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Best solar battery maintainer for Trailer

TTMotorsports

Red Skull Member
Joined
Jan 7, 2021
Member Number
3315
Messages
1,291
Loc
Lucerne Valley, CA
Ok so I have a flat bed with a winch. The truck charges battery when i'm towing it BUT it will sit for months at a time without being used. The old battery died, got a new one and I'm wanting a solar battery maintainer for this thing. So what one have you guys used and recommend. Thanks.

Thinking something like this but there is tons of made in China options out there. Some with decent reviews and some saying they killed their batteries in a couple days.

 
5 watt panel at 12v is something like a little tiny bit of an amp.

https://www.amazon.com/SUNSUL-Maintainer-Waterproof-Controller-Accessories/dp/B0956QFKVY/ref=sxin_16_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.9e69e792-0ff0-4e1a-b10c-a41b9d9b3ffc%3Aamzn1.sym.9e69e792-0ff0-4e1a-b10c-a41b9d9b3ffc&crid=3AL466TVLZDE5&cv_ct_cx=solar+battery+tender+20w&keywords=solar+battery+tender+20w&pd_rd_i=B0956QFKVY&pd_rd_r=95ef048e-2515-45d7-a29f-a7e8642a1d14&pd_rd_w=yJrfX&pd_rd_wg=H1eMB&pf_rd_p=9e69e792-0ff0-4e1a-b10c-a41b9d9b3ffc&pf_rd_r=BWWC58PBBRZZ379SEV9J&qid=1659194901&sprefix=solar+battery+tender+20w%2Caps%2C131&sr=1-4-a73d1c8c-2fd2-4f19-aa41-2df022bcb241-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyWks5VFU5MEZQV0kwJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjA2MTMxMVFOV1RTWjBXSDJRUCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzE0NTIzMUo1WEJMWTVCWEdHTyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3NlYXJjaF90aGVtYXRpYyZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

christ that is a long link. :eek: if it doesn't show up, it is a link to an amazon chinese kti and kaboodal with a 20W panel, this will at least get you a couple amps a day to maintain a more reliable trickle charge. I'm not anybody, but 20w seems like a minimum size for actually doing anything meaningful in my head.
 
I live offgrid full time on solar and I actually enjoy tinkering with solar.

So on my backhoe that has a weak alternator, I just put one of those $20 'waterproof' charge controllers in the battery box and have the solar input cable sticking out a couple of inches with a connector. I occasionally lay a 100watt solar panel on the ground propped up on a tire and let it sit there for a day or two or whenever I think about it and disconnect it. I don't leave it there for more than a few days. It charges the backhoe batteries really well.

I do the same for a couple of trucks that rarely get driven.

I think the key in my setup is to disconnect the panel after a day or two. I don't trust those cheap charge controllers to properly limit the voltage and not overcharge the batteries in the truck or backhoe.

You could do something similar with a cheap controller and maybe a 50 watt panel.

YMMV :flipoff2:
 
I know the cheapo 5w panel I bought at North 40 doesn't seem to do anything :laughing: it's been on there for weeks and the battery indicator still says 3/4....

My MaxxD dump trailer came with a small stick on that I liked, but I honestly didn't use it enough to really see if it worked.
 
Yeah, those 5w or even up to 20w panels just don't make enough power to overcome the power requirements of the built-in charge controller. That's why I don't mess with them at all (after trying a few out).

The post I made above is pretty valid and works. It reminded me to plug in the 100w panel to my backhoe. I checked it a few minutes later and it appears it was floating the two batteries at 13.7v.

I will try and remember remove the panel this afternoon.

The next time I start the hoe. I bet it will crank right up with freshly charged batteries.
 
I keep my 100w hooked up about constantly for the past year to my RV, hasn't done anything bad and seems to do all the good stuff. Probably, eventually, the controller may die, but it seems basic enough to not be a real concern.

20w seems like the bare minimum that would have a chance at maintaining, but not re-charging, a battery. if it doesn't, then i'd guess 50w would be the next panel size to try.

the 100w certainly makes enough to recharge even with a reasonable bit of cloud cover. last fall or winter or whatever it was, the wife was running the coach 12v vent fan all day every 3rd day for quite a while and the panel was able to keep up with it pretty well, in the wet and dark side of WA.

for something to mount and forget about/leave there it would be oversized to just float the batteries
 
Ok thanks. I would use 100W panel but I don't want anything mounted onto the flat deck and no enough room on the tounge to mount one as well. I'll look into a 50W panel
 
Provience said:
5 watt panel at 12v is something like a little tiny bit of an amp.

https://www.amazon.com/SUNSUL-Maintainer-Waterproof-Controller-Accessories/dp/B0956QFKVY/ref=sxin_16_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.9e69e792-0ff0-4e1a-b10c-a41b9d9b3ffc%3Aamzn1.sym.9e69e792-0ff0-4e1a-b10c-a41b9d9b3ffc&crid=3AL466TVLZDE5&cv_ct_cx=solar+battery+tender+20w&keywords=solar+battery+tender+20w&pd_rd_i=B0956QFKVY&pd_rd_r=95ef048e-2515-45d7-a29f-a7e8642a1d14&pd_rd_w=yJrfX&pd_rd_wg=H1eMB&pf_rd_p=9e69e792-0ff0-4e1a-b10c-a41b9d9b3ffc&pf_rd_r=BWWC58PBBRZZ379SEV9J&qid=1659194901&sprefix=solar+battery+tender+20w%2Caps%2C131&sr=1-4-a73d1c8c-2fd2-4f19-aa41-2df022bcb241-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyWks5VFU5MEZQV0kwJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNjA2MTMxMVFOV1RTWjBXSDJRUCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMzE0NTIzMUo1WEJMWTVCWEdHTyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3NlYXJjaF90aGVtYXRpYyZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

christ that is a long link. :eek: if it doesn't show up, it is a link to an amazon chinese kti and kaboodal with a 20W panel, this will at least get you a couple amps a day to maintain a more reliable trickle charge. I'm not anybody, but 20w seems like a minimum size for actually doing anything meaningful in my head.
Click to expand...
all you need is this, the rest if just tracking where you came from to find it

 
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