Solar Charger

[dickenscpa]

This used to come up every now and then in my bass boat fishing back to back days, but I rarely fooled with the boat two days in a row. For two years now I not only wear my kayak out I fish in two day tournaments. Twice last year I was on my finder quite a bit and forgot/failed to charge my battery over night. It was really only super serious once and went completely dead on me early in the day but got annoying quite often on long outings even when I plugged it in.

 

Thought about adding a solar charger to just make sure it stayed topped off. Also, in the inevitable event I forgot to plug it in one night. Might help keep my phone charged to take pics and release fish for TourneyX.

 

Anyone had any experience with these solar chargers? I thought maybe I could use it when I backpack camp as well. I was looking at this one:

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/coleman-10w-solar-battery-trickle-charger-and-maintainer sorry for the link couldn't figure out how to get the pic in my post.

[J Francho]

A second battery costs half that.  I like the idea a ton, but the cost needs to go down, and charge output up.  It's been a long time since phone battery issues have been a problem.  I think somewhere around the iPhone 6 is when that seemed to get better.  For camping, I'd definitely be getting something like this as well as keeping more than a couple batteries on hand if an electric site was not available.

[WRB]

Amps = Watts divided by volts.

10 amps needed to charge a 12v deep cycle battery= 120 watts. 

Solar only  operates in direct sunlight.

Tom

PS, better off getting a small Honda generator to charge 12v marine battery when camping.

 

[dickenscpa]

11 minutes ago, J Francho said:

A second battery costs half that.  I like the idea a ton, but the cost needs to go down, and charge output up.  It's been a long time since phone battery issues have been a problem.  I think somewhere around the iPhone 6 is when that seemed to get better.  For camping, I'd definitely be getting something like this as well as keeping more than a couple batteries on hand if an electric site was not available.

My battery was more than $27. As far as iPhone goes I own a CPA firm and my phone gets used like a business phone and replying to emails, etc. I'm grateful for all of my clients, I really am, but they don't care if it's after 5, weekends, during Church - they call all the time. My wife and son can go 2 - 2 1/2 days on a charge. Sometimes I can't make it thru a business day. We all three have an 11ProX.

 

I actually have a small portable thingy I bought at Bass Pro a year or so ago that will charge my phone twice or my phone once and my watch once. I can only plug in one at a time though so can't charge both overnight while I sleep. So while fishing my phone is technically taken care of AS LONG as I remember to charge that little thingy. LOL!

 

My Fishfinder battery on the kayak is what I'm more concerned with. We have two tournaments this year that I will more than likely hammock camp at a camp site that has a boat ramp, but no electrical hookups for two nights. I could charge my phone and watch via my truck if needed but not my kayak battery.

 

I thought it would be super helpful on those long backpack trips for 3-4 days. I only have gour things I camp with that take batteries - gps, watch, phone and headlamp. Weight is a MAJOR consideration when backpacking but extra AA or AAAs for gps and headlamp are no factor but can't bring extra batteries for watch and phone.

 

I don't have a lot of faith in reviews read on the store's website that sells the product but even with that said the reviews are 50/50 crap or heaven sent. LOL!

2 minutes ago, WRB said:

Amps = Watts divided by volts.

10 amps needed to charge a 12v deep cycle battery= 120 watts. 

Solar only  operates in direct sunlight.

Tom

PS, better off getting a small Honda generator to charge 12v marine battery when camping.

 

I was hoping to keep it charged out in the sun while fishing but it doesn't seem like it will do the job. Thanks, at least I didn't waste $54.

 

Since posting this I did watch a YT video where this lady was hiking the Appalachian Trail thinking she could strap the solar panel to her back pack while she hiked and it didn't work as planned for her. Reviews for these things are all over the board.

[J Francho]

For your phone, you'd need some kind of inverter to work with the solar charger, and I think you already know it takes around 4-6 hours with a 5w charger to bring a phone back from almost dead.  That isn't a linear charge either, so I'm not even sure it would work.  I have a couple of those "jump starters" for USB charging devices, and they work well, and are very light.  It's basically another battery with a USB port, which is perfect.  Those 9ah fish finder batteries are not light, so if you're hiking in, I can see the issue.  It looks like that charger is a little over 3 lbs.  I just don't know if you're going to get a decent payback on 10w charger.  If I'm not hiking in, I'm buying two more batteries.

[dickenscpa]

17 hours ago, J Francho said:

For your phone, you'd need some kind of inverter to work with the solar charger, and I think you already know it takes around 4-6 hours with a 5w charger to bring a phone back from almost dead.  That isn't a linear charge either, so I'm not even sure it would work.  I have a couple of those "jump starters" for USB charging devices, and they work well, and are very light.  It's basically another battery with a USB port, which is perfect.  Those 9ah fish finder batteries are not light, so if you're hiking in, I can see the issue.  It looks like that charger is a little over 3 lbs.  I just don't know if you're going to get a decent payback on 10w charger.  If I'm not hiking in, I'm buying two more batteries.

Most days fishing I'd be pulling the trailer to the waters edge and taking off and weight is no factor. I did think the solar charger could pull double duty for some multi day backpack camping. Our last one we hiked in 12 miles and after that kind of hike you don't spend the night and walk out the next morning. You want to stay a day or two and enjoy the woods. I didn't catch that it was 3lb.

 

Putting 3lb on my kayak is nothing but I'm not carrying an extra 3lb in my pack on a backpack camp. LOL!

[Bass Junke]

On 3/1/2021 at 2:16 PM, J Francho said:

A second battery costs half that.  I like the idea a ton, but the cost needs to go down, and charge output up.  It's been a long time since phone battery issues have been a problem.  I think somewhere around the iPhone 6 is when that seemed to get better.  For camping, I'd definitely be getting something like this as well as keeping more than a couple batteries on hand if an electric site was not available.

Sorry bro, brand new LiFe Po 12ah battery 110.00$. 

 

On 3/1/2021 at 2:11 PM, dickenscpa said:

This used to come up every now and then in my bass boat fishing back to back days, but I rarely fooled with the boat two days in a row. For two years now I not only wear my kayak out I fish in two day tournaments. Twice last year I was on my finder quite a bit and forgot/failed to charge my battery over night. It was really only super serious once and went completely dead on me early in the day but got annoying quite often on long outings even when I plugged it in.

 

Thought about adding a solar charger to just make sure it stayed topped off. Also, in the inevitable event I forgot to plug it in one night. Might help keep my phone charged to take pics and release fish for TourneyX.

 

Anyone had any experience with these solar chargers? I thought maybe I could use it when I backpack camp as well. I was looking at this one:

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/coleman-10w-solar-battery-trickle-charger-and-maintainer sorry for the link couldn't figure out how to get the pic in my post.

Add a USB port to your kayak. That quick port 3.0 charged my new phone fairly quickly. Came in handy when I lost power for 2 days at my house. Used it to charge my phone. 

 

Looked into a portable solar panel. Looked into building one, actually pretty easy. We are almost there, size of panel needed to be practical made it impractical, if that makes any sense. 

 

 

The first vid is the blueprint I used to wire my kayak. 

 

Second video he adds a solar panel to the battery box. Impractical, just get a second battery. 

[J Francho]

2 hours ago, Bass Junke said:

Sorry bro, brand new LiFe Po 12ah battery 110.00$. 

You must be thinking of your own battery. The OP said his was $27.  Nice setup, tho. 

[Alex from GA]

It's the difference between a lithium battery and a lead acid battery.  12 amp hour lithium is less than 3 lbs and costs $90+, a lead acid battery is over 7 lbs and costs $20.  An .8 amp hour solar panel isn't going to charge a 12 amp hour in time for another day of use....

[dickenscpa]

On 3/3/2021 at 9:46 AM, J Francho said:

You must be thinking of your own battery. The OP said his was $27.  Nice setup, tho. 

Oh no, my battery was way more expensive than $27. It was just the solar panel was $54 so a second battery would be way more expensive than half the solar panel ($54).

 

In the end I bought a second battery identical to the one I had. It come with a charger so now I have two and I'll keep one charger in the truck so if I need to I can charge it on the truck or pull into the launch mid tourney and recharge at the truck in a have to situation.

 

I only got bit twice last season but plan on doing more tournaments this year and if I need a second battery just once it's worth it to me.

[Bass Junke]

On 3/3/2021 at 10:46 AM, J Francho said:

You must be thinking of your own battery. The OP said his was $27.  Nice setup, tho. 

 

Ha Ha! Well yes I was. You can get lead acid batteries pretty cheap now, definitely in the 20-30 dollar range, but they stink.  

[MN Fisher]

9 minutes ago, Bass Junke said:

 

Ha Ha! Well yes I was. You can get lead acid batteries pretty cheap now, definitely in the 20-30 dollar range, but they stink.  

Ya - a good battery, even lead-acid, will set you back some.

 

I've got a West Marine (made by East Penn) 75AH deep-cycle, Lead/Calcium that ran me $170. The canoe is electric only and that one battery runs the TM, Sonar, a camera and my Galaxy Tablet an entire trip out and still registers 12.0v-12.1v at the end of the day.

[J Francho]

I've been using sealed lead acid 8ah batteries for over 10 years in my kayaks.  They're less than $30, run a graph all day, easy to charge, weigh very little, and work well for me.  I've never needed anything more than that for running electronics in a kayak.  There's no reason for me to upgrade to something more expensive, but others' priorities may differ.