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Solar Powered Vent for my Trailer

rbsWELDER said:
What are you using that for?
Click to expand...

It charges the 3 - 100 amp deep cycle batteries for my car trailer with no problems.

I have also used it to charge up my car battery that was dead. Just takes time. It took all day to charge the car battery but if used all the time it will keep up the batteries in the trailer.

I also have shore power and an RV panel with charger that only takes a few hours.

14105-4f8de020197ce845e47e50c95e55b392.jpg
 
What did you decide and is it installed ???
 
Indycars - I have not quite made a decision yet! As discussed earlier, you need a lot of solar panel to charge a battery for overnight venting! I guess that I am waiting for a break-through!;););)
 
Could you give a little on running it over night, maybe let it run right after
sundown for a couple of hours ?

Why over night ?
 
Indycars - Just letting the battery run whatever is left in it is my current plan. Does anyone see a problem with that?
 
rbsWELDER said:
Does anyone see a problem with that?
Click to expand...
Even a deep discharge battery can get too low and will be hard to charge again while also reducing it's life. I would buy/build some kind of voltage shut-off so the fan could only run for so long.

What is Deep Discharge? Build A Simple Circuit to Protect Batteries | Custom

Deep Cycle Battery FAQ

Deep cycle battery, on the other hand, have much thicker plates and, they are solid, not sponge. These thicker plates have less surface area and thus less of the instant power that a starting battery needs. They are designed to be discharged down to 20% of their maximum charge repetitively. The thicker lead plates allow for this as they are much sturdier than their sponge counterparts.

How long will my battery last?
How long a battery will last depends hugely upon the way it is used and how well the battery is maintained. Both overcharging and undercharging will have serious adverse effects on the lifespan of a deep cycle battery. In particular, you can seriously shorten the lifespan of a battery if it is used in a deep cycle application that it was not designed for. An example of this would if you were to use an automotive starting battery as a deep cycle battery.

General expectations for batteries if deep cycled (these are just approximate guidelines):

  • Starting battery (Automotive battery etc) : 3-13 months
  • Marine Battery : 1-6 years
  • AGM Deep cycle: 4-7 years
  • Gel Cell Deep Cycle: 2-5 years
  • Flooded Lead Acid Deep Cycle Battery (L16-RE etc): 4-8 years
 
Wonder if the solar panel could charge a lithium- ion battery bank to stay ahead of the fan current draw. Thermal switch to turn off fan when not needed?
 
Unfortunately, you guys have entered rarefied air! Way above my pay-grade. How much would one of these circuits cost to build? I can solder, but all the Radio Shacks are gone!

Would something like this do the job?
 
@rbsWELDER, I thought about you when I can across this video. This guy is really a good
fabricator and seems to build almost anything he wants.... including a travel trailer from
the ground up with solar power.

What's the status, have you decided yet ?

 
Thanks Indycars! I am still procrastinating. I hope to have it in place by Townsend! Thanks for the link! Interesting video!
 
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