Solar charging

[stuee]

Hi drivesafe,

Would the jaycar 15W panel posted in the link above be suitable for a dual battery setup with the SC80. I'm not driving the disco much at all these days and the starter battery will only hold charge for a week or so before I need to jump with the second battery. If I give it a good run it will probably last up to a week and a half to two weeks.

I was planning to run a charger but since my new landy project has taken up the carport the disco has been relegated to the front grass.

Cheers,
Stuee

[nayto]

If its only holding charge for a week or so, theres either something drawing current when not in use or your battery is the problem. Any accessories that could be using power even when switched off?

[stuee]

If its only holding charge for a week or so, theres either something drawing current when not in use or your battery is the problem. Any accessories that could be using power even when switched off?

The aftermarket head unit and SC80 will both be drawing current but the battery is on the way out, hence it doesn't last as long as it used to. Will get around to replacing the battery in the next couple of months, but the point still stands, the car doesn't get used as much as it used to, and I want a simple way to keep the battery topped up.

[drivesafe]

Hi Stuss and sorry mate, I missed your earlier post.

A 10w would still be fine even if your battery is self discharging.

But if you go to a 15w panel just keep an eye on the voltage at the batteries at say 2 pm on a few days to make sure the battery voltage is not getting over 14.5v at the peak of the day.

If it doesn't, you should have no problems