Solar Battery Tenders

[gunguy]

I didn't want to ask this in the Spring Start-up thread, but at least one person uses a solar powered battery tender.

I was thinking of getting one for a truck I use maybe once a month or so. Are they worth the money? Any recommendations?

Thanks for any input.

Jim

 

[Vicegrip]

Yes they work well.

I have about 50 of them. They are the type that plug into a OBDII port but are simple to convert to a cigg lighter socket or other way to conect to a battery. Stop by and you can have one.

 

[Sr. WiNdTeCh]

It depends on quality, as I have solar panels as a "hobby" I own a Xantrax solar charger for my batteries... I'm sure you don't want to spend that kinda of money tho... So I'm going to say No... it isn't worth it especially for a truck which you should be turning on for 30min every month to "tend" the battery anyway during storage, and as you don't have deep cycle batteries in your truck I'm assuming the life on the battery and how it's built will only last you 10 yrs max anyways... so don't waste your money...

 

[bgarrett]

I have been buying the ones that Horrible Freight sells and they do a very good job.
I have a car that I start once a year and the battery is always good to go

 

[Vicegrip]

It depends on quality, as I have solar panels as a "hobby" I own a Xantrax solar charger for my batteries... I'm sure you don't want to spend that kinda of money tho... So I'm going to say No... it isn't worth it especially for a truck which you should be turning on for 30min every month to "tend" the battery anyway during storage, and as you don't have deep cycle batteries in your truck I'm assuming the life on the battery and how it's built will only last you 10 yrs max anyways... so don't waste your money...

? He stated in the OP that he uses the truck once a month. How much power to you need to counter vampire draw and internal loss? I charged a battery from around 8 volts to full charge with one of the ones I have. i don't recommend you stand there and wait but they do work.

A car or truck battery is roughly $100 or so. A solar charger is roughly 1/2 that. A truck that starts up rather than going clickclikclick, is priceless.

 

[Sr. WiNdTeCh]

? He stated in the OP that he uses the truck once a month. How much power to you need to counter vampire draw and internal loss? I charged a battery from around 8 volts to full charge with one of the ones I have. i don't recommend you stand there and wait but they do work.

A car or truck battery is roughly $100 or so. A solar charger is roughly 1/2 that. A truck that starts up rather than going clickclikclick, is priceless.

Exactly... therefor my answer of DON'T waste your money...

If you learn the science of a battery and think that slowly charging a battery form 8 volts (which I laugh at) to 12-14volts with a slow "trickle" charge is a good idea and is "worth it" then you may need to do a little more research. sure it will work for a while.... oh and I gotta say (because you called me out)... with your 50 solar battery tenders that are so AWESOME!!!... why was it at 8 volts... lol...

 

[HOTFR8]

You need a good quality one with a resistor to stop them flattening the battery. I have a couple of them but find them not as good as the mains power versions. As I stated you need a good qualitiy version with a resistor that only allows charge into the battery and does not flatten the battery.

 

[Sr. WiNdTeCh]

You need a good quality one with a resistor to stop them flattening the battery. I have a couple of them but find them not as good as the mains power versions. As I stated you need a good qualitiy version with a resistor that only allows charge into the battery and does not flatten the battery.

You mean diode.... a resister would "flatten" the battery by turning the power into heat... a diode stops the battery from back feeding into the solar battery tender... I am building a small wind turbine and already have solar panel... I'll link you to a picture...








I take care of 4 large deep cycle batteries through solar, but there are certian voltages batteries need, do a little research to know what is good and what isn't... Soon I'll have a MPPT solar charger...

 

[Vicegrip]

Exactly... therefor my answer of DON'T waste your money...

If you learn the science of a battery and think that slowly charging a battery form 8 volts (which I laugh at) to 12-14volts with a slow "trickle" charge is a good idea and is "worth it" then you may need to do a little more research. sure it will work for a while.... oh and I gotta say (because you called me out)... with your 50 solar battery tenders that are so AWESOME!!!... why was it at 8 volts... lol...

It was at 8 volts because it went dead while not on any kind of tender. I hooked it up to the tender to see if it would work. It did. lol...

i don't think you understand how the devices I am the OP is likely thinking about work. They stick on the inside of the windshield and plug into the car or truck. They have an electronic power controller /regulator that maintains the voltage and current. They are not intended to be chargers but are intended to work as tenders. In this capacity they work rather well. This is not my opinion this is the outcome that many others have seen in cars and boats and other non daily use systems for many years.

I don't understand your reasoning that they are not worth the money. They cost less than the device they protect. They can and do keep automotive batteries from going completely dead which reduces service life.

The system you just posted looks like a small off the shelf all in one system. Your system has nothing to do with the car mounted maintainers.

How many watts is the one you pictured? What do you power with it? I plan on using the car charger panels (which I found to be surprisingly good solar cells and almost one SF each) in a roof mounted bank to produce about 200 watts into a good controller such as a small Morningstar or the like and storing in a bank of 6 large Deep cycle batteries I got new for cheap. Home made and cheap too. Total cost will be just over $300. Not bad for 200 PV watts

 

[digdug18]

forget solar, just get a battery tender, name brand mind you. The HF ones I wouldn't trust.

 

[ELKY70SS]

I bought one from Northern Tool.

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200140124_200140124

I installed it in my snowmobile trailer. I have two sled batteries on it in the off season and it works fine.
Maintains
Conditions
Desulfates

 

[Iggi]

This works wonders and i have been using it for a few years now. I installed a bunch of them on hunting rigs that get used only during deer season down in south texas. they condition the battery and do not boil out the fluids. the rigs have had these installed for three years now running the same batteries. i use the 15 watt panel system to run a bank of batteries in my shed.

http://batteryminders.com/batterycharger/catalog/BatteryMINDer-Solar-Charger-Controller-Desulfator-12-Volt-with--p-16139.html

 

[HOTFR8]

You mean diode....

Thank you for the correction


Being on Solar Power (feeds the mains) here I just plug in a battery tender to the power.

 

[A29]

I got one from Oreilly's to keep my lawn tractor up. Don't have power to my storage building. Works good and was only $20. They have two, one is waterproff and them other is not.

 

[Sr. WiNdTeCh]

It was at 8 volts because it went dead while not on any kind of tender. I hooked it up to the tender to see if it would work. It did. lol...

i don't think you understand how the devices I am the OP is likely thinking about work. They stick on the inside of the windshield and plug into the car or truck. They have an electronic power controller /regulator that maintains the voltage and current. They are not intended to be chargers but are intended to work as tenders. In this capacity they work rather well. This is not my opinion this is the outcome that many others have seen in cars and boats and other non daily use systems for many years.

I don't understand your reasoning that they are not worth the money. They cost less than the device they protect. They can and do keep automotive batteries from going completely dead which reduces service life.

The system you just posted looks like a small off the shelf all in one system. Your system has nothing to do with the car mounted maintainers.

How many watts is the one you pictured? What do you power with it? I plan on using the car charger panels (which I found to be surprisingly good solar cells and almost one SF each) in a roof mounted bank to produce about 200 watts into a good controller such as a small Morningstar or the like and storing in a bank of 6 large Deep cycle batteries I got new for cheap. Home made and cheap too. Total cost will be just over $300. Not bad for 200 PV watts

Hahahahah off the shelf. Your out of your mind, that 1800watt pure sine wave inverter is 2000$, this is all custom built by myself. You need to do some research and reread the OP, as he drives it once a month there should be no issues, save the money for something useful.