Quick Question

[PJLangevin]

The attached picture is a piece I picked up at a Salvage yard. I have circled the 12v area. Does this mean I hook the deep cycle battery here? and then if I am not connected to shore power all my 12v connections still have power? Will this charge the battery when on shore power? or do I still need something like the Battery Tender Plus / Solar Panels to keep battery charged?
I really thought I had this all figured out, but not sure now.

PJL

[Bill n Robi]

Manual shows exactly how to hook it up, will charge from 110VAC and distribute 12VDC to circuits, off shore power it will distribute your battery power to those circuits.

http://www.gulfstreamcoach.com/media/up ... nual-1.pdf

[PJLangevin]

Thank you, I could not find a manual for it when I searched.

[Bill n Robi]

That was just the hookup and troubleshooting. Operations manual is probably out there, you might want to read that when selecting batteries and seeing if it does maintenance and bulk charging.

[PJLangevin]

Yes, I have been looking, can't seem to put a mouse on it. I've checked their website and it's not there. Might have to pick up a telephone and call them.

[Bill n Robi]

Yep, not a lot out there, more info but not much.
http://www.gulfstreamcoach.com/media/up ... nual-2.pdf

It looks to be a discontinued item and no longer supported. Folks are buying them to replace existing units that have failed. From questions asked on Amazon, it does not sound like a multistage charger, not that there is anything wrong with that but if you overtax a battery you will probably need a battery tender type charger to revive it.

good luck

bill

[PJLangevin]

Thank you Bill, I am hoping that my little solar panel will keep it topped up. Still working on getting camper finished to point of needing electrical

[GuitarPhotog]

Thank you Bill, I am hoping that my little solar panel will keep it topped up. Still working on getting camper finished to point of needing electrical

How big is your battery? How big is your solar panel?

Common recommendation is one watt of solar panel per Amp-hour of battery capacity, with a suitable controller. So one of those 14W "trickle charger" solar panels won't help if you have a 100 AH battery.

<Chas>

[PJLangevin]

It is a 40 Watt solar panel and a 70 AH battery, so think we are okay?

[GuitarPhotog]

It is a 40 Watt solar panel and a 70 AH battery, so think we are okay?

Since you should never draw your 70AH battery down below 50%, your 40W panel should replace your usage on a sunny day. I won't guess how much power you'll get on cloudy days or in a shady campsite.

<Chas>