weeks at a time 150 miles from home in a garage with a great eastern exposure. I've seen ads on Harbor Freight and Northern Tool for solar panels that put out low wattage power. Has anyone used one of these to build a battery tender to keep a battery charged?

I would appreciate any opinions or ideas on this subject.

 

[BruceWard]

If you want to build one go for it. But there are lots of commercial option. If you look on Ebay you wil lfind thousands for as little as $10. I have heard that the VW solar chargers are some of the best vw solar battery charger, eBay Motors, solar battery charger. Great deals on eBay!

 

[Trails2004]

My tractor its for weeks at a time 150 miles from home in a garage with a great eastern exposure.......

Wouldnt southern exposure give you more useable hours of sunshine on the panel (s) ?????

It seems to me- eastern exposure would only provide sunrise to mid morning charge on the panel(s)- at best.

 

[wushaw]

I mounted this on my shop and use it on my tractors & mowers. BatteryMINDer Solar Charging System — 12 Volt, 15 Watt Panel, Model# SCC-015 | Battery Maintainers | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[Casco1]

I mounted this on my shop and use it on my tractors & mowers. BatteryMINDer Solar Charging System 12 Volt, 15 Watt Panel, Model# SCC-015 | Battery Maintainers | Northern Tool + Equipment

Thanks I'll look into it.

 

[foggy1111]

I have a solar battery charger which maintains a deep cycle battery to operate the hydraulic pump on my boat hoist. It gets a good exposure to the sun and keeps the battery charged all spring/summer/fall. Works like a champ. I think the pannel is only about 12" x 16".

 

[bigdad]

We use solar power to charge the storage batteries on our RR signal locations and the guys have to go out and pull the snow off of them on occasion. If you are away from your area very long your panels may become ineffective. They work great in the none winter months and we're talking about some big batteries.

 

[herringchoker]

I have a Case 450 crawler that sits for months at a time at my woodlot. I used to have problems with batteries not lasting long (2 to 4 years), and this takes a big, expensive battery. About 6 or 7 years ago, when I installed another new battery, I also installed a Pulse-Tech desulphator and then, about a year later I connected a 5-watt solar panel to the battery. Just yesterday that 6 - 7 year old battery spun over that little diesel like nothing, and it hadn't been started for about 3 months. I'm very satisfied with this setup.

 

[ayelvington]

The best thing to do with snow is put the panels in a strictly vertical position so that they don't accumulate any snow. Direct light, and incident light from the snow are more than enought to generate charging current. I have two 15 watt panels keeping my fencer feisty all year round.

CAUTION: Unless it says otherwise, a solar panel should not be connected directly to a battery. I will discharge at night, and overcharge during the day. Make sure that you do or don't need a charge controller with whatever panel you buy.

 

[RobiBX2230]

My tractor its for weeks at a time 150 miles from home in a garage with a great eastern exposure. I've seen ads on Harbor Freight and Northern Tool for solar panels that put out low wattage power. Has anyone used one of these to build a battery tender to keep a battery charged?

I would appreciate any opinions or ideas on this subject.

I have the one from Northern Tool - paid 19.99 and I think its on sale either now or soon for only 16.99. I have had amazing results. My tractor used to take a lot of crank to turn over, this keeps the battery topped off great and I can fire it up in no time. For under 20 bucks and no other costs its great. Also, the one from Northern has cigarette adapter and battery terminal clips - I use the clips (obviously) and the wire to the panel has a detach so when I need the tractor I just unplug it and dont have to unclip it from the battery. I just leave the inch or so hanging out from where the battery is because the battery is behind a cumbersome protective panel. I am 100% pleased.