should solar be turned of whilst layed up

dishlicker · Senior Member

should solar be turned of whilst layed up

Phillipn · Guru

WHY would you turn the solar panel off?, it will not make noise and keep you awake. What is your reason for asking the question?

madaboutled · Guru

I think would depend on the type of Batteries you have.

Lithium: Generally will hold full charge and not require being maintained at full capacity, besides that Lithuim's can go down to flat and be charged back up without ill effect.

Deep Cycle AGM's: Will loose power over time, not being maintained they could fall below a state of charge that could shorten their life. Your solar controller is designed to maintain the battery bank on Float - full Charge. I have 2 x 130 AH AGM's and believe that whilst maintaining on Float is generally OK, I prefer that they have some sort of draw, so every couple of weeks I turn the fridge (Engel upright) on for a few days. Gives both the batteries & the fridge a workout.

Hope this helps

Regards Steve.

Peter_n_Margaret · Guru

Provided the charge and float setting are correct for the battery, there is no need to turn the solar off, ever.

madaboutled wrote:
........., I prefer that they have some sort of draw, so every couple of weeks I turn the fridge (Engel upright) on for a few days. Gives both the batteries & the fridge a workout.

With respect, that will simply reduce the life of the batteries.

Cheers,

Peteer

madaboutled · Guru

Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
Provided the charge and float setting are correct for the battery, there is no need to turn the solar off, ever.
madaboutled wrote:
........., I prefer that they have some sort of draw, so every couple of weeks I turn the fridge (Engel upright) on for a few days. Gives both the batteries & the fridge a workout.
With respect, that will simply reduce the life of the batteries.

Cheers,
Peteer

Can you expand on that Peter? When I bought the batteries they came with a "hints & tips" sheet that recommended running a few lights in much the same way, but when she's "parked up" its in a compound so I didn't want lights drawing attention to it after hours. So, figured the fridge only draws average <40 amps a day, which is much less than the daily draw when we're on the road for 6 months plus (last trip was 12 months). On a side note, I think we saw you guys somewhere in Qld north coast last year.

Mattt · Veteran Member

Madaboutled,

I think it's something to do with knocking the top ~1-5% (or whatever) of charge offa the battery so the charger doesn't get presumptuous about the SOC... or some such...

I can definitely see the sense in what you're saying - doing so is going to be somewhat discharging the battery, so it counts as cycling. The more cycles, the less lifespan...

Cheers,

Mattt.

dishlicker · Senior Member

Thanks for all the reply's iv'e decided to keep it on. thanks all cheers

oldtrack123 · Guru

madaboutled wrote:
Peter_n_Margaret wrote:
Provided the charge and float setting are correct for the battery, there is no need to turn the solar off, ever.
madaboutled wrote:
........., I prefer that they have some sort of draw, so every couple of weeks I turn the fridge (Engel upright) on for a few days. Gives both the batteries & the fridge a workout.
With respect, that will simply reduce the life of the batteries.

Cheers,
Peteer
Can you expand on that Peter? When I bought the batteries they came with a "hints & tips" sheet that recommended running a few lights in much the same way, but when she's "parked up" its in a compound so I didn't want lights drawing attention to it after hours. So, figured the fridge only draws average <40 amps a day, which is much less than the daily draw when we're on the road for 6 months plus (last trip was 12 months). On a side note, I think we saw you guys somewhere in Qld north coast last year.

La batteries do not need to be Worked!!

All you are doing is using up part of their limited live cycles

That few days 40 x3 =120Ahrs hardly a small pull down

It is doubtful that the fridge gains much either , but it is possibly of some advantage to just run it for a few MINUTES occasionally, just to circulate the refrigerant/oil