Solar panel trickle charger for sailboat batteries

[Sea Hunt Video]

John S. and Steve L.:

My apologies for not responding sooner to your posts. I have not yet been able to visit the EMarine store in Ft. Lauderdale (personal matters are causing delays).

Steve L., for you and John and many others you are right - "this just isn't that hard". Unfortunately, for guys like me, for reasons I do not understand, electrical stuff is hard.

John and Steve, do I need to understand your most recent posts before installing my solar panel For example, why 2 prong versus 3 or 4 prong Also, "two prong plug on the hot side" is dangerous What are you referring to

John, your advise about drilling holes is much appreciated. It is what I did several years ago on my ty Weekender. I am going to think about it a lot.

If possible, and if safe, I would like to be able to avoid drilling a hole. I am trying to visualize how it would look if there was a just a long wire running from the charge controller (this will be bolted some where inside the cabin) to the solar panel. When I want to deploy the solar panel I would just pull it out from its storage place (inside the cabin) and connect it to the charge controller. There would have to be some type of "plug" to connect and disconnect the solar panel from the charge controller.

When you have time could one of you provide a little more detail (but in simple words) about the issue of the wire cord plug touching the solar panel and causing an issue. I am not clear on this.

Thanks again for everyone's help and assistance, suggestions, etc. This is a GREAT board

[John Stone]

Roberto,
Two prong for duplex (2 wires) coming from the solar panel. The panel will have a pos and a neg wire. Your connector only needs two prongs--one for the pos and one for the neg.

What Steve is cautioning is if you have a two prong connector with the male prongs on the panel side of the connector and if the plug is not plugged in and the panel is generating electricity the mail connector is hot and since it is exposed like a cattle prod you could get shocked or if you touched it to something that conducts electricity it could short the panel or send a charge of electricity into something.

Think about it this way, in your home you have charged electrical wires in the walls. They are connected to female receptical outlets. Your toaster has a male connector plug. But the toaster is not hot unless it's plugged in. And the energy runs from the female recptical outlet to the plug on the toaster and then to the toaster. When you unplug the toaster the male toaster plug is exposed but it's not hot. Imagine if the recepticals were opposite, e.g. The ones in the wall were male. When you unplugged the toaster the male connector would be standing proud of the wall and if you rubbed up against them you would get shocked.

In a perfect world, the deck connector would have the male end sticking out of the deck and the female end on the solar panel side. But usually, a deck connector is sending electricity to an appliance you are using on deck--like a light. In my case, the electricity is running the other way from the panel back to the battery. Make sense?

The reality Roberto is that you will want the panel deployed almost all the time. There is really no reason not to have it deployed except for trailering your boat (maybe) or hurricane preparations. You might be better off having a more fixed mount solution with a Blude Seas deck gland.

I like what I have. It works for me perfectly for all the reasons I stated earlier in this thread. But Steve's point and caution is valid. If I could have the same set up with the recepticals reversed, I would.

[Sea Hunt Video]

John S.:

Thanks.

My initial thought (consistent over past several months) is that I want to install a solar panel that can be reasonably easily connected up, removed, stored, etc. While the Blue Sea cable clam system looks like quality (the website has a nice video - I like pictures and video; I'm a visual guy) I think it is for a more permanent type installation of wiring (antenna cables, etc.). Once the solar panel wiring is installed via the Blue Sea cable clam it looks like it would be a project to remove the solar panel.

If I find that it is not practical to have a solar panel that is connected directly from the charge controller to the solar panel and that I have to have some type of deck connector I think your system is more what I am looking for. I will carefully study the "hot wire" issue before proceeding further. Perhaps the guys at EMarine have some innovative solutions. I hope to visit with them next week.

Thanks again to all who have offered advise, etc. It is much needed and very much appreciated.

[mgphl52]

Roberto,
Sounds like you do not want a permanently mounted panel?
If true, just make the lead from to the panel long enough that you can connect it the controller inside your cabin and have enough wire to place the panel wherever works best at the time.
When you're ready to go sailing, slip the panel in a bag/sock (stopping current generation), disconnect from the controller and stow below.
Simple is usually better on a boat.
Oops! Forgot to also say just run the wires between the hatch boards and the slide... no new holes required!

[Sea Hunt Video]

Michael:

Yes, that is accurate. I want a "removable" solar panel not one permanently mounted. I know this is contrary to popular thinking but I prefer a small semi-flexible panel that I can deploy when I want to and put away when I do not want it on deck.

I understand John S.'s thoughts on this and agree with him about probably wanting the solar panel deployed most of the time. But it is a personality quirk of mine (one of many I am told ) to be able to easily disconnect the solar panel and stow it below.

I think the next step for me is to physically visit EMarine (I have talked with them twice on the phone) and see what they recommend for connectors, etc.

When I had my underwater video company I had some powerful video lights mounted on the camcorder housing. Because the lights were so powerful (it's dark down at 200 fsw ) I needed to bring a second battery. When the first battery died I had what were then called "quick wet disconnects" (at least that was term I used - "wet connects" for short) that allowed me to disconnect the cables from the lights to the battery and connect up the new battery - all at depth.

I am wondering if they have something similar for solar panels that would allow a simple, easy disconnect of the solar panel cable from the charge controller cable.

[Sea Hunt Video]

These are what I was thinking of in my prior post referencing "quick wet disconnects":

http://wet-connect.com/index.html

I used these types of connectors for several years with success.

I am not sure if they are workable with the solar panel wiring. I will talk with the good folks at EMarine this week.