Solar panel battery chargers

the batt maintainer from aldi ,is what i have ,and it works in daylight but more effective of course if sun is out

Photonic Universe stuff has always worked well for me and good value.

I think the ‘Vanbitz thingy’ will work with solar as it effectively uses the leisure battery to charge the van battery. However some modern systems are designed for EHU to charge both batteries - worth checking before you spend your money.

I think that the vanbitz thingy only works when connected to the mains? So not to much help on a non ehu storage site.

Not so boff, it works with both and has been keeping my batteries in tip top condition for the past 4 years when my motorhome is not in use. I cannot vouche for other battery to battery devices but the Van Bitz one  certainly works with solar. To quote from there FAQs::

Question: Will Battery Master work with a solar panel? Answer: Yes, most certainly. It could have been made for it. As the solar panel increases the voltage in the leisure battery, so the excess charge is stored away in the engine battery

peedee

I stand corrected!

We are lucky in that we can keep our motorhome in our back garden and for at least part of the day it is connected to mains EHU. (when I remember to switch on the outside lights!)  Our previous motorhome didn't have a solar panel and the inbuilt charger did not charge the cab battery so the Battery Master seemed the ideal solution to keeping the cab battery topped up. Now we have the solar panel the new van has two sources of charge EHU and Solar. Given that a solar panel with a dual controller tends only to send a small proportion of its charge to the cab battery I wonder in winter whether this would be enough to maintain sufficient charge in the cab battery? Better than nothing of course but with the Battery Master there is no need for concern.

David

Given that a solar panel with a dual controller tends only to send a small proportion of its charge to the cab battery I wonder in winter whether this would be enough to maintain sufficient charge in the cab battery? Better than nothing of course but with the Battery Master there is no need for concern.

I don't know what the split is on ours and you can't alter it. However, last winter, with our 150 watts, there was no issue in keeping the cab battery fully charged. That's even  with the draw of alarm and tracker.

Is there actually a split. I have no real idea of how a dual control is wired but surely it is no more complicated than putting two batteries in parallel although they are more than likely to be disimilar batteries.

peedee

SB upthread mentions a variable charge controller. Mine does not have that ability and I can't find anything about what goes to each battery.

The Photonic Universe split charger (see link in Boffs post above) enables you to vary charge priority up to 90/10% between batteries. If one battery is fully charged it automatically charges the other. I tend to set it 80% to leisure battery in summer when I’m using the van and 70% to van battery in winter on 150w solar only. Never had a flat battery or need to boost van battery with EHU in winter.

I’ve had 3 of these, two in MHs and 1 on a boat and they work well - half the price of Vanbitz product.

As far as I am aware most dual controllers you can alter the split of charge.  The controller in the link I posted earlier you can select the split in 10% amounts from 90%/10% the default all the way to 10%/90% with points in between.   I’m not sure that it matters much because once the battery that is the priority is fully charged the controller should send  the charge to the second battery.