Solar energy when battery disconnect is applied

Can you check on the battery once a week or more? Do you have a method to recharge if found dead?

I would tend to disconnect the main RV power cable and leave the 200w solar connected if possible. Need to review how all is connected.

OK, I'm convinced. :)

For just three weeks IMO leave it all connected, but turn off your 12v loads as much as is practical. Do not disconnect in this case, so the solar can keep the batteries from going down.

I never disconnect my solar controller/panels from the batteries. Why would you want to do so?

mockturtle wrote:
Thank you all for your responses. Looks like I'll have to do some more research into my particular system. If I thought the sun would shine at least part of the three weeks, I'd definitely leave it. But in the Puget Sound area, as many of you know, there can be weeks and weeks sans sunshine.

Even very overcast days produce some power from the solar panels. Assuming you don't have any significant loads turned on, which stands to reason if you were planning to hit the battery disconnect, it should be easily able to keep up with the parasitic loads.

I mean, you can see outside without using flashlights most every day in the Puget Sound area, right?

Thank you all for your responses. Looks like I'll have to do some more research into my particular system. If I thought the sun would shine at least part of the three weeks, I'd definitely leave it. But in the Puget Sound area, as many of you know, there can be weeks and weeks sans sunshine.

2oldman wrote:
You have solar to avoid dead batteries. Why not just leave them to do their job?

Because I'll be parking it in the Pac NW where 'solar' can be a rare bird.

How long is "a few weeks"? IMO when on a float you check the fluid level in the batts every so often. If you are away you can't do that.

mockturtle wrote:
how will the energy be controlled?

open circuit (disconnected) panels do not make power.

Leave the panels connected to controller and controller connected to batts.

2oldman wrote:
You have solar to avoid dead batteries. Why not just leave them to do their job?

This.

Battery disconnects are there to prevent dead batteries due to small parasitic loads when the rig is being stored. As others have noted, many charge controllers MUST be connected to the battery at all times if connected to solar panels. Also, your system may be wired so that the solar is not run through the battery disconnect, but you need to find out for sure before you disconnect those batteries.

Regardless, the panels develops a charge if there is no battery or load, but they will not produce power because no current will flow. You can safely leave the panels out in the sun even if they aren’t connected to anything.

The solar charge controller’s job is to tame panel output and maintain full battery charge regardless of powers in or out. It will charge the battery full tilt until it is full, then cut back to only the power needed to overcome self-discharge.

Let the solar system do it’s job.

If the system was properly engineered and built, the solar does not pass through the disconnect. But there’s no guarantee of that. We all know of stuff designed by knuckleheads and/or built by idiots, don’t we? BTW, one day when you have to replace that battery, remember, you MUST disconnect the panels first.