Two days ago, with an overcast sky, my battery lost voltage—about .15 volts down to about 12.5 volts [my report]. My hope was a day of sun could return the battery to full charge—that with my Garmin Nuvi 760 and inverter on. I disconnected the inverter after the voltage reached 12.7. That tells me I can likely stay in the 12-volt range using the solar panels. I have not seen lower that 12.3 volts. Now, this is without my DiNotte 400L lights connected [they are still at DiNotte for 12-volt verification]. After another hour or so the voltage was just over 12.7 volts. We did add .2 volts. I placed the battery on the charger at 5:15 p.m. EST. The charger is a 1 amp charger. The charging continued for about 12 hours. Given this, I will have to top-off the battery periodically [yet to be determined] while on tour. Of course, I’ll have daylight for much longer periods. Testing and evaluation continues.
My BROL Quad [Fargo] Setup Thread
Jim… Do you mean charge the battery every week or so? “top off the battery periodically while on tour…”?
Your documentation can’t help but open the door wide to a flood of new folks recumbent trike touring and solar use.
Thanks…Sharon
The frequency of “top-off” is yet to be determined. I need my full load [lights & GPS, and maybe AA/AAA battery charging as drain], then full sun to see how much power remains in the battery with a day of sun. Of course, the longer periods of summer sun is a positive factor. Knowing this kind of information is the reason for my testing. Please stay tuned.
I hope the information I provided in reply to your question of 02/07 was useful.
Take care.
The best…
Jim
The charge ["top-off] took 12 hours. The battery now sits at 13.44 volts. –jim
I hope you’ve had more sunshine than we’ve add the last several days. I announced at the cafe today that the odd lighting outside was due to something called sunshine. I would say it has been at least 4 full days since we’ve had any sunshine. Seasonal Affective Disorder is taking on new meaning for me… Were you getting charging on the battery via solar gain even under cloudy conditions? Does your inverter give out a warning sound when the voltage drops? I think my 2500 volt inverter shuts down and gives out a warning at 11.5 volts remaining to keep from damaging the battery. Unfortunately, I don’t have solar panels to charge them up and end up relying either on my Honda 2000 generator or the truck when moving/under power. I’ve been intrigued by the panels you purchased because they roll up so nicely and can be transported easily. The cost is still up there though.
- Zeke
We Friday & Saturday without sun. Yesterday and today have allowed me to continue my testing. I did not detect and charging during the overcast days. My solar report of 02/04 has that.
My little inverter makes no sounds that I am aware of. I think it will run until the system shuts down, I’ll only use it for emergency AC, to operate my iPOD Touch & iHome Speaker, and maybe to charge DiNotte Li-Ion Batteries.
I lost my pane rollup feature when I joined the 2 panels. Yep, $2C a panel is a bit. This entire project is expensive for me and I have so much yet to buy. In the end, I think it wil have been worth it. I certainly hope so.
Thanks Zeke!
Take care…
Jim
Extremely helpful. I like the new one coming too – the 14 hour charge. To buy them will take up the remaining amount of my dwindling – almost gone, children’s inheritance. I’ll send them a photo, when I see one, of my fully outfitted quad, trailer and equipment. They can see what their spent inheritance looks like.
Thanks again… Sharon
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for the reply. It is good to know I’ve been of some help. I’ll bet your children are happy for you and appreciate what you are doing for yourself. I think those of us who are active are less prone to heath issues and we continue to season.
What type trailer are you getting?
Jim