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Solar battery tenders/chargers?

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fortyshooter
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Solar battery tenders/chargers?

Post by fortyshooter » Tue May 04, 2021 10:37 am

Anyone use one of these to keep a charge on tractor/mower 12 volt batteries that you would recommend?
Looking to set one up to keep battery charged down at the range. I see a lot of them on Amazon but most have some little glitch.
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markiver54
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Re: Solar battery tenders/chargers?

Post by markiver54 » Tue May 04, 2021 12:06 pm

I have three, but they're not solar. They are hooked to my two 4- wheelers and my motorcycle, which are all in the garage. Solar would do me no good in there.
They are made by "Schumacher". Cheap from Wally World, but have never let me down.
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John E Davies
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Re: Solar battery tenders/chargers?

Post by John E Davies » Tue May 04, 2021 12:57 pm

You need a solar charge controller to prevent overcooking that dinky little battery, the unregulated low wattage panels (25 watts or so) won’t hurt a battery bigger than 50 amp hrs, like the one in an RV. Will the controller be exposed to rain? if so, you need a waterproof one. If it can be placed in a shelter with the tractor, you can buy mine, since you are part of the Henry family, I’ll give you a 10% discount after the purchase (Paypal refund) if you buy through eBay.

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https://www.ebay.com/itm/133749934252

It’s bigger than you need for one tractor battery, but it is a high quality part and will work fine with any small panel. The controller is what is important, any junky Amazon panel will work, or look for a used one locally in Craigslist. They are simple to connect, two wires from the panel go to the controller, two wires from the controller to some alligator clips (with an inline fuse), or better yet, an SAE 2 wire connector or similar.

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It would be a whole lot easier to make a quick disconnect strap for the battery (or a bungee cord) and QD wires, and just take it back to the house when not in use. A 120 volt 0.5 amp battery tender at home is dirt cheap....

OTH solar at the range is WAY cool, add a bigger battery and you can have 12 volt outdoor lighting too, or add a small inverter to charge your phone. I have 360 watts on the roof of my Oliver trailer, and a 100 watt Renogy solar suitcase portable. I am a firm believer! If you decide that you want a battery for other uses, then buy a bigger used panel, like this. You could expect a maximum charge rate of about 5 amps on a sunny day....

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If I had to pick a new full plug and play kit I would buy this one, but you can put your own system together with used parts way cheaper.

https://www.amazon.com/Renogy-50W-Mono ... 427&sr=8-3

John Davies
Spokane WA
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