Solar battery charge through the 12v socket?

[Munkiebunz3]

Since it's rated for about 15A I decided to have a go at an experiment with some parts I've accumulated. Per my own experience, I know that the 12v socket is always live. This should work unless there's a diode circuit that I am unaware of.
I have a solar mppt controller that I purchased some time ago that I couldn't find a good mounting location in the engine bay or the passenger footwell.
I also purchased 2 solar panels from anker that have 2 usb ports a long time ago for emergencies. Never used them.
We all have a ton of usb cables.

I made my own usb y-cable. With all male connectors. I then used the female connector, cut the leads & spliced the +/- into the solar mppt controller leaving the connection so that it's easily disconnected from the controller or the panels.
I have a male-male 12v socket that I made from parts of others so I can charge a jumper battery if I need to.
I scavenged another 12v socket (female) and stripped the wires to put it on the mppt controller.
Now I just need to find my usb plug-in amp/volt meter to see what I get from the panel to the charger and compare it to what the mppt controller says it's getting.

The anker Panel is just 21W. The usb power cable is maybe a 22 awg wire. However, if this experiment goes well, I'll probably do a custom 60w solar sunshade with some beefier wire gauge.

So now you're probably wondering "why?". Well, I have a dash camera that is active 24/7 and I just want to make sure I don't deplete the battery as quickly as I am now. If I don't drive for about 4 days the car's dead. Before I get around to installing my dual battery setup, I will make sure to eliminate any parasitic draw that isn't directly from my cameras.

 

[coupe11]

I had a 96 S10 Blazer that would kill the battery after a couple weeks of setting. I bought one of the little battery charger panels from Harbor Freight and plugged it into the cigarette lighter on the dash and set the panel on top of the dash.

No more dead battery issues. Worked for just over 6 months, till I sold it. Well, gave it away.

 

[chuck s]

Should work. Keep us informed.

The manual is a little confusing this time of the morning. Looks like the max current is 150watts (about 12a) although there's a 20a fuse on the circuits. There's an outlet at the rear which could be used and eliminate more dashboard clutter but I'm not sure about the effects of the tinted windows.

-- Chuck

 

[Cyclone]

My thoughts.

If your Dash Cam is on 24/7, then why bother having its power connected to the vehicle at all? The only reasons would be to 1) get power from the car's power system, and 2) Have it turn on/off with the ignition.

Don't really need the car to power the camera if you have Solar, and if you are on all the time, it doesn't really need to connected to the car for on/off purposes.

My suggestion, Have your solar power panels connect to a Anker 26000+ mah battery and have the camera just exclusively get the power from that. That way your car's power system is "out of the picture".

Some of those large battery packs have two inputs for charging also. So you can have the Solar connected to one, and just have the other plugged into a switched USB port to "top it off" while you are driving.

 

[Munkiebunz3]

Okay, so my solar panel only puts out at 5v and I got 0 amperage.
@Cyclone thank you for your input. My camera requires a 12v input and most of the battery banks have usb (5v limit). Since solar only works during the day, I'd still need a compatible 12v system to run it. Seeing how compatible foldable panels are available for about $200, I'm not going to do it. I'd rather try a used solar panel on the roof.

 

[Cyclone]

Ok. My bad. My Dashcam uses a USB connection for its power. I was assuming yours did also.

 

[chuck s]

You need 13.7v DC to even trickle change a car battery.

-- Chucj

 

[Munkiebunz3]

Yes Chuck thank you for that. Based on what I read I thought my panel regulates up to 20v but that's based on connections to tablets and phones. Regular ol dumb power just defaulted to 5v making it useless for my test application. It was an experiment that didn't give me my desired results but with a powerful enough solar panel, it's going to do well.

 

[powerboatr]

this is funny
if my expy sits for 7 or 8 days the battery drops to 50% level of charge, so as she hangs out in the garage, i try to hook up the battery charger once a week.

 

[MuddySpokes]

I looked into a 24/7 dashcam system myself.

Am considering a similar approach to Cyclone's with a dedicated battery. The difference is that I am looking at a battery isolator so that the alternator will charge the dashcam's battery. Reasoning for the isolator is to prevent the dashcam system from killing the main battery, especially if it's dedicated battery dies and simply sucks current. Adding solar to that leg is something that I had considered but just not decided on.

 

[Cyclone]

My current DashCam is a Viofo A118C and I have been very happy with it for the past three years.

I am planning on upgrading to its successor, the A129. The A129 can be had with dual camera for both front and rear recording. It has wifi built in, so you can view/download videos wirelessly.

But one of the features is the optional wiring kit that connects to both switched and unswitched power. When the car is off, the camera will go into a sentinel mode where it reduces the frame rate and records on motion. So its recording if someone walks up to your car or another car bumps into it while you are parked. There are three parking modes to choose from. If your battery voltage drops to a configured low level, it will turn off the camera.

 

[MuddySpokes]

The Viofo looks neat. Had not considered a unit like that as I focused on systems that worked in both visible and IR ranges.

Downside to working with IR is that it does not pass well through glass, so that is another factor I am working through.

 

[Cyclone]

There is a bunch of YouTube videos on the A129. Watch some of those reviews to see it is for you.

They do have an IR model, but that I think it used mostly in "Taxi" mode where the 2nd Camera has IR and is used to record your passengers. That way if you are an Uber drive, you can have a recording of your interactions with riders who may cause trouble.

 

[Munkiebunz3]

I looked into a 24/7 dashcam system myself.

Am considering a similar approach to Cyclone's with a dedicated battery. The difference is that I am looking at a battery isolator so that the alternator will charge the dashcam's battery. Reasoning for the isolator is to prevent the dashcam system from killing the main battery, especially if it's dedicated battery dies and simply sucks current. Adding solar to that leg is something that I had considered but just not decided on.

I've been looking at the electrical system for the Expy. It's rough. The positive cable appears to go to the fuse box which then goes to the starter. Unless I can get my hands on a wiring diagram to confirm, it looks like isolating our main battery to become a starter battery might be nigh impossible without a ton of work. The fuse box in the passenger footwell has a very nice quick disconnect. That should be easy enough to swap to the secondary battery to Isolate more of the vehicle systems.

 

[stamp11127]

It depends on whether you are going to install a battery isolator or another alternator. One issue is how the BCM is going to behave with 2 charging circuits.

Without the isolator the alternator will overcharge the other battery.

How fast do you need the batteries to recharge using solar?

 

[Munkiebunz3]

Well that bcm reminder kinda puts another snag in the dual battery setup. Do they have a dual alternator kit for the 3.5 eco? I haven't seen one.
How do the police do their dual battery?
I bought the repair manual for the expy. Not sure if it will include any info for the ssv.

 

[stamp11127]

Someone with Forscan may be able to check through the electrical settings and let you know if anything for the dual batteries/alternator is there.

Also RockAuto shows your alternator output to be 250 amps so the isolator need to handle more than that. In a quick search I only found 150 amp as the highest.

 

[Munkiebunz3]

@stamp11127 I can see isolators on Amazon that are 300 amp & higher. When you look at the fuses on the positive terminal of the battery harness it's a 125A to the fuse box and 350A to the alternator. So I'll be looking for an isolator and breaker near the same rating. I'm also going to check out my friend's f250 that has factory dual battery.

 

[MuddySpokes]

Unless I am missing something, the charging system will handle a second battery behind an isolator just fine and merely see it as another load. Put another way, people who tow trailers with a battery (with and without an isloator) do this all the time without any reported issues or need to re-work the OE wiring . . . Actually, the only common comment I see is that the OE lead gauge is too small.

Am sensing that my comment about a dedicated battery for the DVR system is not translating well. Toward sizing, am looking at something with just enough capacity to keep the DVR alive for maybe a few days which is probably about as big as the common UPS battery. Am not really worried about maximizing the second battery's SOC as even if it does need charging when the alternator goes into float, it will still receive current.

 

[Munkiebunz3]

@MuddySpokes I also didn't realize that not all cameras run off the 12v socket. Some are converted to the usb power. I read your comment with my personal experience and application in mind. But still, a good idea.

BTW, we can use a solar panel to charge the battery via the 12v port. There aren't any diodes. I got a (free) real solar panel rated at 255w, 36V and about 9A, plugged in to my mppt controller with a 12v female socket at the end & plugged it into the rear power outlet. Wam bam and charging at 12.8v 3A on a cloudy day, no direct sunlight, with the sun behind the building next to me.
Now I run into trying to mount it to my rails without drilling any extra holes in the roof. I do have a nutsert tool but I want that to be last resort.
The panel is 39" wide while the roof rack width is 38.25".