Lazy linking to a Solar panel
I am thinking of getting one for our (old) Eriba Pan whilst it's sitting in a shed, so that its leisure battery is on relatively constant charge - but want to avoid fiddle & cost of meddling with the electrics.
So I wondered whether I could simply wire the panel to the appropriate pins of a 13-pin socket and (if the sun shines) just plug it in to the caravan's 13-pin plug - and do nothing more than unplug it when driving away.
Please, please tell me it's a doddle.
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Haven't done it myself but it appears it is possible. I guess the solar panel will be on the roof of the shed. Small panels are on sale which can be plugged into the likes of a cigarette socket in the vehicle and battery is trickled charged from there.
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If considering using any cigarette type socket you first need to ascertain if with the van "asleep" it is actually still connected to the van's battery; with most modern vans it will not be IMO.
Providing a dedicated one directly connected [via a fuse] to the battery is an easy DIY task.
I am not confident that with more modern vans the 13 pin plug also remains directly connected to the battery where very low current feeds are involved? I used to use my white seven pin DIN to provide power for the van's flashers back via the black plug. When I changed the van in 2008 that add on device would no longer function, hence thinking the feed is no longer there.
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Wht not just fit crocodile clips to the ends of the leads of the solar panel and just connect it direct to the battery? While a small panel is unlikely to over charge the battery it would be saver to fit a controller. Some portable panels come with controllers.
peedee
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Perhaps I should have mentioned that this is not a motorhome but a caravan. So gigarette lighters or other 12v sockets are not relevant.
But it rather looks as if I'm still in nowhere land.
P.S. Lornalou - the point is that the shed is on a farm and there is not mains. Hence the 'adventurous' thinking - but ta.0 -
Aha, with you saying a shed I and others thought you were at home, I would have called it a barn, so could you fit a 60/80 solar on the roof and run cable down to a controller on the wall and take leads from controller to battery compartment and crock clip on to charge when stored, or remove battery and take home to charge.
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Well Peterpink, how about considering just a tiny fiddle with your van electrics. We have connected a car style cigarette lighter socket, via a fuse, to the main battery feed. For neatness the connection has been made behind the battery box, but you could piggy back into the leads as they come off the battery.
We plug our portable, regulated solar panel into the above socket when parked without EHU. Could you leave a panel outside the barn/ shed, connecting through a small hole. In the building. Our battery stays topped up with the 20W panel which was standard on the van. It’s too small for staying off EHU, hence the socket above.
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I thought that Pin 10 (switched live) and pin 9 (earth for pin 10) were used for fridge and battery charging when the car engine is running with the relay being in the car to detect ignition status. In which case you should be able to use pins 10/9 on the caravan 13 pin socket to charge the battery from the solar panel (making sure that the fridge is off).
As nobody else has mentioned this I may be wrong of course.
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Go on https://www.photonicuniverse.com/ and will give you some ideas as sell full kits with everything you need.
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This, if it is what it purports to be is an exceptionally good quality, low parasitic loss* controller for panels up to 80 Watts, at a very modest £35.
* Low <8 mA self consumption.
Manual:
http://support.morningstarcorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/SS-3-IOM_v3.3_WEB.pdf
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