RE: Battery Maintenence Questions
Eric Johnson (etj@nwlink.com)
Mon, 27 Sep 1999 15:51:51 -0700
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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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> >>On my P-19 I have a marine 12V that supplies power for various
> peripherals.
> >> I store the boat on trailer at a marina yard, and don't have any way to
> >>charge the sucker, except removing it from the boat and carting it home.
> >>Soo, my plan is to minimize the number of times I do this in a season by
> >>installing some form of battery monitor
> >
> >For about the same cost you can get a solar power charger and
> never have to
> >remove the battery. Check ebay under "solar panel" search. Sure would
> >save you a lot of trouble.
> >
>
> Well that did come to mind, however.... I live in Seattle where the sun
> never shines! Okay it did shine yesterday and the day before, but pretty
> soon it's going to start raining and it won't stop until July 4th.
>
> Seriously this is a possibility, however I have questions. Where do you
> mount one permanently one such that it is out of the way AND efficent?
On top of the companionway hatch. I too am in Seattle and a small panel has
done wonders at keeping my battery charged up, along with the charger on my
motor. And my slip all summer on Lake Union was in shade for many hours of
the day.
> Solar cells are very sensitive to orientation to the sun, and in my case
> what little sun shines, so ideally such a mounting is 'flexible' enough to
> allow repositioning. Maybe it's not an issue and enough current
> would flow
> to keep the battery topped regardless. Thanks for the reply.
Thin-film cells are a lot more tolerant of partial lighting, and are usually
a bit cheaper too. Drop me a line if you want to see my setup - I just moved
to the Kenmore Air Harbor marina this weekend.