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Solar Charger For GPX 5000.. Will It Work?


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I've ordered the solar charging kit in the picture below.. I bought it because it claims to be able to charge lithium batteries, all the others I looked at said 'only for lead batteries'.. I'm no great expert on these things (you could say absolutely clueless) but I'm thinking about cutting the cord on the car charger and plugging it into the control box.. I've got another 25W panel without a control box but I'm a bit worried what might happen if I hook this straight onto the GPX battery.. I don't want to kill the bloody thing..

My question is will a 20W panel hooked onto a control box charge my GPX 5000 battery without blowing it up? 

Thank you very much for any advice on this one.. I plan to prospect areas well away from the power grid and the 12V charging plug in my old 4WD has stopped working since the car got flooded during a river crossing.. If this solar charger does work it'll be a huge bonus for people prospecting in areas far away from civilisation.. Maybe it'll be the game-changer we've all been waiting for 😁..

I do realise this idea has probably been thought of a million times already, it's just that i can't find any related info on the net..

 

 

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If the output voltage is the same as your 4wd 12v system, I think you will be OK. Check it with a multi meter before you roast your detector. Sometimes these solar panels have more voltage output, and can cause failure to batteries and computer chips. It's not so much the panel but the controller. Go slow and test first on something you don't have too much money invested in. Good Luck

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14 minutes ago, dogodog said:

Go slow and test first on something you don't have too much money invested in

Thanks a million for your help here Dogodog! I haven't got a clue as far as elec-trickery is concerned.. Just saying for a moment it does really work, could I also cut an Equinox charging cable (on the usb end) and plug this into the control box? The equinox also has lithium batteries and it would be great if I could also charge it using solar..

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I wouldn't cut the usb cable on the nox. Just get a conversion adapter for your solar controller. $20 to $50 US. They make all kinds. Just do the old google search. Instead of solar, I use a charger called a topvision. You can charge a detector and jump start a 9 liter diesel with this little item. roughly 9 cm x 20 cm its usb charge powered. Very handy out in the bush, nobody likes a dead battery 400 km from the nearest town. I wouldn't try and mod your idea, just get the needed accessories to fit your solar needs. I've learned this the hard way many times. 

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49 minutes ago, dogodog said:

Just get a conversion adapter for your solar controller

Thanks again Dogodog! I've just found a solar controller with usb ports which also charges lithium batteries, so that'll also save me from butchering the Equinox cable.. I'll hook it up to my 25W panel.. It was only AU$16.. and the panel AU$30.. so a cheap way to go, if it works! 

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I have been using a system for about a year now and it has given me just what I need. Here is a link to the company page and everything is there for what you might need. Their unit also comes with a small battery.

https://www.eco-worthy.com/collections/off-grid-solar-kit/products/100w-200w-300w-400w-500w-600w-12v-off-grid-solar-kits-with-100w-mono-panel-for-cabin-home-rv?variant=37410330181820

I have the 200watt unit that never has let me run out of power.

The price they show first is for the 100watt system.

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7 hours ago, Erik Oostra said:

I've ordered the solar charging kit in the picture below.. I bought it because it claims to be able to charge lithium batteries, all the others I looked at said 'only for lead batteries'.. I'm no great expert on these things (you could say absolutely clueless) but I'm thinking about cutting the cord on the car charger and plugging it into the control box.. I've got another 25W panel without a control box but I'm a bit worried what might happen if I hook this straight onto the GPX battery.. I don't want to kill the bloody thing..

My question is will a 20W panel hooked onto a control box charge my GPX 5000 battery without blowing it up? 

Thank you very much for any advice on this one.. I plan to prospect areas well away from the power grid and the 12V charging plug in my old 4WD has stopped working since the car got flooded during a river crossing.. If this solar charger does work it'll be a huge bonus for people prospecting in areas far away from civilisation.. Maybe it'll be the game-changer we've all been waiting for 😁..

I do realise this idea has probably been thought of a million times already, it's just that i can't find any related info on the net..

 

 

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The Minelab GPX 5000 lithium battery is 7.4 volts.  I may have read this wrong, but if you’re planning on directly charging it from the 12v solar charger controller, you can definitely damage the Minelab battery because the direct output from the solar charger controller is most likely for 12v batteries.There are smart chargers that can use a 12 V input in order to charge different types of lithium batteries, however they’re expensive.

Your least expensive and a safe option would be to use a system like the solar charger shown by VL above to charge a separate 12V deep cycle battery. The deep cycle battery will provide a constant 12 V output for the car charger, whereas the solar charger output actually uses a pulsed output to charge a battery,which can damage other electronics that are directly plugged into it.  Just connect the Minelab car charger to the 12v battery (same way the Inverter is shown in VL’s diagram above) and use the Minelab charger to charge your Minelab lithium battery- it will do the 12v to 7.4v conversion needed to charge the Minelab battery.

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1 hour ago, GotAU? said:

if you’re planning on directly charging it from the 12v solar charger controller, you can definitely damage the Minelab battery because the direct output from the solar charger controller is most likely for 12v batteries

 

53 minutes ago, davsgold said:

I do it this way, solar and regulator to an AGM 12v type battery and then charge whatever appliance

Thanks a million GotAU and davsgold.. to save me from having to buy a battery, could I cut the plug of a 12v inverter (like the one pictured below) and hook it into the solar charge controller? in the 'output' connection (which has the light-bulb symbol).. the other 'output' connection is to charge a battery..  

Or an even wilder idea, could I hook the inverter straight onto the solar panel?.. it's output is also 12v..

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Erik, the solar panel output is pulsed and has too high of voltage swings, like when it has a shadow on it or is angled to the sun, so you cant use it directly.

The battery charge controller charging output sends measured pulses to the battery depending on the battery charge level, it cant be used directly either and is only good for charging batteries.

The light bulb circuit on the controller may be constant 12v dc, but the output amperage is probably too low and will not be constant enough (due to the solar panel power) to use directly with a regular car adapter charger.

An intermediate 12v deep cycle battery ( even like a 12v 34amp mobility wheelchair battery) will be the best bet.

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25 minutes ago, Erik Oostra said:

Or an even wilder idea, could I hook the inverter straight onto the solar panel?.. it's output is also 12v..

Never do that as the solar panel that you are wanting to use will never be able to power it properly and burn the solar panel up very quickly.

 

This is what you need to connect your converter to for safety.

https://www.amazon.com/ML7-12-Battery-Mighty-Brand-Product/dp/B00K8V30D0/ref=sr_1_5?crid=SJ8Y1E8765HA&dchild=1&keywords=12v+battery&qid=1611737243&sprefix=12v%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-5

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