Wire size

[CarlS]

As far as recharging while driving goes, does the wire size matter?

[eamarquardt]

As far as recharging while driving goes, does the wire size matter?

Wire size always matters for two reasons:

1) If you push too much current through a wire it will get hot and you can start a fire.

2) If the wire is too small you will lose too much voltage between your source and your load and things won't work correctly. Charging a battery is a bit different as as the battery comes up in voltage, the current will drop, the voltage drop in the wire going to the battery will become less (meaning more voltage will reach the battery), and the battery will still be able to be fully charged. This doesn't happen when a load is fixed and the current/voltage drop remains fixed.

Here is good site: http://www.affordable-solar.com/wire.charts.htm

Cheers,

Gus

[CarlS]

What kind of info can you give me for a solar panel? I was thinking if I'm camping in a sunny area, why not have an inexpensive solar panel out to charge the battery?

[parnold]

There are numerous threads about solar panel, and you really need to have some idea of your usage before you can think what size panel to get. For some, a 45watt panel like the Harbor Freight is fine. More tend to go in the 80-90 watt range, and then there are those who go with 200 watt.