Do solar panels burn thru batteries?
Hi, I"m so new to this that I bought my camper but haven't even picked it up yet! But I'm excited and glad to find this forum, lots of important info here. My camper has a solar panel to keep the b...
Forum Discussion
pastorbillv wrote:
Your camper will have a disconnect switch. When the camper is going to sit for any length of time, you "disconnect" and all connections to the battery are disconnected. Nothing will drain or overcharge the system.
People don't realize that any vehicle that is going to sit should have a battery disconnect. It's a simple in-line device you put on the negative terminal of the vehicle's battery, usually with a big screw top that you loosen/tighten by hand. Your battery will be fresh the next time you want to start up.
With a proper solar controller this is unnecessary. My battery is only isolated during maintenance of electrical systems. But this depends on the quality of your controller. I have a multi-stage microprocessor controlled MPPT controller that is designed to keep the battery in optimum condition continuously.
However, if you don't have an expensive charge controller like this then an isolator to stop parasitic discharge would be a very good idea. However, I'm not sure I'd want ANY controller that couldn't be left indefinitely looking after my battery. Any charger that might overcharge my battery when I'm not using the camper would still be overcharging my battery when I leave it parked in the sun while spending the day out hiking.
Steve.
