The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay 12V aux battery on a solar charger

I'm considering going that route and would like some input from anyone who already has. I read in WeBeOld's 12 v from a 6v generator post that msmall has. Would appreciate any input:

1. What solar charger are you using?
2. Holding up well?
3. How did you select the solar charger?
4. Is the set up performing as desired?

Thanks,
John

Take a look at this 40 watt solar panel.
It's physical size will go well for attaching to a tool box lid in the pickup bed. Electrically, 40 watts will be plenty for any 12V accessories you may want to use.
Put a 12v battery in the tool box and connect to your solar panel and a two wire cable (I used a old extension cord). Run the two wires into your cab (keep it hidden so your truck looks OEM). I hooked my wires to the cigarette lighter on the dash and also have a radio hidden in the glove box that is connected. I have a volt meter with blue tooth and USB I plug into cigarette lighter so I can play the radio, charge devices, and monitor the voltage from the dash without opening the glove compartment. When I go to a show I can pull out the blue tooth/usb device out and put my cigarette lighter back in.... looks just like it did in 1946. The only problem I have run across in the three years I have used it, people ask if my truck is solar powered then I explain what the panel does.... no problem really. Battery may get low at night depending on your current draw. I haven't had a problem with that.


Note 6v led tail lights. I did add the right tail light which isn't OEM GMC in 1946.

Forgot to mention an inline 10-20 amp fuse on the positive side is good practice.

Depending on the type of accessories you're powering, one of the small sealed 12V batteries used for kids' ride-on toys would be a good choice as a power source. They're small, easy to hide, and there's no chance of acid leakage or other damage that's possible with conventional lead/acid batteries. If you need more surge current, a sealed 12V like my Harley Davidson bike runs would be a good choice. I don't have hands-on experience with any of the solar chargers.
Jerry

If you want the best for this application, use a deep cycle marine battery. Never had any issues with leakage but I always monitor battery voltage and like the fact I can view the battery every time I open the tool/storage box for something.

Because of covid and folks working from home, we had an increase of "no start" complaints in the fleet for when employees would finally come in to the office. We decided to add solar chargers to the truck that most needed it from light duty to heavy duty. A lot of hit and miss. Our engineers finally tested this one product that seems to do what we need every time. I'll look it the particulars when I get back to the shop.

Mark -- Are you back at the shop yet? I expect a full report by 1600.

Thanks,
John

msmall -- thanks for the info! Do you have any more pictures of your set up?

1600 is quitting time, Monday through Thursday, 1500 on Fridays. Doesn't leave me much time to hack out a report!

I'm sure I'll be excused today for good reason. A tweaker decided to hop the razor wire at 0200 last night. By the time I arrived for my shift at 0600, he had already been hauled off by ambulance and a hazmat team was there cleaning up the biohazard. Lunch time is at 1030. I usually go home, make a sammich, and spend 15-20 minutes on Stovebolt seeing where I can help. As I leave, I see a guy at the gate asking to enter. I asked him who he was and he said he was the guy who climbed over my fence last night! He wanted in to retrieve his pants and wallet. I asked him why he hopped over my fence? "Because they were trying to kill me!" Seems reasonable. I told him to go to one of the other entrances to speak with security. I guess, while I was eatin' my sammich, he was talking to security and starting to get aggressive with her. Then he tried squeezing through a space near the gate but was unsuccessful. She told him that the environmental company hauled his clothes away, and that she was notifying the local PD. She even gave him the environmental company phone number so he could check for himself. Which I understand he did, while threatening her that she better have been telling him the truth, etc. All of this caused a heightened awareness at the facility. Her shift ends at 1400. Janitorial, 2 people, show up at 1500. By 1600, the mechanics are the only ones on the property. We don't mind, we have hammers and big pokey things. Because of the happenings today, they told security to stay on shift until 1800, when she would be relieved. The boys went home, so I thought I'd hang around today and fix a few things on my truck that I've been ignoring. Janitorial went home, Security went home and so did I at 1800. The last anyone saw this guy was around 1100-1130. I guess he took the PD thing seriously even though they have a response time of 2-4 hours, it seems sometimes.

Here's the kicker. Security showed me video of when he hopped over the razor wire. First, he didn't strike me as in a panic to get away from his killers. He was floating around the neighboring business property just kinda looking around, almost lost. He had to hop their fence to get in where he was. The best part? He was fully clothed in....wait for it........a sweatshirt and boxers. No pants. No wallet. Took off his sweatshirt to throw over the razor wire, even though it didn't help much!

All this to say, that at 1530 or so, I told myself, "Oh shoot! I gotta look up that info for John!!" And I did. And I learned that, even though these are good and reliable units. the company that offers them are VERY proud of their product. These units are very flexible and are mounted by double sided tape to a flat surface. There is another version that we use but I couldn't find the manufacturer name. So I'll have to dig a little deeper for that one.

So, without further ado, here is your link. See the web site, love the web site. Enjoy the sticker shock.

Dang reports. Made me miss Jeopardy.

That's hilarious. Where do you work?

In California at a utility.

Did they special make units for your trucks? Or they just made them work?

That's a pretty cool idea to make then conformal to your hood.

The Engineering department handed us one and said, put it on a truck that you have to jump often. It went on a 2014 GMC Sierra 1 ton. Haven't had to jump it since.

That’s an experience Mark. After all that, you STILL had John’s interest at heart. 😊

Vic -- *Some* people still like me.

Mark -- That looks like it would work on a Stovebolt Cab roof.

It should.

The other version is a hard plate style. They asked us to mount it on their F150 test truck. Right on the hood. Because of the curvature, we used rubber standoffs. Best part? One of the few times they told us, "Yeah, just drill right through the hood!" No need to tell us twice! Still need to find the info on that unit.

? Like or Tolerate ? I might be looking for this to attach to an enclosed car hauler to maintain the humidity inside??

At ease, Gunner.