Solar Charging
Bought my used camper last year and a solar panel was already installed when I got it.
My last camping trip I ran the heater overnight for two nights with no problems and was camped under trees so doubt there was much charging during the day. Got home and and after several days figured the batteries should be recharged. Measured the voltage on the two batteries in parallel and it was 14.46 Volts. I then switched off the main 12v battery switch figuring the batteries should be sufficiently recharged. Then I measured the battery voltage and it was still reading 14.46V, I was expecting it to drop down. So is it normal to hardwire the solar panels directly to the batteries rather than going through the 12v disconnect switch? Or perhaps there is a way to turn off the collector panel via its controller that I am not aware of or is it safe to never turn off the charging panel?
Any help is appreciated.
My last camping trip I ran the heater overnight for two nights with no problems and was camped under trees so doubt there was much charging during the day. Got home and and after several days figured the batteries should be recharged. Measured the voltage on the two batteries in parallel and it was 14.46 Volts. I then switched off the main 12v battery switch figuring the batteries should be sufficiently recharged. Then I measured the battery voltage and it was still reading 14.46V, I was expecting it to drop down. So is it normal to hardwire the solar panels directly to the batteries rather than going through the 12v disconnect switch? Or perhaps there is a way to turn off the collector panel via its controller that I am not aware of or is it safe to never turn off the charging panel?
Any help is appreciated.
