View Single Post
Old 03-18-2012, 04:24 PM   #1 (permalink)
California98Civic
Cyborg ECU
 
California98Civic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
Posts: 6,299

Black and Green - '98 Honda Civic DX Coupe
Team Honda
90 day: 66.42 mpg (US)

Black and Red - '00 Nashbar Custom built eBike
90 day: 3671.43 mpg (US)
Thanks: 2,373
Thanked 2,174 Times in 1,470 Posts
Please advise: solar/grid charging questions

I need a new battery this week. I killed my current deep cycle battery thinking too much about its weight and not enough about its discharge capacity. It is rapidly weakening now, after just 6 months. I need advice.

I own this Odyssey charger: Odyssey Ultimizer 12 Volt 6 Amp Battery Charger: BatteryMart.com.

I want to buy this Odyssey battery: Odyssey PC1200 Battery. Odyssey says the battery needs a minimum current of 6amps, which mine supplies. I imagine it will take me longer to recharge the battery, which leads to my first question: (1) how long will it likely take to fully recharge the new battery with the the 6amp charger?

My Civic stock alt puts out as much as 70amps and my meter usually reads 14.3v max when charging. That's twenty amps higher than the largest charger Odyssey sells for its batteries and .2volts lower than Odyssey's recommended charging voltage, so my second question is (2) will my alt likely damage the battery?

Lastly and less urgently, I am planning in the future for 100w or 120w flexible monocrystalline solar cells on the roof. This set fits on the roof: 100W/18V Thin Film Monocrystalline Flexible Solar Panel - Portable-solar-panel,folding-solar-charger,flexible-solar-panel,Thin-film-solar-panel,Solar-garden-light,solar-landscape-light,LED light,solar-battery charger Chinese Manufacturer and Exporter. The last question then is (3) what charge controller would you recommend for the panel, given that the Odyssey battery likes to charge at 6+ amps and a minimum 14.5v?

__________________
See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.



  Reply With Quote