What size battery for mighty mule

[zene55]

I just bought a mighty mule 350 gate opener and need some input on what size battery to buy. Is there a difference between auto and marine? I was planning on buying a standard battery box and using that. Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Gary Sweat]

I just bought a mighty mule 350 gate opener and need some input on what size battery to buy. Is there a difference between auto and marine? I was planning on buying a standard battery box and using that. Any suggestions?

Thanks

You can use just about any 12V battery you want and put it in one of those plastic covers you find at TSC or parts stores. I had one on a gate for about 5 years before moisture and bugs finally shorted out the electronics. Bought the 350 and it was a little different. I just put the small gel battery from the old unit in and it works the gate fine. The larger the battery the longer it will open the gate when power fails. If you get the solar charger you don't have to run a power line down to the gate for the charger.

 

[zene55]

I have a 15w solar panel that I found that I want to use.

 

[Gary Sweat]

I have a 15w solar panel that I found that I want to use.

The chargers that come with the opener are trickle charges. Check the output on the charger mighty mule uses and see what wattage it puts out. The one you found may work fine for it.

 

[zene55]

The 350 model dosn't come with I charge that I know of. If I am hooking the charger to the 12v car battery the size of the solar panel will only affect how fast it recharges the battery.

 

[Gary Sweat]

The 350 model dosn't come with I charge that I know of. If I am hooking the charger to the 12v car battery the size of the solar panel will only affect how fast it recharges the battery.

You're right. I forgot that I used the old charger that came with my first opener. I think now they don't include them. I would think you will need some way to cut the solar charger off once the battery gets fully charged. If the gate is used often then it wouldn't matter as it will take a while at 15watts to put a full charge back into the battery.

 

[zene55]

Guess I need to google that point. Can you over charge a 12v battery with a solar panel? If so how do you cut it off?

 

[zene55]

answered my own question:

Charge controllers
A charge controller is a regulator that goes between the solar panels and the batteries. Regulators for solar systems are designed to keep the batteries charged at peak without overcharging. Meters for Amps (from the panels) and battery Volts are optional with most types. Some of the various brands and models that we use and recommend are listed below.

 

[Gary Sweat]

My gate is only about 300' from the house so I just trenched and laid a cable down to it. I also have a security light and cameras on a 25' tower at the gate so it needed power. If not for them, I would have just used the solar panel for the gate opener battery.

 

[weldingisfun]

We use a deep cycle Marine battery. The auto batteries need to be charged too often (2-3 weeks) and we have a solar panel trickle charger too. We can easily get 5 or 6 weeks between chargings out of the deep cycle Marine.

 

[bglz42]

+1 on the deep-cycle. I bought mine at Academy, and it works great on my 350. I have MM solar panel...

 

[zene55]

Did you put in any kind of protection so the battery does not overcharge?

 

[gregkabob]

Here's what you can use between the solar panel and battery

Morningstar Sunguard-4 Solar Controller (SunGuard4)

I installed one of the Apollo systems and put an AGM battery in it.

 

[RPW]

For the smaller chargers say about 5 ~ 15 watts you probably won't need a charge controller as the current isn't that much (15w/13v(recommended)=1.15a) which is basically a tricklecharger. The solar panels have builtin protection to keep from discharging the battery at night. I run a 5w panel for my trailer mounted winch (8500#) with a standard deep cycle battery. Works great. Have another setup on my horse trailer for the living quarters which is 45w through a controller to 2 AGM batteries. No problem with either setup.

 

[MabankMom]

Guess I need to google that point. Can you over charge a 12v battery with a solar panel? If so how do you cut it off?

Just get on Amazon and get a solar charge controller...that's what I did and bypassed the RM350 controller.