Solar battery charger

[kaman]

Was thinking of rigging a small solar trickle charger up in my Sib.
My engine has no electric feed.
Got a fixed VHF, running off a 20ah, a plotter, running off a 7ah and colour fishfinder running off a 7ah battery.
Was going to get a small solar charger and mount it to my bow box.
Not clued up on electric stuff - question is - is this worth considering.
How much will a small solar panel charge up my battery.
Would probably leave it hooked up to the 20ah to help replenish what's being drawn out of it by the VHF.
Is this worth consideration.
Thanks in advance.

[Martin]

This is really difficult Kaman as you have a bit of a mish-mash. To begin to work this out any where near a reasonable figure we'd need the power consumption of each appliance and approx hours of intended use.
The fixed vhf is going to drain your battery like hell when transmitting, I believe at 25w?
I have no idea of the other two devices drain?
My instant advice on this would be buy a deep cycle leisure battery and power everything from there. A normal lead acid battery will destroy itself with continual deep discharge, you'll maybe get 10 cycles before it drops performance.
Yes a solar panel will help, but to put back anything like your using will require a large panel for your sib. A suitcase panel kit (40w) will set you back about £60. That will come with a charge controller and allow an input of approx 3amps. You could wire all 3 batteries in parallel or just charge the main drain battery, but I really don't think you'll have anywhere to install that so your kind of flogging a dead horse i'm afraid.
I looked at fitting a charge circuit to my outboard, but the expense was ridiculous for the need, so I now keep my 40ah battery pack with me and use it for inflating, overnight lighting and 12/240 v radio charging.
I charge the ipad and phone from my portable 50,000mAh usb power pack.

[kaman]

Thanks for that comprehensive reply Martin.
I think your right - go with a 40 ah (ish) leisure battery.
Ideally a small solar panel would have done the trick but to get any where near the performance required it would be rather too large .
A 40 ah combined my 20ah should suffice for 3 - 4 days away from civilisation.
Don't intend transmitting on the fixed VHF too often but probably have it switched on.
My colour fishfinder lasts a day and a half on a fully charged 7ah.
Plotter only used intermittently.
Then theres the additional drain of charging the handheld VHF and Mobile phone.
Maybe better borrow the 130ah from my caravan

[Martin]

You could maybe send F-RIB Stew a pm Kaman, he's a pretty nifty sparky.
He's not on here much, but I dare say if you pm him, it'll automatically send him an email.

[kaman]

I made some enquiries with Clyde Outboards regarding my electrical dilemma.
Guy I spoke to was brand new and completely honest with me when I described my needs.
He turned down the opportunity to sell me an outboard charging kit to allow me to charge my battery in my Sib from the outboard.

He said it was not the best option for my needs.
Instead he recommended utilising my current batteries and purchasing an XS power pack to recharge my plotter, hand held VHF and run my fish finder over my away days.

They XS pack cost around 100 squid and I can think of other applications I could use them in - small compact and even capable of jump starting a large 4x4. It comes with a host of leads etc and it can fit in your pocket.

Apparently they are quickly becoming must have items amongst the boating / camping community in and around Loch Lomond.

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Land-Rover-MULT ... nav=SEARCH[/QUOTE]

[mattswan2512]

I've looked at those power packs and seen a vid of one being used to jump a freelander.
Very useful gadget in my opinion and given the uses worth the money!!!!!