Silly solar Questions

Oh, this is all very helpful. I can use the trailer for three to four days before charging when camping and here at home I would use less in there because I'm not living in it as when camping. I'm very careful about what I use.

I had no idea that I should do something different to the Prosine when I charge with the Honda. I've only done that a couple of times camping so hope I didn't hurt anything. I'll need to look into that for sure.

The reason I wanted to use the 7 pin adapter is that I HATE the sparking business when I hook up anything to the batteries. I am admittedly a "scaredy cat" when it comes to those batteries with the big fat Prosine cables on them. I know, I know, but I just am. I thought this would be an easier way to go about it. Is there something out there for the "battery a-feared" person? Probably not. Dang.

You all really know your stuff and it is helping me to understand how to do this wisely. Power is out when the wind blows wrong here, lol.

What are you charging the batteries with when the Honda is running? You need a good 40 amp battery charger or turn the Prosine down to 40 amps charging. Or I think you would set it for maximum 6 or 7 amp draw.

For emergency use I recommend an extended run fuel tang for the Honda.

http://www.wisesales.com/bergs-6-gal-system-for-honda-etq-generac-all-power.html

I recommend 250 to 500 watts of solar and a good controller to minimize generator run time during an outage.

7 pin is fine for your existing panels but for a properly sized system you will need to wire direct on the battery.

Ellie

How long can you use the batteries before you have to charge it them back up?

It can be done you just have the scale wrong. It helps if it takes days to drain your batteries, then the solar could replace your loads as you use them. As BFL13 said though, this isn't a small project nor would you run it through the 7 pin. You would want a controller connected to the batteries. I have three big panels for 720w that can produce close to 50a aimed at the sun. In 6 hours they should at least get your batteries back up to 90%. If the sun was shining when the power went out, the 50a would cover a lot of loads saving the batteries for night time. So doable yes, small or cheap, no.

You can use the Honda and Prosine at the same time as solar if the solar absorb voltage can be adjusted to the same as the Prosine's 14.4? so you don't have to use one at a time.

You can get more solar. Just don't expect miracles. :) Could get you by for a couple more days than now, at least. The batts don't have to get to "full" every day. You can do 50-90s till the power comes on. But then you need to do a serious Equalize session with the Prosine so the batts to get their SG back to "baseline" as seen on your hydrometer. (1.280?)

Understood. We get a lot of sun in the winter. I use a solar panel for a small RV pump to water my trees from water tanks and have the battery charged to 13.something or other all the time. After watering for two hours it takes maybe two or three hours to get it charged up again. Soooooo, I thought this would work. Well, for the amount of sun, yes but as you say, probably too many amps that the trailer batts need.

I'm thinking maybe I can use the Honda and the solar ... one at a time, of course. Perhaps the solar during the day and the Honda at night.

I sure do thank you for your help on this. I see other trailers with solar so thought it would be a good way to go. :)

Ellie

How long to recharge four batts from what to "full" ? How long is a piece of string? :)

Say you got down to 50% on the four batts (440 AH say) so to get to "full" you need to replace 220AH plus some for heat loss say 240AH to get to "full"

One 130w panel can do 8.2a aimed at a high sun, but how long is the sun high in a day in winter at your latitude? and will you keep aiming it all day? There are tables you can find for how much solar to expect in your area for all times of year. Let's say you can get average of 6 amps for 6 hours =36AH per 130w panel at your place in winter.

240/36 x 130 is 867w. That is crazy huge. So you can't get there from here. You can get part of the way but don't expect solar to do it all. Best you can hope for is to get "some" solar and hope like heck the power comes back on soon! :(

Thank you very much. It sounds like I need more panels. We do have a lot of sun here... a lot. So, that should help. I realize that the better way is
1. Electrical outlet
2. Honda.

However, if I don't have the gas or can't get to some, how many solar panels or how many watts should I be looking at to bring the trailer to full charge in a decent amount of time? I have 4 golf cart batteries on the trailer.

I know this winter the electric is going to go out again several times and the thing is, the computers and such need pure sine wave. I can get that and the satellite feed through my trailer better than my home in those cases so I am willing to get what I need to make it work.

Thank you ,
Ellie

1 No
2 sort of. The solar controller will limit the panels and charging to a safe level. You can only monitor battery voltage through the Prosine not state of charge.
3 Solar fed through that 7 pin will charge the battery same as your tow vehicle.

100w of solar will be extremely slow compared to the 900va Honda.