12v Charger For GPZ

[El Dorado]

My old 2005 Toyota only had one 12V outlet for all the stuff I wanted to charge and the key had to be on for it to operate. The next time it was in for a tuneup I asked them to add a new wire off the main harness to another outlet in the dash that was always on. It worked great.

That is what got me in trouble last time. I was plugged into the cig lighter outlet on my 2008 4 Runner, and again had to have key on for it to work. I turned the key switch one notch too far, and heater kicked on at low level and I did not notice.

Separate battery all the way from now on!

At least your phone was still charged!

[Reno Chris]

If that is correct;

1. how long would the alternator take to replace those amps at idle?

That's a function of how fast your car's system recharges your battery. Probably a question you would need to ask Ford, and its also a function of your batteries age, etc. Its not going to be 5 or 10 minutes - it will be longer than that.

 

2. What size solar charger would I need to replace those 10 amps everyday?

Probably something like this - http://www.amazon.com/ALLPOWERS-Portable-Technology-Blackberry-Compatible/dp/B00LGJ32AO/ref=sr_1_4?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1432916399&sr=1-4&keywords=all+powers

 

Although you would need to turn the panel to face the sun at least a few times per day as the sun moves across the sky. Don't worry it says 18V - that is the rating with no load, with load its closer to 12 or 13V. Rating is also in full summertime sun pointing straight onto the panel.

[Norvic]

OK. small words  but I bet you are smart in your field. If your batteries in good nick and your only taking out 72 watt/hrs per day, your right for a few days no drama,Your 650 cold cranking amp battery has probably got a capacity of 120 amp/hrs(watts) or better.

 

Now for the next bit I want you to take notice, cause I`m gonna be asking you questions later

 

I think it is best I take a analogy of electricity with water. With water in a tank your capacity is the amount of gallons, with electricity it is the watt/hrs. With water if you have a sprinkler on the system that uses say 5 gallons a minute, with electricity it is amps. with water your tank is raised and has pressure to the sprinkler of pounds per sq inch in electricity that is the voltage. So watt/hrs is capacity, amps is flow and voltage is pressure.

 

1. Say your alternator is capable of putting out 50 amps at 12volts, then it is 600 watt/hr alternator, but that is at its max operating revs which won`t be at idle. But each day 1/2 hr run would be enough.

2. As in the analogy with water, we would go with watt/hrs (gallons) which is 72 watt/hrs. If you go for say a 100watt solar panel which will output a max of `100 watt/12volt = 8.2 amp.

    So you`d get a regulator capable of handling 10 amps or maybe 20 amps to allow for expansion. Now this solar panel angled at your latitude facing South on a cloudless day will put out at least 4 times its wattage in watt hours. eg my panels in sunny NQ at 17deg lat put out 8 times.(this figure can be found at a NASA site and varies for each location) So with that 100 watt panel without shifting it around just face south at your latitude will put out 100 watts X 4 = 400 watt/hrs. There are inefficiencies with batteries, cloud might come over etc but that 100 watt solar panel will kill your issue.

 

PS I forgot to put your quiz in to see if you were listening.

 

Much better to go for a 2 battery set-up, second battery(deep cycle) isolated from your starting battery and allow for expansion, fridges, lights etc etc.

 

I gotta tell a story, Missus and I were down in Victoria many years back chasing that yellow stuff. Camped out for weeks, few days wet/cloudy weather but I thought no drama, I`ll just start the Toyota and charge both batteries, main start battery had collapsed with cold weather, my deep cycle one was fairly flat and didn`t have enough to start vehicle, no drama I`ve got my backup, a little Honda 2 stroke battery charger. But we`d forgot to put petrol in, Toyota was diesel. Missus had a quantity of Methylated spirits, added a bit of engine oil to it, after about 20 pulls the little Honda finally got going long enough to charge start battery.

The flavour to this story is have you ever smelt a petrol engine running on metho. Phewe

[fredmason]

Thanks for not testing me...i just hate tests...

Between Chris' answer and your answer I believe I comphrehend...I think I will get another deepcycle for my travel trailer and a solar charger...life will be wonderful with all that power.

 

my brother and I ran out of  gas in my dad's truck long ago...all we had was white gas...it made a beautiful engine fire.  My Dad was under whelmed!!! to say the least.

thanks

 fred

[Norvic]

White gas? What is that? Shellite?

[vanursepaul]

coleman fuel

[Norvic]

Yes that is what we call shellite or white spirit, I use it in my little Coleman single burner unit that resides in my Toyota. Way back before LP gas us OZ plumbers used it in our soldering irons. Can well imagine its effect in a combustion engine. Believe its heat content is way above gasolene or what we call petrol..

[Norvic]

Fred, on solar panels and angling at your latitude, for our mobile application this is not ideal. Just put your panel flat on roof of vehicle, the output will not approach its max but todays solar panels are much better at working in less ideal positions. Better to add more panel power than required at a $1 a watt or less then have the drama of shifting panels around. I`ve Sikoflexed my panels direct to canopy fibreglass roof. Simple out of the road and no drama.

[normmcq]

After getting a new power cord from ML for my 12V charger, I decided to give it a try. Everything worked properly, one problem. I put the charger on the soft surface of the seat cushion and that didn't allow the charger to have any ventilation. The first light on the top left was flashing red, but the battery was fully charged and the battery and charger were both very warm. Second attempt, I put it on a hard surface and no problems.

                                                                    Norm

[fredmason]

well, That is a good tip...I have noticed that the charger and battery get fairly warm.

 

I spoke to my dealer about my alternator and did a little reading. I have a155 amp alternator. When the engine is running it produces about 15 volts.

 

However, the charging rate varies with the rpm and the load...in other words no one can tell me exactly how long and at what rpm it would take to replace those 10 amps used to recharge the gpz battery. Their best guess was " not very long while driving" and maybe 15-20 minutes at idle...

 

so, to be safe I will use my deep-cycle trailer battery and only use the truck when I am driving around...

 

fred