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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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My batteries died

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3442 Posts

Response Posted - 08/14/2008 : 05:32:22

I do not think the chargers (18 watt solar panel in-season use and 2 amp smart charger during off the boat periods) are the issue unless your solar panel was not oriented properly or has long periods during the day when a shadow falls upon it (even partially). I have a 20 watt solar panel which puts out about what yours does -ideally 1.2 amps/hour and have never had a problem and I use it all year round. I do re-orient it in the winter months, angling it toward the sun and it for the most part does not get shaded for most of the day. Even so, it actually charges at a smaller rate averaging between ,4 - .8 Amps an hour. This is okay since I have few loads during the week (perhaps navigation lights if I sail at night for a couple of hours) and therefore it is basically just handling the battery trickle loss each week which for 2 batteries is about 2 X .4 Amps/day in the summer and about 2 X . 25 Amps/day in the winter. The panel puts out even in the low average and minimal hours/day of say .5A/hour X 5 hrs = 2.5 Amps/day (and at .6Amps X 6 hrs = 3.6 Amps/day). Then there is the occasional outboard charging that occurs each sail day. My 2 batteries were not new when I bought the boat in Sept '05 and the batteries are going strong with voltages around 12.9 to 13.3 Volts (this is when getting on the boat in the mornings before the solar panel starts charging). So, I doubt that your charging rates are a problem unless your panel puts out far less during an average sunny day because of it's orientation toward the sun or shaded areas from obstructions as the sun angle changes ( when even 1/8 shaded some panels depending on quality will drop charging rate to "0" while others will still charge but to a significantly lower charging rate compared to the average charging rate. It depends on how the cells on the panel are configured. My panel will charge to a small degree even when partially shaded).

While the solar controller does a good job of regulating the panel charging rate so the batteries are not cooked, still the water in flooded batteries should be checked periodically so the water level is maintained properly. Normal evaporation still occurs. My thought is that periodic checks were not accomplished and so your water level was low for long periods of time which may have effected overall battery life, you have one battery that is weaker than the other (maybe a bad cell) and it has subsequently also drawn down the other battery or while your panel is putting out rated charging capacity, there are times during the day when it gets partially shaded and therefore does not max out the charging rate. Since our panels are not very large, any shading that does occur will dramtically effect the charging rate.

Edited by - OLarryR on 08/14/2008 05:46:33