Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge - View Single Post

Wintersun · 07-09-2014, 04:46 PM

I have been out on the road camping and needing to recharge the finder's 8 AH battery. I found the DC/DC chargers from Powerstream that allow me to recharge the 8 AH battery while I am driving down the road. I plug one end into the cigarette lighter socket and attach the other end to the battery. The output from the alternator would be otherwise lost. The output is 7.5 amps continuous so the 4 amps needed for the 8 AH battery takes less than 40 minutes of driving.

I later added two solar panels to my camper to recharge its 220 AH battery pank. Their 12 amp output usually recharges the camper's batteries in 3 hours. The camper has a 12v socket so I could plug the Powerstream DC/DC charger into it and recharge the finder battery in less than an hour. A 8 AH battery is not going to be discharged more than 50% DOD so I only am adding 4 AH of charge.

I already use the excess power from the two panels to charge our laptop and cell phone batteries so adding in the finder battery is not a big deal. Taking 4 AH out of the 220 AH battery bank overnight that will be replaced in 20 minutes the next day is a no brainer.

Batteries last the longest when they are fully recharged after each use and not discharged by more than 50%. I know these batteries are cheap but I see nothing virtuous in being unnecessarily wasteful.

07-09-2014, 04:46 PM	#19
Wintersun Junior Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 22	I have been out on the road camping and needing to recharge the finder's 8 AH battery. I found the DC/DC chargers from Powerstream that allow me to recharge the 8 AH battery while I am driving down the road. I plug one end into the cigarette lighter socket and attach the other end to the battery. The output from the alternator would be otherwise lost. The output is 7.5 amps continuous so the 4 amps needed for the 8 AH battery takes less than 40 minutes of driving. I later added two solar panels to my camper to recharge its 220 AH battery pank. Their 12 amp output usually recharges the camper's batteries in 3 hours. The camper has a 12v socket so I could plug the Powerstream DC/DC charger into it and recharge the finder battery in less than an hour. A 8 AH battery is not going to be discharged more than 50% DOD so I only am adding 4 AH of charge. I already use the excess power from the two panels to charge our laptop and cell phone batteries so adding in the finder battery is not a big deal. Taking 4 AH out of the 220 AH battery bank overnight that will be replaced in 20 minutes the next day is a no brainer. Batteries last the longest when they are fully recharged after each use and not discharged by more than 50%. I know these batteries are cheap but I see nothing virtuous in being unnecessarily wasteful.