Solar Panel to charge battery

[Black Truck 10 10+ year member]

I have a powermaster D2400 in the toolbox of my truck. It is connected from the alt in the front however I believe there is a frayed wire in from that alt to the back battery. I disconnected the + wire now and I now need to find a way to charge that back battery since that is what all my sound system plays off of. Considering this with a charge regulator 15 Watt, 12 Volt Solar Panel to mount on top of my tool box. What are yalls thoughts?

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[RAM_Designs 5,000+ posts]

Sounds ghetto, why not just fix the wire that you're having issues with?

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

lol, you think a 15 watt solar panel is going to be able to supply ALL of the power your system needs? You high bro?

 

[Black Truck 10 10+ year member]

It is a 1/0 wire that i have to squeeze between the bed of the truck and the cab. Long story short after I accomplished it the first time I said I would never do that again.

 

[Black Truck 10 10+ year member]

lol, you think a 15 watt solar panel is going to be able to supply ALL of the power your system needs? You high bro?

the truck sit in the sun 8+ hours a day when im at work and around that when Im at home. I think once the battery is charged this could help it stay topped off while the truck is just sitting there.

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

the truck sit in the sun 8+ hours a day when im at work and around that when Im at home. I think once the battery is charged this could help it stay topped off while the truck is just sitting there.

Yeah, well the battery can only store so much energy, then you start playing your system and it is drained way quicker than that 15 watt panel will be able to keep up with. Doesnt matter how long it sits in the sun, it only charges so much.

 

[The_Grimy_One 10+ year member]

^^^^This, I was thinking the same thing about a solar panel, but the only reason so use it would be to trickle charge your batts, maybe once a week or something //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[Black Truck 10 10+ year member]

alright well it looks like ill probably drop this idea, it really was such a pita to get the wire to make the bends I needed.

 

[-01limited- 10+ year member]

alright well it looks like ill probably drop this idea, it really was such a pita to get the wire to make the bends I needed.

Just have to **** it up and do it again lol. Maybe get some better flexin wire?

 

[pimpnyou204 10+ year member]

Like the others said grab some knu wire it's super flexible and amazing and pretty cheap. U can also do the wire one day at a time lol like half one day half another lol. The solar panel seems like a decent idea but only to slowly charge while the cars off.

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

I use solar panels on boats to keep the batteries charged between usages since boat alternators are tiny. Works excellent, even 10W is plenty to recharge the batteries. I would recommend a solar panel and charger if your alt isn't fully charging your battery due to usage and output. It would prolong the life of the battery.

But #1 you need to properly wire the alt to battery wire, fusing where necessary and using grommets when passing through metal. No exceptions.

Your plan will work though. yes the solar charger would re-charge the battery and the system would run off the battery alone for a few hours. This cycle would repeat. I've designed outdoor mass notification speaker systems that do this very thing. The amplifiers are powered by batteries and the batteries are charged with solar panels, totally off the grid. Those systems can be thousands of watts at 8 ohm, the battery cabinets are sized appropriately. That is where your plan may fail, your single battery can only supply so much current for so long, the amp-hour rating or reserve capacity rating tells you this.