Adding Solar battery maintainer connectons.

[k0ua]

And here it is mounted in the window:

Here is the swingarm that keeps the wire positioned over closer to the wall.

And here is that same swingarm with it swung over towards the tractor, ready to make connections.

And here we are all connected up.

Time will tell how effective it will be in keeping the battery float charged. I will take some voltage reading in a few days.

 

[k0ua]

I took a reading today, it was cloudy and no direct sunlight on the photovoltaic cells. I read 12.62 volts on the battery. About what I would expect. Since the charger is so small and the battery so large, I would not expect to see much float voltage on the battery. It might float up some more on a sunny day. I will make another reading on a sunny day and see what happens.

 

[bdog]

Do you have electricity in that barn? The solar maintainers work but not as good as a plug in maintainer that charges 24hrs a day especially in the winter. I have about ten of the battery tenders plugged into various things in my shop and the electric bill is less than $40 per month including all the other electricity I use out there for lighting, welding, etc.

I have a solar maintainer for things left outside and it works, but not as good as the plug in versions.

 

[Xfaxman]

Great thread and I appreciate the Full Size pictures. :thumbsup:

 

[k0ua]

Do you have electricity in that barn? The solar maintainers work but not as good as a plug in maintainer that charges 24hrs a day especially in the winter. I have about ten of the battery tenders plugged into various things in my shop and the electric bill is less than $40 per month including all the other electricity I use out there for lighting, welding, etc.

I have a solar maintainer for things left outside and it works, but not as good as the plug in versions.

Nope, If I had electric in the "Kioti Den" I would have just put it on a Battery Tender Jr. and been done. But the Solar should keep up with the self discharging of the battery. It was cheap enough to deploy.

 

[David_Kb7uns]

I took a reading today, it was cloudy and no direct sunlight on the photovoltaic cells. I read 12.62 volts on the battery. About what I would expect. Since the charger is so small and the battery so large, I would not expect to see much float voltage on the battery. It might float up some more on a sunny day. I will make another reading on a sunny day and see what happens.

I have panels on my Jeep Commander to top off the radio batteries and this time of year at just south of 45 north the output is barely registering on the power meter, may have to add some type of tilting brackets on the roof mount to get a better angle.

David Kb7uns

 

[drizler]

Channel Lock makes a nice set for $22 you can get on amazon. Nice long handle and those handles make everything oh so much better. \its not so much the force there but more how you can easily control it. I love mine and after decades of using vise grips it was a welcome change.