Pete-B Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Hi, At the storage compound where I keep my van there are some tall trees not far from my pitch and with the sun being so low now the solar panel doesn't get a lot of it at the moment, (when it's out that is). My question is I've got two 100amh leisure batteries and with the control panel switched off they don't go down a lot. So, would cause a problem if I dis-connected the wires that go to the leisure batteries at the solar panel controller for a few days occasionally so the engine battery got topped right up? Thanks for any help and a happy Xmas to one and all :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Would this be a dual battery solar regulator or do you want to switch wires to the starter battery? If the latter, make sure you disconnect the panels first, battery later, then reverse when connecting. If the former, I would read the solar regulator manual. I'm guessing it shouldn't be a problem but who knows what they had in mind when designing it. In any case, do any dis/connecting at night or cover the panels. PS why do you need to charge the starter battery? I find mine doesn't lose any significant charge when not in use. But there is no alarm or any other load, other than factory standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-B Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 spirou - 2019-12-23 7:22 PM Would this be a dual battery solar regulator or do you want to switch wires to the starter battery? If the latter, make sure you disconnect the panels first, battery later, then reverse when connecting. If the former, I would read the solar regulator manual. I'm guessing it shouldn't be a problem but who knows what they had in mind when designing it. In any case, do any dis/connecting at night or cover the panels. PS why do you need to charge the starter battery? I find mine doesn't lose any significant charge when not in use. But there is no alarm or any other load, other than factory standard. Thanks for the response, yes it's a dual regulator. I have to keep the alarm on to comply with insurance and find after a couple of weeks the engine battery gets pretty low. Today I checked and it was down to 11.9 volts so had to take it for a good run out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weldted Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Why not link the two positive terminal of the batteries with say a 5 amp inline fuse. The extra capacity from the leisure batteries will help keep the engine battery up to supply the alarm if you forget to disconnect them you will just blow the fuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 This works fine if you have batteries of similar resting voltage. If your leisure batt is gel/agm and the other a standard flooded there will be a constant current flow until they equalize. Good for starter batt, not so much for the leisure. But if you automate this connection to exist during solar charging it would certainly be a nice solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-B Posted December 24, 2019 Author Share Posted December 24, 2019 Yes both leisure batteries are flooded and the same age, and the solar regulator is a dual output. So in a nutshell, would it be OK to just dis-connect the leisure battery wires for a couple of days when necessary? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirou Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 Possibly, but I strongly recommend you consult the manual. Since outputs are likely not identical, one probably only supplies trickle charge, it is possible the regulator needs to see a connection on primary output (its power supply for self consumption) to stay in ON mode. Then again, maybe it can be powered by either but I'd want to be certain. Another low tech idea would be to install a "storage mode" crossover switch where you would switch between both positive leads on the solar output side thus making your starter battery the primary with full solar power, and trickle going to leisure. Of course you'd need to do the switching with panels disconnected or in the dark. A suitable switch might also not be easy to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witzend Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 Pete-B - 2019-12-24 4:02 PM Yes both leisure batteries are flooded and the same age, and the solar regulator is a dual output. So in a nutshell, would it be OK to just dis-connect the leisure battery wires for a couple of days when necessary? Thanks Better to just bridge them and keep them all topped up all the time as already suggested Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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