1964 hi lo i got for free in a field

[maestro123]

got my back bench urethane done, started cutting my memory foam cushions today, for my benches and cushions, then have to make or have made covers. my battery got cooked some how, just my 22 watt panel is putting out 44 volts dc w/o charge controller even hooked up and a cloudy day?. its only supposed to put out max 22vdc. got all most 30dc volts on battery, well did have, now I drained it to 11.5vdc still power inverter kicks in red light, as soon as I hook it up and turn it on? with nothing even hooked to it. it runs fine off truck tho. so I think the panel or either/or and 30 amp charge controller didn't work as supposd to, and cooked my 2 yr old deep cycle. I brought it in in winter too. so idk i'm out 85 bucks on the bad *** battery I thought I had. from buying junk. I guess. I got it at wally world 2 summers ago.
idk what the heck is wrong, got lots of volts, no amps, tho it seems. don't have a dc amp meter. only ac. so takin it to autozone see whats up i guess.

 

[JackandJanet]

You DO need a charge controller, Mike. For safe charging, you should see no more than about 14.5V on a battery with low charge. And, when it reaches full charge, the voltage should drop to a bit over 13.0 V.

Get a multimeter. They don't have to be expensive. I've gotten one for less than $10. It will have a DC Amp scale, and most of them can read up to 10A.

A solar panel WILL have an open circuit voltage that's quite high, although 44V seems higher than I would expect. I think mine are rated at around 27V with no load.

But, if your panel is rated at 22 Watts, it will NEVER deliver that much power - I guarantee it! You'll be lucky to see 11 Watts, and at 14V, that works out to a bit less than 0.79 Amps. This amperage is not enough to maintain a charge in a 12V battery if you are using it for anything, such as running a power inverter. It will SLOWLY recharge a low battery if the battery is not being used.

Most 12V battery chargers can deliver 8 Amps to recharge a battery and they drop to around 2 Amps for "trickle charging". That level is not good for continuous maintenance though, because it will "boil" the electrolyte.

I think your problem is that you are expecting too much out of a little 22 Watt panel.

- Jack

 

[maestro123]

jack I got multi meter owned for yrs since I was 16 I was 16 I was 18 in 1979. its ac don't show dc amps. I only have ac amp clamp. not dc. it tops milliamps to max on dc current.
supposed to be 21vdc. no I never expected it ti fry my battery, it was inside most of the winter jack I ,know what you are saying ,but 44 volts from solar panel alone w/o anything hooked up and a 30 amp pwc charge controller?: believe me jack, I know what you are sayin friend and I know electric all my given life of 56 yrs. trying to but its the same thing, I am baffled by it, I didn't expect it to do any of that ,tho like 44 volts from solar panel alone,? and no amps to my battery? even tho I trickle charged it most of the winter too? I got maybe both bad controller and bad solar panel. it has 16 fuctions on it most just to turn load/lights on and off ..its junk wish I had my 3 amp controller back from harbor freight it was way nicer. idk jack I think my 85 buck battery is toasted from 1 of them. lol thanks for the input I need to investgate further tho. idk. I also have a 5o watt panel I aint hooked up yet because of this mess. I checked electrolyte levels all good.

 

[maestro123]

that's easy barb! :0 let me know what you need to do. I send you Pm with my email addy send me yer address in cali. I will ship on 4th to you tellme what you want or need/ ok ps mountain sage heals the mind and brains. eyes are the window to your soull
mike

 

[sam-HILO]

Battery troubles

We have managed to fry/wreck a couple of deep cycle batteries. Now I have put a reminder on my calendar each month to check the water level in the Interstate RV battery. DH rerouted the battery to the tongue as the outside cuby was to tight and caused the battery to short out. End of problem. We usualy make a mistake once and then the lesson is learned.

 

[maestro123]

when I had the harbor frieght 45 watt system on my Predator in first pic jack. it ran my tv, my lights 2/ 5 watt cfls. charged my phones etc it worked great. the battery was forst putting out like 30 some volts when checked 1st time. I drained it with a bulb hooked up all night now I got about 11.5 to 12.5 volts. soon as I hook up inverter and turn it on red light goes off. also it wont even now light a bulb. good idea the battery got cooked like you said but naw never expected all that much from 22 watt solar panel , pretty much just got it to hook up in camper on very cold days to trickle charge the battery to keep it from freezing. that's all. was or still am gonna use both for 70 watts when I get done and figure this out, I was only gonna use tthose for my 12 volt lights and stuff and use my inverter when needed.
but it is putting out like double the voltage it should be on an open cicuit. inverter still works I have used my circular saw. coffee pot, etc off of the truck. just couple days ago. so I gonne be buyin a new battery that's what it amounts to also a diff charge controller.
oh well. thanks in the beginning of the winter it was charging and working fine with just my 7 watt panel. I think I messed it up on my home charger and overcharged it, to tell ya the truth.

 

[maestro123]

well got some stuff done today. I cut my foam for my back benches with an electric knife went thru it perfect like butter. I still have the exact 13"x4' pieces I will need for the center, that will be the backs of the benches, to make full bed with table down now. all I need now is some material and some big pillow cases ! how we doin so far? LOL

 

[maestro123]

Can anyone tell me where my head was at when I tied this? LMAO I had the clearance for the top but something wasn't right. that's funny right there when I went to leave, and tried to crank it up.

 

[maestro123]

here is my ohm/volt meter on setting 50vdc. the reading you see, is coming straight off my 22 watt solar panel in the window.
the wires are taped to the leads. only suppose to put out voc 27 volts. and 2.4 amps or such. I believe I posted the specs in another post when I bought it, I cant remember. I did post a pic of it, its the epoxy one that looks like a window shade. so idk.? my BIL has a load tester, haven't used it yet , the battery now I drained to around 11.4 to 12volts and its showing that but it won't even light up a 12volt led or halogen at all. so got lots of volts and no amps. believe she's cooked and I did it here and overcharged it or the solar panel is bad and or the charge controller I was using. don't really matter now tho.

 

[JackandJanet]

Sorry, Mike - the picture is too blurry for me to make out anything. However, I agree that 50V is much too high for the open circuit voltage of a single solar panel. Mine put out about 21.5V, which COULD be close to what your meter is reading if it were on a 25V scale. And, I can't see the meter switch at all, so can't confirm your setting. But, I don't see how it's possible for the solar panel to be generating that much voltage.

Now, your battery: If it reads 12.0V under no load, it is considered "discharged". If it reads below that, it's effectively "dead". In either case, its condition is probably too low to light an LED, and may only slightly heat a halogen. You DON'T have "lots of volts". The voltage is so low that you are barely generating current.

If you have a battery charger, try to charge it at 2 Amps for 24 hours. That MIGHT bring it back to health. As I recently posted, a fully charged battery should read 12.7V, if disconnected from any load and at least 6 hours has passed since it was charged.

- Jack

 

[JackandJanet]

Sorry, Mike - I was NOT calling you a liar!

I'm just puzzled, because I KNOW a bit about solar panels and can't understand how a single 22 Watt panel can generate that much voltage.

And, I NEVER said anything disrespectful about your trailer and the work you've done. In fact, I'm certain I've complimented you on what you've accomplished and your skill in obtaining parts for it at low cost.

But, I'll respect your wishes and will not comment on any posts you make from now on.

- Jack

 

[maestro123]

well got my good spare on the tire holder, got the camper emptied of unwanted need for now items. so idk? don't know if I mentioned but I think I did, sorry I suffer from crs, but I cut my foam for my benches. an electric knife is what you want to use it slices thru heavy memory foam very accurately and like butter. and don't even harm the knife at all.

 

[Mtnsagegal]

Mike, where did you get your foam?

 

[maestro123]

sides of roads for free girl, and like clean as brand new. all of it. very heavy too lol same place I find and get almost everything. lol I still have 6" MEMORY FOAM QUEEN SIZE AS MY BED, ON BOX SPRINGS, and frame FOR THE FRONT when I cut it up too. sorry my kb keeps sticking. that was 2 sections I cut for the back I found in fall.it was damp but I dried it out and sterilized it all. cleaned it again too.

 

[Mtnsagegal]

Great, Mike! You sure are a fantastic recycler! I'm heading over to "Lily" to take some measurements & look under the fridge to see if those 2 pulleys are there... ttyl

 

[maestro123]

hey I did some investigating and my wheel wells are inside my storage compartments under my back bench seats. I am cutting square holes in the wheel wells in there inside, and putting a 12vdc good size 12vdc blower fan on each side of the wheel wells, to help cool tires ,and cool my brake drums, at the same time, for my brake surge controller up on the tongue it will always be blowing cool air on my tires,, and wheel bearings and brake drums and shoes. not sure how many cfm I may need or want to go with I will figure that out soon. I have a couple 12volt fan blowers, even car blower fans, from car heaters will work, then I will have lo-medium and high.
junk yard style that's me. gonna hook that to switch on and off any time, or a timer to go on and off at set times. when towing. lol

 

[maestro123]

I will pm you pics when I can walk ok? found out good news, knee Is outpatient ,so no big deal. june 12th ,no time set yet tho. I will pm you with the pulley set up if you still need it. mike, write me back. sending you your light fixture out prolly Monday Friday is payday but I hate o rush around doing sh----.
I any more cant rush nothing any more so I will mail on Monday to you, now I moved a bunch of stuff gotta find em, lol. I am sure where they are tho. all good.
mike

 

[Mtnsagegal]

Mike; I'm parking my Hi Lo in my storage space tomorrow (Thurs)... I'll cover it with a tarp & work on it as soon as I get the Pulleys & cable fixed... In the mean time I'll mess with my Toyota motorhome...
Hope your operation goes well.
Tomorrow I'm going to see if I can find the jerk that ripped me off with the Hi Lo... I have many things that he removed & I want them back... So wish me luck... Ttyl

 

[maestro123]

I hope you find him and get yer stuff. that would be good. ok ttyl

 

[Mtnsagegal]

Can't find him... I'll forget the stuff that he took... Later, barb