What solar panel can I use to charge dual batter

[wbowner]

Hi,
Sorry if this is in the wrong place.

I have a disco 4 and have one of the traxide dual battery units with an anderson plug installed.

I believe I can charge the dual battery (Optima D34) via the anderson plug. I want to do this so that I can leave my fridge connected to the 12v while stationary for awhile.

Has any one done this, if so what size solar panel can I use and any recommendations appreciated.

I have no idea about solar panels so any help appreciated.

Richard

[richard4u2]

what type of fridge and how many watts does it use and what do you mean for a while , how long ?

[wbowner]

what type of fridge and how many watts does it use and what do you mean for a while , how long ?

It is a Waeco cf40 , Average Power Consumption: 0.87 amps/hr

How long - varying but long enough to be a concern.

I guess I want to know what the maximum size solar I can use in the is scenario and if any one had any recommendations.

Richard

[Marty110]

It is a Waeco cf40 , Average Power Consumption: 0.87 amps/hr


So if you run it 24/7 thats approx 20amps per day. With an average of 5 hours effective sunlight, for example, (as in sun high in sky and max effective sunlight) you need your solar to produce 4 amps per hour. So I would suggest a minimum of 80 watt folding panel - this will give a max of around 6 amps per hour but more likely average around the 4 amps you need. If you have an insulated fridge cover you may consider turning the fridge off or down overnight when you are not opening it all the time and ambient air temp is lower, this will reduce the size of panel you need to carry. I use an 80watt folding panel with my Traxide setup and a Waeco CF35.

[wbowner]

So if you run it 24/7 thats approx 20amps per day. With an average of 5 hours effective sunlight, for example, (as in sun high in sky and max effective sunlight) you need your solar to produce 4 amps per hour. So I would suggest a minimum of 80 watt folding panel - this will give a max of around 6 amps per hour but more likely average around the 4 amps you need. If you have an insulated fridge cover you may consider turning the fridge off or down overnight when you are not opening it all the time and ambient air temp is lower, this will reduce the size of panel you need to carry. I use an 80watt folding panel with my Traxide setup and a Waeco CF35.
Thanks Marty. Some good points.
Do you use the anderson plug to charge the battery?

Can you recommend one? There are so many on the market.

Richard

[Yorkie]

I use rich solar brand as found on eBay, 120w folding with waterproof regulator, plugs into my Anderson plug on the rear bar.

[d2dave]

When I purchased my first panel about 6 years ago the seller a very knowledgeable solar person told me 80 watts for a 40 litre fridge.

[Marty110]

Thanks Marty. Some good points.
Do you use the anderson plug to charge the battery?

Can you recommend one? There are so many on the market.

Richard
I use the Anderson on the rear whether charging by solar or with a battery charger. When parked in the shed for periods longer than a week I plug into 20watt panel on the shed roof to maintain the battery - these RRS use electricity standing still! Mine is just an ebay one - make sure the supplier has 100% feedback and you should be right.

[wbowner]

I use the Anderson on the rear whether charging by solar or with a battery charger. When parked in the shed for periods longer than a week I plug into 20watt panel on the shed roof to maintain the battery - these RRS use electricity standing still! Mine is just an ebay one - make sure the supplier has 100% feedback and you should be right.

Marty,
When doing via a battery charger what is the size of it.


Seems like there are a few options if you have the traxide set up

1) Connect a solar to the anderson plug and it will charge the dual battery which will indirectly charge the cranking battery (as indicated in the traxide site that you pointed out in another thread)
2) Connect a battery charger to the anderson plug for the same effect as above
3) Connect using either of the other methods to the white round plug in the back which would charge the the cranking battery and also the dual battery. This has a limit of 15amps I believe.
4) Connect direct to the batteries (but this is not as interesting :)).

To explain where I am coming from. I often will stop some where and either not use the car or only do short trips. In the past I have either run a lead through the window if I had 240v available or just disconnected the fridge after emptying it.
I don't want to do this if possible.

Many thanks to yours and other replies. It sounds like an 80w or more would do the job.

Richard

[Marty110]

Marty,
When doing via a battery charger what is the size of it.


Seems like there are a few options if you have the traxide set up

1) Connect a solar to the anderson plug and it will charge the dual battery which will indirectly charge the cranking battery (as indicated in the traxide site that you pointed out in another thread)
2) Connect a battery charger to the anderson plug for the same effect as above
3) Connect using either of the other methods to the white round plug in the back which would charge the the cranking battery and also the dual battery. This has a limit of 15amps I believe.
4) Connect direct to the batteries (but this is not as interesting :)).

To explain where I am coming from. I often will stop some where and either not use the car or only do short trips. In the past I have either run a lead through the window if I had 240v available or just disconnected the fridge after emptying it.
I don't want to do this if possible.

Many thanks to yours and other replies. It sounds like an 80w or more would do the job.

Richard
If I have to use a battery charger I use a C-tek 7 amp multi-stage 'smart' charger. This type of charger can be left connected to the batteries if your car is in storage to maintain them or to operate as a 'normal' battery charger if you have a flat battery. Most times it will put enough charge into a flat battery in about 15 minutes to enable a start (only if the car fires first turn of the key though). This can be connected via the rear Anderson plug. I dont know about charging via the white plug on the rear.

My previous 2 Defenders had solar panels permanently mounted on the roof - an 80w panel up there enabled me to camp for 10 days (maybe longer, but I never went over 10 days) without starting the car using a 50 litre fridge. I am strangely reluctant to drill holes in the RRS though so now use my 80w folding panel but as yet not for extended stays, but it should do the same job.

From what you describe re short or no trips I would connect up a solar panel to the car whether running a fridge or not as I imagine the D4 also uses plenty of electricity while parked.

It really depends on how much you want to spend - cheap folding rigid panels off ebay up to the new high tech 'soft' panels that also fold or roll up, they can be $500+ for an 80w and go up to at least 120w. Like these:

NEW GP 12V 80W Folding Solar Panel KIT Camping Power Generator Portable Battery | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-GP-12v-80W-Folding-Solar-Panel-Kit-Camping-Power-Generator-Portable-Battery-/140909316050?pt=AU_Solar&hash=item20ced987d2)

80W Solar Panel Folding KIT Caravan Camping Power 80 Watt Mono Charging KIT | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/80w-Solar-Panel-Folding-Kit-Caravan-Camping-Power-80-watt-Mono-Charging-Kit-/290908013609?pt=Caravan_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43bb780429)

120W Portable Folding Mono Solar Panel Blanket 10A Regulator Waterproof 5kg | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120W-Portable-Folding-Mono-Solar-Panel-blanket-10A-Regulator-waterproof-5KG-/181397242074?pt=AU_Solar&hash=item2a3c1e40da)

[wbowner]

If I have to use a battery charger I use a C-tek 7 amp multi-stage 'smart' charger. This type of charger can be left connected to the batteries if your car is in storage to maintain them or to operate as a 'normal' battery charger if you have a flat battery. Most times it will put enough charge into a flat battery in about 15 minutes to enable a start (only if the car fires first turn of the key though). This can be connected via the rear Anderson plug. I dont know about charging via the white plug on the rear.

My previous 2 Defenders had solar panels permanently mounted on the roof - an 80w panel up there enabled me to camp for 10 days (maybe longer, but I never went over 10 days) without starting the car using a 50 litre fridge. I am strangely reluctant to drill holes in the RRS though so now use my 80w folding panel but as yet not for extended stays, but it should do the same job.

From what you describe re short or no trips I would connect up a solar panel to the car whether running a fridge or not as I imagine the D4 also uses plenty of electricity while parked.

It really depends on how much you want to spend - cheap folding rigid panels off ebay up to the new high tech 'soft' panels that also fold or roll up, they can be $500+ for an 80w and go up to at least 120w. Like these:

NEW GP 12V 80W Folding Solar Panel KIT Camping Power Generator Portable Battery | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-GP-12v-80W-Folding-Solar-Panel-Kit-Camping-Power-Generator-Portable-Battery-/140909316050?pt=AU_Solar&hash=item20ced987d2)

80W Solar Panel Folding KIT Caravan Camping Power 80 Watt Mono Charging KIT | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/80w-Solar-Panel-Folding-Kit-Caravan-Camping-Power-80-watt-Mono-Charging-Kit-/290908013609?pt=Caravan_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43bb780429)

120W Portable Folding Mono Solar Panel Blanket 10A Regulator Waterproof 5kg | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/120W-Portable-Folding-Mono-Solar-Panel-blanket-10A-Regulator-waterproof-5KG-/181397242074?pt=AU_Solar&hash=item2a3c1e40da)

Marty
Thanks again.
They are cheap.

The fold up ones look interesting but you need to attach them to something. I have read that some of those can get very hot so you would not want to just rest on the roof of your car or bonnet.

re charging via the white plug. I found that in another thread in this forum.

Richard

[Marty110]

Hi Richard, I guess its a balance of efficiency against convenience. Yes solar panels lose effciency as they heat up, some worse than others, but it's pretty convenient to have one mounted on the roof or throw a solar 'blanket' over the bonnet. Either way they have to be in the sun to work so will heat up. I have solar panels on the roof of my van (2 x 64w) and they crank out up to 9 amps hot or not. I would probably look at a solar blanket and rig it up to hang on the car and plug into the Anderson plug. If you have a roof rack this is easy - hook it to the rack and let it dangle, or if you have a rear wheel carrier - the same. Folding panels are handy in that you can have a long lead and park in the shade and put the panels in the sun and move them around for best exposure throught the day. From my experience with roof mounted panels - I had one for 13 years on my old 300Tdi Defender - in that time it would have regularly got hot but never let me down charging my batteries. In that car the panel was hard wired to 2 secondary batteries, Optima blue tops. My van has had panels on the roof for over 6 years now, no probs.

[wbowner]

Marty,
Agree.
My van has some solar panels on the roof but I am looking for a bit of flexibility.
I don't always travel with my van.

The blanket ones look great as they pack up easier but are a lot more expensive

Like this one
Projecta Folding Portable Solar Panel Kits 120W Caravan Camping 4WD SPM120K | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/like/111125371488?limghlpsr=true&hlpv=2&ops=true&viphx=1&hlpht=true&lpid=107)

This would be ideal.

Richard

[DiscoMick]

I use an 80W folding pair of panels (2 x 40 W) I bought from Jaycar for about $400 from memory. I chose Jaycar because they seem to have good quality gear and to stand behind their products, whereas I had heard some horror stories about cheap panels bought over the internet which failed to produce the claimed power when tested after being bought.
Solar panel kits come with a regulator which prevents overcharging at peak periods and battery damage. We have a 40 litre Engel in a camper trailer fridge box. The panels came with battery clips, but I changed them to an Anderson plug which is connected to a DC-DC charger which had previously been installed just to ensure the quality of the charge coming from the vehicle, but that's not essential.
We have found so far that 80 watts is adequate for our needs, but we do live in sunny Queensland, so I'm not sure if that would be true in prolonged overcast weather down south, particularly Tasmania, although there is still some charge generated even when it is cloudy. However our 100 amp battery will run the fridge on a low setting for about 3 days without any charge at all. In fine weather we can run the fridge all night and the panels have the battery recharged by mid-morning. I do carry a second battery in a box as an emergency backup, but haven't needed it since we got the solar panels.
So I hope that helps you.

Sent from my GT-P5210 using AULRO mobile app

[landoman]

Bought a Rydge Ryder solar blanket to charge my auxiliary fridge battery
I am waiting for the Anderson plug to arrive to hook it up

mean time I plugged it in to its regulator and put it in full sunshine .....and checked if any voltage was coming from the lead that will plug into my battery
butverything is dead ....it appears to be generating no voltage .....and no lights are on on the regulator .

question

does this only generate volts / amps when it's actually hooked up to the battery ? Or is it faulty in that no power seems to be coming out of the line that goes to the battery ?

[drivesafe]

Hi Landoman, can you post up some photos of your setup, preferably closeups of any connections.

See if we can then help you.

[donh54]

I've got a 190W folding solar setup. Traxide DBS with an Anderson plug at the back of the Disco. I run a 35 litre Waeco in the car. Ive run it for 3 days without dramas, just off the aux battery.

If we are towing the camper, it has an AGM battery, led lights, charging points, etc. I have a three-way Anderson adapter, so I can plug the solar into the trailer, and the car (solar panel setup is stand-alone, so it can be in the sun, whilst the car and camper are in the shade). Longest I've setup in one place was three weeks, with occasional day trips in the car. No problems, all batteries stayed charged.

[Homestar]

When not plugged intoned the regulator you should be able to measure its open circuit voltage with a multimeter if you have such a device.