Selecting solar battery maintainers

lfcave

Advanced Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2017
Messages
60
Location
Omaha
I am thinking of buying g a solar battery maintainer so the battery is ready to go when we want to go. We own a Jay Feather 7 19XUD (think small). I have looked at "SUNER POWER 12V Solar Car Battery Charger & Maintainer - Portable 6W Solar Panel Trickle Charging Kit for Automotive, Motorcycle, Boat, Marine, RV, etc." They also have a 2.4 W , 12 W, and 14 W. I am not electrically knowledgeable and I am assuming the W stands or watts.
Any explanation or help would be appreciated.
 
All situations are different, so I’ll explain mine.

My rig will use about 4 amps a day if I don’t use anything, that’s around 48 watts, a day. So let’s say it’s sunny 6 hours a day, 48 divided by 6 is 8 watt minimum to keep everything charged.
I have 300watts on the roof for use when I’m using a lot when camping.

The bigger the solar panel the better charging will be on a cloudy week. Another option is to have a full disconnect on the battery or remove the negative cable when your not using it. I always turn off my batteries if it’s going to be somewhere that I can’t check on it for a month or two. Snow can cover the solar in the winter. I don’t want to take that chance, so I disconnect the batteries.
 
Thanks for the info. I am beginning to think that a complete shut off for the battery would be simpler to do. We electrical neophytes forget about all the little things that are electrically powered when we aren't using the camper.
 
Whether you use a solar charger or not, you still need to have a battery switch that disconnects the entire trailer's electrical system. A marine grade Perko switch is best.

Those miniscule chargers you cited are worthless for what you want to do. IMHO, they are a gimmick.

Renogy sells an RV 100 watt solar system and it works awesomely well.
 

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