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Solar charger for house batteries during storage ...

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BandD

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  • OwnPC: Yes
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  • Model: 2350 Ford
  • ModelYear: 2007
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Solar charger for house batteries during storage ...
« on: April 24, 2012, 12:43:11 am »
Hi Folks,

We keep Callie, our 2350S, outside all the time and have no electric hookup for her.
Most times when I go out to do a project, there's a CHIRP! every so often that appears
to come from the propane detector near the floor.  Seems to be complaining about low
battery voltage, since it stops when I run the engine.

We've got a cheap solar panel that lives on the dashboard, plugs into a cigarette lighter
socket,  and the engine battery is always charged up.  I've been trying to think of a
way to have a similar small panel, perhaps on the curb-side outer wall just above the
battery compartment, to keep the house batts charged.

Has anybody done something like this?  Someday we may put a big panel on the roof and
run the supply line down along the refrigerator vent pipe as others have done, but for now,
a big panel isn't high on our priority list.

I was thinking of hinging the panel like the kitchen counter extension - vertical for travel
and propped up away from the wall during storage, at about a 45 degree angle.

Any thoughts?
Bill Cox and Diane Puntenney

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TomHanlon

Re: Solar charger for house batteries during storage ...
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2012, 06:56:42 am »
The chirp is most likely coming from the LPG detector. The detector is connected to the engine battery. It should start chirping before the battery gets so low that you could not start your engine. Sounds like you need a larger solar charger for the engine battery.

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Barry-Sue

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Re: Solar charger for house batteries during storage ...
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2012, 11:22:17 am »
Things change,  our 2008 2350 the LP and CO detectors were powered off the coach batteries.

Barry
Barry and Sue 
Current   2012 2551 w/Slide
Previous 2008 2350 w/Slide

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bigbadjc

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Re: Solar charger for house batteries during storage ...
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2012, 01:50:49 pm »
I'm not sure about my 2551, but a BT Cruiser I previously owned hung these devices off the house battery and were the primary culprits in running the battery down while stored, as the switch to disconnect provided by Gulfstream did not cut the two alarms off.  Once the battery gets just low enough to trip the low voltage alarm in one of the sensing units, the incessant chirping finishes the job off.  I finally put switches in the wires to the two sensors.

Jerry