Solar powered 12v chargers

[FishFinger]

Does anyone have any experience or comments pertaining to deep cycle Solar battery chargers. Are the a worth while investment and can they actually generate enough charge to help a extend batteries life for say a 40lb thrust 12v trolling motor?

 

[FishSchooler]

Does anyone have any experience or comments pertaining to deep cycle Solar battery chargers. Are the a worth while investment and can they actually generate enough charge to help a extend batteries life for say a 40lb thrust 12v trolling motor?

I dont know about the boat motors, it takes a lot of solar panels just to power a small car motor. I saw it somewhere, like there is a car that it on 3 wheels, nothing but a very small engine and solar panels. No passengers either and it took like 49 square feet of solar panels to power that little car. Not worth it unless you want to have 4 square feet to sit in I think

 

[osmosis]

I dont know how well they work for extending battery life while in use, but it's surely better than nothing.

our RV starts up every time even after sitting for more than a year but never used them on the boat..

 

[Jmiddlestadt]

Does anyone have any experience or comments pertaining to deep cycle Solar battery chargers. Are the a worth while investment and can they actually generate enough charge to help a extend batteries life for say a 40lb thrust 12v trolling motor?

I work at Costco in Salem, and we sell a (or did sell) a 2 pack of solar 12volt chargers/battery maintainers. Not sure how many amps it provides, but like osmosis said, anything helps. worth a shot though, i wanted to get a set but all my dinero is going towards tires for my Jeep. If you did decide to give them a try and didn't like them, you can always return them, no questions asked....gotta love Costco! :lol::dance: let us know if you end up trying them out. Hope that helped

 

[chunk_style]

I dont know about the boat motors, it takes a lot of solar panels just to power a small car motor. I saw it somewhere, like there is a car that it on 3 wheels, nothing but a very small engine and solar panels. No passengers either and it took like 49 square feet of solar panels to power that little car. Not worth it unless you want to have 4 square feet to sit in I think

They don't run the motor, they just ensure that the battery won't be dead. I don't think there are any that will charge your motor ehough if you are using it for a few hours a day, they're more for making sure your outboard/car/RV won't lose all it's juice over the winter, or in an extended time of no use.

 

[meluvtrout]

It all depends on what you're getting. If you get one of those $25 panels, those will probably take 2 -3 days to fully charge a battery.
If you decide to spend a little bit more and buy let's say a Coleman CL1200, that should keep your boat running on Dexter for a whole day and still keep your battery charged.

Besides, you are not going to be cranking the power all the way on your trolling motor anyway. Trolling with a 45lb thrust on a 9.5' boat at speed 1-2, your battery (a deep cycle marine battery) should be able to last a day.

If there are any outlets in that camp ground, you could also get a $40 Husky recharger, which charges the battery overnight.

 

[FishFinger]

That's what I was hoping I could find...

 

[Commodore S]

Battery

Battery

That's what I was hoping I could find...

If you don't you can bring your battery over to charge off my generator. Works great fully charged 1-2 hours. Gotta start before quiet time though, found that out the hard way:naughty:

 

[FishFinger]

What I'd really like to find is a dark matter collector /charger. One that could recharge a deep cycle 12v w/o sunlight.... Technology can be sooo slow at times.

Commodore, I appreciate your OFFer. I initially thought I might be able to leave my generator at home, but I think I'll chain it to a tree and offer it up as a community charging station.

Meanwhile I'm going to see if I can either adjust my outboard to a super slow idle, add trolling plate or deploy a sea anchor, in the event I run out of E-juice

 

[FishSchooler]

What I'd really like to find is a dark matter collector /charger. One that could recharge a deep cycle 12v w/o sunlight.... Technology can be sooo slow at times.

Commodore, I appreciate your OFFer. I initially thought I might be able to leave my generator at home, but I think I'll chain it to a tree and offer it up as a community charging station.

Meanwhile I'm going to see if I can either adjust my outboard to a super slow idle, add trolling plate or deploy a sea anchor, in the event I run out of E-juice

You could have some turbines on the sides of the boat so when the outboard is runnin, your electric motor(s?) will be charged.

 

[Fishtopher]

What I'd really like to find is a dark matter collector /charger. One that could recharge a deep cycle 12v w/o sunlight.... Technology can be sooo slow at times.

Just so happens I'm working on one in the basement. After several rounds of disfiguring burns and causing rolling blackouts, I think I have it down. I have a few more kinks to work out, but would be glad to let you test it whenever...

 

[FishFinger]

Just so happens I'm working on one in the basement. After several rounds of disfiguring burns and causing rolling blackouts, I think I have it down. I have a few more kinks to work out, but would be glad to let you test it whenever...

Outstanding, Don't wory about the burns; if you wear a hat no one will notice.