Charging /flooded lead acid battery off of a solar panel/ sealed AGM system.

[littleharbor]

In the future you should replace those 12 volt batteries with 2 series wired 6 volt golf cart batteries. In the meantime your positive charging line and load should both be on the same diagonal corner from the negative line and load, forcing somewhat equal charge/discharge from both batteries.

[AWS]

Thanks Littleharbor, that is an easy fix to move the wiring on the +load to the charging terminal.

As for the batteries gassing off, they are sealed AGM and according to the manufacture that is not a problem.

I'm trying to keep this as compact as possible and be able to move the whole unit to another vehicle in the future if needed.

The furnace only consumes 1.4 ah while running and is on a thermostat so shouldn't run continuously through the night unless extremely cold (well below zero).

[jflorey2]

I would take the wiring OUT of the battery box.

Also paint the interior with some good marine paint. Sulfuric acid eats through wood quickly.

[PNjunction]

In the future, you may want to look at an isolator like the CTEK D250S dual.

http://www.ctek.com/au/en/chargers/D250S%20DUAL

It could simplify things, but glad your system seems to be working!

[AWS]

I added a isolator and moved the wiring and installed a 100w solar panel. We are done with duck hunting season and it has been fantastic, warm all night and I don't have to look for an outlet for heat. Just this season saved me enough on campground fees for the season to pay for the system. Plus most of the landings I can camp on overnight so saves me a lot of travel time. the one great benefit is that I can head for the landing the night before and sleep in in the morning and not have to get up at dark-thirty and drive a few hours to get to the landing on time. I've only had to use the truck alternator a few times to charge the batteries.

[AWS]

4 1/2 yr up date, the system is working perfect, I've been camping, hunting and fishing all over and the system has worked without a flaw. I did change out the batteries after 3 yrs as they were starting to deplete quicker, I use them for working on outboard/boat e-systems as they are easy to move around. Best investment I've made for the van.

In the mountains near Ely NV spend the month of OCT. camping in NV and UT

6jCJoQ.jpg

[AWS]

Going on 8yrs now. The system has been flawless. I think I'm starting to see some deterioration of the second set of batteries the float is at 13.1v and when it gets dark the voltage drops to 12.7/8v it used to stay at 12.9-13v. The rig sits in the sun hAlf the day in southern NM. Is it.time to replace the batteries ? It still runs the furnace through the night but by morning it's down to 12.2v.