D_E_Bishop
Oct 15, 2020Explorer
Solar charge to chassis battery
I have a WindyNation system, 200 watts and it has functioned flawlessly since we installed it.
My Winnie's battery charging system is such that it isolates the chassis and house systems unless the engine is running. I don't want to change the Winnie system but I would like to periodically charge the chassis battery while the rig is in storage between trips.
I bought a small 12 vdc seven day a week timer that has a 30 amp rated relay. My intent is to charge the house battery using the solar output every other day for 1 hour(or as needed) using the timer.
So my question is, should I put a high amperage diode in the charging line from the relay?
I guess that I should have stated that the 200 watts is not for maintenance. We do quite a bit of no hookup camping. Not always boondocking, just no hookups. As long as I have 200 watts which will more than maintain my batteries and a 30 amp controller, I just thought that might as well keep the chassis battery topped off. I do not want to bypass or modify the Winnie charging system.
My Winnie's battery charging system is such that it isolates the chassis and house systems unless the engine is running. I don't want to change the Winnie system but I would like to periodically charge the chassis battery while the rig is in storage between trips.
I bought a small 12 vdc seven day a week timer that has a 30 amp rated relay. My intent is to charge the house battery using the solar output every other day for 1 hour(or as needed) using the timer.
So my question is, should I put a high amperage diode in the charging line from the relay?
I guess that I should have stated that the 200 watts is not for maintenance. We do quite a bit of no hookup camping. Not always boondocking, just no hookups. As long as I have 200 watts which will more than maintain my batteries and a 30 amp controller, I just thought that might as well keep the chassis battery topped off. I do not want to bypass or modify the Winnie charging system.