Golf cart battery vs solar battery

[MrAlvinDude]

Here is a link to some very-easy-to-use voltage metes.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=12v+plug+voltage+meter

 

[MrAlvinDude]

If I understand this right you think I should get something different to plug into my cigarette lighter for my laptop?

Yes. Because this solution will use less energy to power your laptop.  

But my cigarette lighter in my car does not work.

If you create a way where you can have a cigaret lighter socket attached to  your house battery, then you have an easy way to plug your laptop to the house battery.

This suggested thing makes it easy to have a cigaret lighter socket attached to your house battery
https://www.amazon.com/CUZEC-Extension-Battery-Cigarette-Lighter/dp/B072MZM74S/ref=sr_1_4

my battery in my car dies so often.

Sad to hear this.  It would then, indeed be wise for you, to use a car-charger to charge your car battery as often as you can.

Is there such a thing as a solar car charger for a car battery?!

Yes, any solar panel (with a solar controller) can be used to charge the car battery.

There is no difference between how you charge the car battery or the house battery, using a solar panel and solar controller.

In both situations you are charging a 12V battery.


In one situation you connect the solar-out to plus and minus on your car battery.
In the other situation you connect the solar-out to plus and minus on the house battery.

So potentially, you could have the one solar panel with solar controller, and for some hours connect it to your car battery, and then after that, connect it to your house battery. 
This way you would be able to charge both batteries a little bit, that day.

 

[MrAlvinDude]

In this thread there is a reference to "wheelchair battery" and "mobility scooters battery". These types of batteries are the same types of batteries.
They are both made using a battery design (inside the battery) that also makes them very suited to be used as a house battery.

They will also some times be called "AGM wheelchair battery" or "AGM mobility scooters battery".

AGM refers to a method of building (and sealing) the battery.
So batteries with AGM in the name are also sealed batteries.

And sealed batteries are safe to use in confined spaces, like under the seat of car. They will not cause any un-safe gasses to be in the cabin of that car.

 

[MrAlvinDude]

So if I have this right, no battery from Harbor Freight for $69 is perfect! It is sealed and it is a 12-volt.

Yes it does indeed sound to be a sealed battery, and it is going to be 12V.
And as a first house battery, it does come at a good price.

A sealed battery does however not necessarily make it a perfect house battery, because not all sealed batteries are internally designed the same way.

A sealed battery is a battery that is safe to be used as a house battery. And it can safely reside inside the car cabin - like for instance under a seat or behind a seat.


The best version of a sealed battery, to be used as a house battery, are the ones specifically labeled as "wheelchair battery" or "mobility scooters battery".

I'm tempted if that USB power bank is not very expensive

For keeping your cell phone powered, I know that you can not go wrong with having a USB power bank, for this purpose.

You will however greatly benefit from getting your car-cigaret-lighter-socket fixed, as it sounds to be the only way for any extra batteries to be charged while you drive/run the car.

 

[MrAlvinDude]

hmmm....  just got to thinking, that this device:
https://www.amazon.com/CUZEC-Extension-Battery-Cigarette-Lighter/dp/B072MZM74S/ref=sr_1_4
can also be used to give you a cigaret-lighter-socket for your car battery.

Because you said that your car battery is positioned under your seat, it makes it fairly easy to attach this device to your car battery.

So one simple way to give you an option to charge things while you are driving, would be to attach this cable thing, to your car battery. And then plug your USB power bank, and/or the laptop charger into this extension socket - while you are diving.


Many people would  get a friend to help them set up a permanently installed cigaret-lighter-socket for both the car battery, and the house battery. And this would be a better way.
But if you do not have such a friend right now, then this extension device that has clips that can attach directly to the battery + and minus, and can be moved between car battery and house battery, could possibly be  workable solution for your, here and now.

 

[sub2rainEN]

Hi Judy,

Link below to the battery I found in Parker during last year’s van build. It has 135 amp hours and is 12 V. It was less expensive than the 100 aH/6 Volt battery I initially picked.

Good luck!

http://www.walmart.com/ip/EverStart-Lead-Acid-Marine-Battery-Group-24MS-1000-CA/137183086


-E


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[highdesertranger]

if you read the Q & A the 135 is the reserve capacity the amp hour rating is 57Ah. highdesertranger

 

[sub2rainEN]

Thanks. Here I thought I had a find!


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[sub2rainEN]

As someone who doesn’t get this stuff, no matter how much I read or how many videos I watch, I’m still confused. What is the difference between the two? The battery reads 135 Amp hours. So I thought that meant how many amps I had available to use (halved, of course, to keep batteries above 50%).

if you read the Q & A the 135 is the reserve capacity the amp hour rating is 57Ah. highdesertranger

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[highdesertranger]

ok first off see where it says 135 AH @ 1 amp. that is not even a legit test for a deep cycle battery. in other words it's a BS marketing scam. this is from the website battery stuff,

"For deep cycle batteries the standard rating is 20 hours. So, if a battery has a rating of 100AH @ 20Hr rate, then that battery was discharged over 20 hours with a 5 amp load."

the 20hr is the standard for a deep cycle if a battery claims to be deep cycle and gives a different rate or test they are BSing you.

also deep cycle batteries do not give a cranking amps figure weather it's Marine cranking amps like the battery above or CCA(cold cranking amps) like you see on standard car batteries.

highdesertranger

 

[sub2rainEN]

Thanks, that makes it more clear. We didn’t notice it was a starter battery when we picked it up, either. They told us to get the biggest battery we could find at Walmart. Bought two of these. Have 3 more to be installed, but probably only 2 will fit.

Unfortunately, we realized the people doing intake didn’t always understand any more than we did, they were just following a checklist. They didn’t put me on the list for installation at first because I didn’t have batteries (actually, my van came with spots for two house batteries, but I wanted to add more). During my install, one of the people supervising looked over everything I brought and said I was one of the most prepared people he’d seen. I’d only bought the basics: panels, cables, hardware, inverter, solar controller. A lot of people showed up with nothing. The guy leading my install was an electrical engineer. He took one look at the existing inverter and said it was better (1000 or 1200 Watt Xantrex), so I even saved some money returning the new one.

So, basically, I will have 228 aH (57x4). Is that before or after dividing in half to not deplete batteries? [emoji23]

I’m thinking of replacing the 2 house batteries with deep cycles. I assumed my mechanic would do that, since he owns a trailer. He assumed I’d be plugged in or use the generator. He used automotive batteries, like the ones he was replacing. So I have a chance to beef up my system in those spots.


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[sub2rainEN]

Hi Judy,

I reread your original post and thought this product might be useful.

Solar Power Bank, Qi Portable Charger 10,000mAh External Battery Pack
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FDXDB3W/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_SRPeDbGMEVFBN

It can be charged via solar or micro-USB. Then it will charge devices either via USB or wirelessly if the device has that function. It’s also a flashlight and has a compass and carabiner to attach easily to a belt loop or bag.

I can charge my phone at least twice on it, so it would be great to keep the phone charged overnight.

You didn’t mention if you work or how you plan to live in your car (urban boondock, boondock). If you work, you could charge something like this at work and not need other batteries, assuming your laptop could be charged at work or via USB or USB-c. Also, what kind of laptop do you have? Have you checked for USB or cigarette adapters?

Also, Bob just did videos about lightweight, portable panels with built in charge controllers. There was an 80 Watt panel for $120. Maybe you can ask him to be the tester for one.


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[Wabbit]

/\ It takes 40 hours to charge this from solar. That's 40 hours of sunlight. Just FYI.

 

[sub2rainEN]

Well jeez. I like the product so far, but am still in a house and charging on grid.


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[XERTYX]

The vehicle starting battery is located under the back seat? I have seen an SUV with the battery under the floor board in the rear of the vehicle when I had to give someone a jump in Atlanta once. You mention it looks like there is room for a second battery.

This makes me wonder if you could possibly post a picture of the battery compartment so that we could estimate the size and then maybe recommend a walmart deep cycle marine battery or possibly a sealed battery from amazon.

I see 2 scenarios. A: There is room for a second battery to be installed there and then you could go the "battery Isolator" route mentioned. This would do 2 things. It would allow driving to charge the house battery AND the car battery. It would also let you flick a switch and jump your car battery off of your house battery when it goes dead as you've mentioned.

B: There isnt room there and you can get 1 or more "AGM" batteries from amazon and locate them under the front seat or in a cubby hole some place.

Both of these scenarios would allow solar charging by adding a couple of things from amazon. Solar panel, solar charge controller, wiring. That way you could stay topped up.

If there is room for a second battery by the starting battery I would assume venting is already in place to ensure the starting battery isnt off gasing into the cabin. And as mentioned AGM batteries dont off gas. So that would address the gas concerns.

Lastly on your laptop charger brick does it say how many watts? Likely in small off white letters it would say something to the effect of .... INPUT 120~240V AC. OUTPUT XX.X V DC XX WATTS XX.X AMPS.

The X indicates the numbers I'd like from your charger.

 

[XERTYX]

Lastly on your laptop charger brick does it say how many watts? Likely in small off white letters it would say something to the effect of .... INPUT 120~240V AC. OUTPUT XX.X V DC XX WATTS XX.X AMPS.

The X indicates the numbers I'd like from your charger.

As an example I have a small netbook. Mine says 
INPUT 100-240V~1.2A
OUTPUT 19V===2.1A

Using that info I can find that mine uses about 40 watts. 19 X 2.1= 39.9 

That gives me an idea of how much solar I would need to run it. For instance a 50 Watt panel under ideal conditions should power it while the sun is shining without draining the battery whatsoever. 

There are other variables but let's start simply. It's great that you're taking notes. It means you want to learn this. There is a lot to learn and I'm no expert. But I have been my own power company. So I had to learn a few things. I have more to learn but the basics can be quite simple to learn when you have the right source.

When the real brainiacs here start with formulas and calculus it does my head in. But it can be learned. I'll never know the complexities of battery chemistry but I'll never build a battery so I dont need to know that.

Good luck and keep posting.