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I was in Bass Pro the other night and walked by and saw them...I didn't read all of the information on the labeling...I kind of doubt they would bring a battery up but they might keep it charged a little bit longer while trolling.
Anyone seen these things or does anyone have any experience with them?
Haven't heard about these as of yet, but you've peaked my interest. Cool idea if it works or even helps alot.
i owned one and used it for about 3 years,it worked fine if you allowed it time to charge,seems like i payed about 65.00 dollars for mine,good luck TNT
Mark - Next time your in Bass Pro they're located on the right over near all of the boating accessories. The darned thing looked sort of compact as far as physical size is concerned...could be worth a try it looks like to me.
Thanks Chub......
They're about the size of credit card. My neighbor has them on his boat, he says that it helps more to keep your batteries from developing a memory or some sort of benefits to make the battery last longer. He's got them mounted in the back of his boat near the transom. I really don't see how they could really work all that well, especially with his boat being covered up all the time...I mean 8 or 10 hours on the water can't be enough daylight to really charge his batteries that much - now if it was a whole week, that might be different...
My son built me one that was as big as the hood on my 150 Johnson made it flat black. It worked surprisingly well I had him put a 3 way switch on it so I could transfer power from starting battery that my depth finders run off of to one of my two tm batteries. My wife was driving my boat on vacation and thought she had it out of gear when approaching our rented houseboat and put it completely under the rear of the houseboat tore off my windshield the solar panel and buggered up the console and hood. Luckily no-one was hurt except our feelings. My son said he would build me another one which reminds me I need to bug him......Joe G
Chub,
The last thing I read about solar energy cells were that they were still only about 20% efficient. If they are as small as the ones described on this thread, then it would take a lot of them to make much of a difference. I'm pretty sure I would stay with a 10 amp charger to charge my batteries over night.
Danny
[QUOTE=artcarney_agr;303916]They're about the size of credit card. My neighbor has them on his boat, he says that it helps more to keep your batteries from developing a memory or some sort of benefits to make the battery last longer. He's got them mounted in the back of his boat near the transom. I really don't see how they could really work all that well, especially with his boat being covered up all the time...I mean 8 or 10 hours on the water can't be enough daylight to really charge his batteries that much - now if it was a whole week, that might be different...[/QUOTE]
Jesse Duncan has them and has not had to charge his battery all summer. He uses them on his Pontoon boat for party trips. The battery has lasted a couple of years like this. Keeps the battery charging any time it is not being used and prevents it from getting a hard no charge point.. or as some call it memory.
I'm pretty sure the one's I saw at Bass Pro were larger than a credit card...they were probably more like 4" x 6" or somewhere's in that category. I think I need to study up on these rascals...any amount of "free" juice is better than no juice.
Got one from BPS for about $35. It's about 5"x16". Seems to prolong the life of the tm batteries. It is supposed to have a built-in switch to keep from over-charging the battery. This one doesn't deliver a lot of amps, but it seems to be enough to make it last a little longer. I know the tm or crankin' batts don't take as long to charge up once we get in from a long day fishing since we started using it. Read the package for the unit you buy. Some are already waterproof while others need a little silicone around the edges and connectors to be made that way. Sometimes if we know we'll be using the boat fairly regularly and there's no rain in the forecast we'll leave the boat uncovered in the drive with this charger hooked to one of the batteries and a standard charger hooked to the other. Keeps 'em ready to go. We bought an on-board 2-bank but have yet to find the time and motivation to hook it up. If we're off and the weather aint too bad we just as soon be at the lake instead of installing a dang charger. I guess I'll have to do it one day in the garage when elwood is out chasing them smallies. I don't fish when I can't feel my line because of the cold. Not as dedicated as osme of you folks here on the board.