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How far?

ORIGINAL: tscaptain

... The one I have on order is 500mA. Not sure is that will be enough but will see! ....
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Should be more than enough - drain on a battery, once the car has shut itself down into a fully resting state, should be well under 100mA.

Looking forward to your report on this - I need to get something similar.
 
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Well it finally arrived so I thought I'd share first impressions and early test results!
The unit comes with a whole host of different battery connectors and I'm using the cigarette lighter plug as per my CTEK 3600. I tested the voltage on my fully charged battery and it read 12.57V. Then put on lights, fan, radio, operated seats etc and dropped the voltage to 11.7V. Connected solar charger (which was putting out 18V according to my multimeter with no load on it!) and left it for 4 hours in mostly overcast/rainy conditions. Just checked the battery voltage and is back up to 12.4V[:)]
The instructions say to mount the panel at 90 deg to elevation of midday sun but, as you can see, for ease of trial I just put it flat on the garage wall facing SW.
It comes with 3m of cable but I ordered an extra 3m to be sure it would reach inside the car. As with CTEK no prob closing door with cable through.
There is no cut off when the battery is "fully" charged but the blurb says the panel is not powerful enough to overcharge. (Will keep a close eye on it for the next few days though!) At night the battery is not drained by the unit as there is circuitry to prevent that.
It's engineered in Canada and made in China (no surprises there then).
So early signs are that it will do what it claims and keep the battery topped up with a trickle charge. Will put another post here in a couple of days with the battery readings. Would certainly appear at this early stage to suit anyone without a convenient AC supply and/or someone who wants to be a bit greener![:)]
Ask away if there's anything you want to know about it.
 
Solar charger update. Charging for about 6 hours today, mostly sunny, battery voltage steady at 12.5V
 
1645 Sat. Again been sunny [:D] for most of the day. Battery voltage 12.4V, probably dropped 0.1V before I got the meter on it, so voltage appears steady and, for the moment, overcharging does not seem to be an issue. However, still getting a solar charge controller just in case! Hopefully that will arrive early next week so will report further then[:)]
 
ORIGINAL: tscaptain
1645 Sat. Again been sunny [:D]
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You can go off people you know [;)]

Are you not in the UK??, its been horrible and grey all weekend around here... and I've been in Yorkshire and West Midlands already today! [:)]

garyw
 
Well we have had over 160 mm of rain in the last 14 days too![:(] Most of it at night though[:)] Mostly sunny today as well, just got back from walking the dogs on Bude beach.


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Better go check that battery again!
Edit - 12.4V so it looks like the claim that it's not powerful enough to overcharge could be right! Charge controller coming anyway now!
 
Yes I did think that when I saw the picture lol

I have hoovered out my Touareg today for the same reason ~ dog!!

Jane [;)]

( edited due to typing error ~ Looking out of the window when typing not a good idea [:)] )
 
Well I would expect a Touareg to have a lot of sand in them too![:D] Now where's that camel gone..............
 
Drat you did not ask me why Taffy is a male lol

Well he is a he as he is damn noisy haha burbles and grunts!! [:D]

Jane [;)]
 
ORIGINAL: tscaptain

Battery voltage 12.4V, probably dropped 0.1V before I got the meter on it, so voltage appears steady and, for the moment, overcharging does not seem to be an issue. However, still getting a solar charge controller just in case! Hopefully that will arrive early next week so will report further then[:)]
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Ok, charge controller has been put in line between panel and battery
http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/Store/Product/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=366
and, apart from peace of mind about overcharging, shows when the batt is being charged. I have also tilted the panel to about 30deg. The last few days have been pretty overcast and I don't think the panel has been producing as much as it could however the battery voltage remains steady around 12.4 - 12.5V. My batt when fully charged by CTEK (green light on) read 12.57. At this stage the conclusion would seem to be that without the CTEK to maybe connect up and boost batt to max now and again, a second panel might be needed to provide the necessary oomph to get it up to full charge. However, with the longer days and stronger sun one may prove to be enough. We shall see but if I didn't have AC power to the garage I'd be quite happy with the results so far showing that there is enough from one panel, even at this time of year, to keep the batt well above 12V. (don't know about Scotland in winter though!). Hope that helps.
 
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