Which external solar for vehicle battery please?

[Andacami]

New tracker reports battery voltage, it was fitted 2nd Nov and battery was good. It's been going down fast since, now at 9.7v.

I'm going over to the storage place to make sure everything is off; Sargent shut down and Peugeot battery isolated.

While I'm there, I thought I might connect up a basic external solar battery charger, one that I can aim at the sun.

What do folks recommend please? Need something by Sunday so quick delivery or Prime.

B2B is also a thought but the 'van is not in the best place for roof solar right now.

Thank you.

 

[cmcardle75]

Be prepared for the fact that your battery may have been irreparably damaged by this. Basically, if you want to store your vehicle away from charging sources, in winter with little solar, with a tracker and alarm running, you're going to struggle.

 

[Boringfrog]

20W Solar

 

[Andacami]

Oh... hoped that would be rectified by external charger, at least a little bit...

 

[cmcardle75]

I'd buy a full frame large solar panel of a size that you could later put on the roof (at least 100W), with the highest open circuit voltage you can find. Stick that through an MPPT controller that is large enough for any future solar array you envisage. Point it south. You may well need a new battery. At the very least, remove the battery and charge it fully at home first, preferably on a smart charger with recondition program. 9.7V is in serious damage territory, so be prepared for the fact you may need to replace it. Keep an eye on your tracker, if the voltage goes below 12.2V, go immediately to pull the battery and recharge at home. Also, if the solar can't get to around 14V at least once a week, also pull the battery and recharge.

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[XxAnthxX]

If the storage area is secure enough something like this would give you options.

DOKIO 100 Watt 12 Volt Monocrystalline Foldable Portable Solar Suitcase with Charge Controller Amazon product ASIN B07JVJJH47
Theres even a used one on the Amazon warehouse for 119 quid.

In storage you could connect it to the starter battery and you could take it on tour and connect it to your leisure battery when off grid.

I used one with my small PCV for years with quite a bit of success.....well I never flattened a battery

 

[Andacami]

Thanks again for the tips, battery now at 5.8v according to the tracker! This does not feel right at all! Something else must be draining it; I've an old Skoda (alarm) and a Westfield (immobiliser) that can sit around for weeks on end with no issues, so I'm at a loss as to what is happening here.

As above, I'm going to storage on Sunday to have a look if I've left anything on and test the battery with a meter but it does look like battery out and hope my ctex will recover it at home.

I have warranty so if it's a goosed battery ('van is 2017) and I've not done anything silly, then I may be able to get a replacement...

Think I need to invest in some kind of trickle charge as suggested above too.

 

[DBK]

Thanks again for the tips, battery now at 5.8v according to the tracker! This does not feel right at all! Something else must be draining it; I've an old Skoda (alarm) and a Westfield (immobiliser) that can sit around for weeks on end with no issues, so I'm at a loss as to what is happening here.

As above, I'm going to storage on Sunday to have a look if I've left anything on and test the battery with a meter but it does look like battery out and hope my ctex will recover it at home.

I have warranty so if it's a goosed battery ('van is 2017) and I've not done anything silly, then I may be able to get a replacement...

Think I need to invest in some kind of trickle charge as suggested above too.

Very doubtful the warranty will cover the battery as any damage it has suffered will be down to you allowing it to discharge far below safe limits.

I don't know what else may be draining the battery but the tracker alone, if you have no solar, will flatten it over time. Do you know what current the tracker draws? If you can get a figure for this it would help work out what size of solar panel might be needed.

But can a panel get a good view of the sky? If there is a window with a clear view south a suitably sized panel might work but at this time of year it may need to be a lot bigger than 20W.

I think you need to buy a new battery and replace the one in the vehicle bringing the old one back to see if it can be saved. It may not be.

 

[Andacami]

Both leisure and cab batteries down to 5v!

Disconnected both and brought them home on Sunday, stuck on my Ctek and now cab battery fully restored and charged, and leisure on the way to being sorted.

Whilst this is good news, I'm still unsure as to why they both drained so quickly this time.

We got the van on 16th October and spent that weekend at Naburn Lock on EUH, tested a few things all good. Left in storage on the Monday 19th and then back out to Grafham Water on the 30th (11days). No issues with starting and again on EHU for a couple of nights. Back to storage on Sunday.

Back again in 2nd Nov (1 day) nothing untoward; started fine as had to move it to accommodate fitting of new tracker. All went well, started up and moved back, locked up and left.

As OP, tracker starts reporting battery voltage as normal but very quickly descends until we arrive at Sunday 15th (13 days) when I take two dead batteries home. Bear in mind the noticeable drain hit 5ish v on Thursday, just 10days after tracker fitting.

It's been fine sat for 11 days so logic dictates that for it to drain so dramatically in 10 days, that something has gone wrong with the tracker install...?

Has this scenario played out for anyone else?

 

[Andacami]

Some time later...

To draw this to a close; I've still no idea what was going on before but after putting both batteries back in after successful recondition/charge, all seems to be well. I even have the tracker reporting an increase in battery volts on the occasion the sun comes out.

I suspect a combination of; batteries that needed a bit of TLC as they had been sitting around for months before we took ownership; us using these poorly batteries on the occasions we went out and me leaving something switched on/plugged in.

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