Tom Francis - SWSports wrote:
On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:27:25 -0400, NotNow wrote:

Tom Francis - SWSports wrote:
On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:12:56 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:02:05 -0400, Gene
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:51:30 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

|recharging trolling motor batteries?

No... but I'd like to hear other folks experiences using solar float
charging...
Solar float charging seems to work well. I haven't tried it myself
but have heard a lot of success stories. A small, inexpensive panel
is all you need unless there is a lot of leakage in the electrical
system.

Recharging a trolling motor is a different matter since serious amps
are required. You have to calculate how many amp-hours need to be
replaced, and how much daylight time you have available. Most people
also recommend derating the panel capacity by at least 50% to allow
for all the inefficiencies that creep in to the process.
I found a few websites - look the figures from my 24Vdc motor, added a
few things up and it comes to roughly $4,000 and that's conservative.

Think I'm going in a different direction. :)
Yeah, like a Wal-Mart battery charger!!!!!

Well, that's kind of the problem - no power to run the charger. I
have an on-board charger.


Buy a Honda generator.

--
Birther-Deather-Tenther-Teabagger:
Idiots All

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:04:21 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:54:22 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:12:56 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:02:05 -0400, Gene
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:51:30 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

|recharging trolling motor batteries?

No... but I'd like to hear other folks experiences using solar float
charging...

Solar float charging seems to work well. I haven't tried it myself
but have heard a lot of success stories. A small, inexpensive panel
is all you need unless there is a lot of leakage in the electrical
system.

Recharging a trolling motor is a different matter since serious amps
are required. You have to calculate how many amp-hours need to be
replaced, and how much daylight time you have available. Most people
also recommend derating the panel capacity by at least 50% to allow
for all the inefficiencies that creep in to the process.

I found a few websites - look the figures from my 24Vdc motor, added a
few things up and it comes to roughly $4,000 and that's conservative.

Think I'm going in a different direction. :)

It really depends on how often you use the motor and how much sunshine
you have between uses. Base that against how much money you are
willing to spend.

Dollar for dollar, it is very hard to compete with utility power, no
matter what you do and copper, averaged over it's life, is cheap.
Running shore power down to the dock is usually the cheapest option,
even if it is pretty far away. Solar is for those who can't do that.

This is more a matter of where the boat is located at the moment -
it's on a trailer stored in a marina and it's a distance from any
electrical power. I thought that I'd be able to at least put a little
juice into the batteries by using solar, but the dollar cost just
isn't viable.

I've heard mixed results with the on-board chargers - some like them
some don't.

"Tom Francis - SWSports" wrote in
message ...
On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:04:21 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:54:22 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:12:56 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:02:05 -0400, Gene
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:51:30 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

|recharging trolling motor batteries?

No... but I'd like to hear other folks experiences using solar float
charging...

Solar float charging seems to work well. I haven't tried it myself
but have heard a lot of success stories. A small, inexpensive panel
is all you need unless there is a lot of leakage in the electrical
system.

Recharging a trolling motor is a different matter since serious amps
are required. You have to calculate how many amp-hours need to be
replaced, and how much daylight time you have available. Most people
also recommend derating the panel capacity by at least 50% to allow
for all the inefficiencies that creep in to the process.

I found a few websites - look the figures from my 24Vdc motor, added a
few things up and it comes to roughly $4,000 and that's conservative.

Think I'm going in a different direction. :)

It really depends on how often you use the motor and how much sunshine
you have between uses. Base that against how much money you are
willing to spend.

Dollar for dollar, it is very hard to compete with utility power, no
matter what you do and copper, averaged over it's life, is cheap.
Running shore power down to the dock is usually the cheapest option,
even if it is pretty far away. Solar is for those who can't do that.

This is more a matter of where the boat is located at the moment -
it's on a trailer stored in a marina and it's a distance from any
electrical power. I thought that I'd be able to at least put a little
juice into the batteries by using solar, but the dollar cost just
isn't viable.

I've heard mixed results with the on-board chargers - some like them
some don't.

Unless you are using the batteries everyday, you do not need a 45 amp panel.
A 6 amp from Harbor freight is about $200.

Calif Bill wrote:
"Tom Francis - SWSports" wrote in
message ...
On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:04:21 -0400, wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:54:22 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:12:56 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:02:05 -0400, Gene
wrote:

On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:51:30 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports penned the
following well considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

|recharging trolling motor batteries?

No... but I'd like to hear other folks experiences using solar float
charging...
Solar float charging seems to work well. I haven't tried it myself
but have heard a lot of success stories. A small, inexpensive panel
is all you need unless there is a lot of leakage in the electrical
system.

Recharging a trolling motor is a different matter since serious amps
are required. You have to calculate how many amp-hours need to be
replaced, and how much daylight time you have available. Most people
also recommend derating the panel capacity by at least 50% to allow
for all the inefficiencies that creep in to the process.
I found a few websites - look the figures from my 24Vdc motor, added a
few things up and it comes to roughly $4,000 and that's conservative.

Think I'm going in a different direction. :)
It really depends on how often you use the motor and how much sunshine
you have between uses. Base that against how much money you are
willing to spend.

Dollar for dollar, it is very hard to compete with utility power, no
matter what you do and copper, averaged over it's life, is cheap.
Running shore power down to the dock is usually the cheapest option,
even if it is pretty far away. Solar is for those who can't do that.
This is more a matter of where the boat is located at the moment -
it's on a trailer stored in a marina and it's a distance from any
electrical power. I thought that I'd be able to at least put a little
juice into the batteries by using solar, but the dollar cost just
isn't viable.

I've heard mixed results with the on-board chargers - some like them
some don't.

Unless you are using the batteries everyday, you do not need a 45 amp panel.
A 6 amp from Harbor freight is about $200.



$200?

On Wed, 9 Sep 2009 14:04:06 -0700, "Calif Bill"
wrote:

Unless you are using the batteries everyday, you do not need a 45 amp panel.
A 6 amp from Harbor freight is about $200.

I believe that would be for a 12 volt battery. For a 24 volt battery
you'd need two panels in series and a 24 volt charge controller.

http://store.solar-electric.com/ss-20l.html

On Sep 9, 8:41*am, Gene wrote:
On Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:12:56 -0400, Wayne.B penned the following well
considered thoughts to the readers of rec.boats:

|You have to calculate how many amp-hours need to be
|replaced, and how much daylight time you have available.

Voltage might also be an issue. A lot of the larger trolling motors
are either 24V or 36V and that might drive the price of the solar
panels, plus any necessary isolation hardware, through the roof....

Say, $3000 for 2 panels delivering 270W (@ 12V) times 2. That should
yield about 45 Amps.... that might even be enough to just run the
motor! However, that doesn't account for any power loss or control and
isolation hardware.http://tinyurl.com/ml6h6v

Things would be easier for a 12V application, but I suspect that the
Amps required would be proportionally higher.

--
Agent 5.00 Build 1171

Grady-White Gulfstream, out of Oak Island, NC.

Homepagehttp://pamandgene.tranquilrefuge.net/* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I use a 15 watt solar panel to recharge a deep cycle battery on my
sailboat and to keep it topped up between uses. This works well for
charging between uses but when running the boat, the diesel does most
of the charging if the battery is heavily used.