can i just plug this into a 12v batery, set it and forget it for 1 week? will it over charge my battery or drain it at night?
1583920
No, Anything over a 5w panel and you want to run it through a charge controller first. You risk overcharging a battery (which will eventually kill it) if you don't, even 5w is pushing it unless its a 70ah+ size battery and it has a constant small draw from it (Like in a car where electronics are being run even when the car is off)
245866
Yes, you can. But you need to be aware of problems that may arise from overcharging your car battery. This is designed more for short term charging where you won't leave the panel/kit connected for more than 24 hours. Ideally one should not charge a battery for more than 12 hours. It is safe for a 10 amp charge for that time frame on vehicle batteries. Smaller batteries like atv or motorcycle batteries should get 2 amp for 1-2 hours. Make sure your water levels are up before charging. Also, if you are storing a battery for extended periods of time, charge it every 3 months. Once the charge is less than 12.6 on a 12 volt battery, they start to degrade. This reduces the life of the battery as well as the true cranking power. The safest bet for long-term charging is to use a charge controller which will monitor the voltage of the battery and maintain the proper levels. Something like this would work great: http://www.amazon.com/Brunton-Controller-12-Volt-Battery-Monitor/dp/B000P696QS
1345056
I would not expect to see it lose charge for one or two weeks. But if you are at home, just leave it plugged in. The circuits will protect it, it will not overcharge.
482783
set up properly, this would work to charge any 12v battery. you may want to work in a solar charge controller if you are worried about overvoltage protection and other features that can add safety. one thing this will probably not do is bring a dead car battery back to life, if that is the nature of your question. BTW... I have successfully done this with this very panel, and a small 12v 7ah battery. A few good hours of sun will give you a good recharge trickle, but its not much power (smaller panel). You may want to consider a deep cycle battery if you intend to use the battery over and over after recharges. Hope this helps. set up properly, this would work to charge any 12v battery. you may want to work in a solar charge controller if you are worried about overvoltage protection and other features that can add safety. one thing this will probably not do is bring a dead car battery back to life, if that is the nature of your question. BTW... I have successfully done this with this very panel, and a small 12v 7ah battery. A few good hours of sun will give you a good recharge trickle, but its not much power (smaller panel). You may want to consider a deep cycle battery if you intend to use the battery over and... » Read More set up properly, this would work to charge any 12v battery. you may want to work in a solar charge controller if you are worried about overvoltage protection and other features that can add safety. one thing this will probably not do is bring a dead car battery back to life, if that is the nature of your question. BTW... I have successfully done this with this very panel, and a small 12v 7ah battery. A few good hours of sun will give you a good recharge trickle, but its not much power (smaller panel). You may want to consider a deep cycle battery if you intend to use the battery over and over after recharges. Hope this helps. « Show Less
1771883
Well i suggest installing the battery and letting it charge for 24 hours and then use the phone like normal. But never leave the pone charging over night it well overcharge the battery and you'll have a lot of power problems.
682101
One more little helpful hint though...don't leave it ON or it WILL go dead a lot quicker! Found that I had done that last night when I had a dead battery and was like, no big deal...I have my handy jumper...which I then found I had left on and was dead! My bad! :P
1563981
the output is wattage and its 5 watts- while I would never say never it is highly unlikely you will overcharge a battery with it- it does not put out enough amps (260mA) to sustain high rate of charge- I keep it on my motorcycle battery thru the winter only charges when in direct sunlight and the more the better
1549432
I charge mine overnight because its what they call a trickle battery charger so it charges overnight without any problems and how long it lasts depends on what your weedeating. If your using it for thick grass and brush it will last about 10-15 mins max. I already had additonal batteries i keep charged up so i just put another in and keep going
904055
I alwasy 100% fully charge a battery (overnight) one time before using it. This helps mitigate the "memory effect" where batteries can not be charged to their full capacity. Simply connect the battery to the system and allow it to charge. Just don't let the battery ALONE power the system until it is fully charged.
343907
I believe if is plugged into a battery port that works without a key then it would eat up your battery. But 12 hours would make everything KOOL
399174
It doesn't matter that much, lithium ion batteries always have a controller, anything else would be dangerous, it shouldn't be more than an hour or a few more, in any case theres no risk of damaging it from "overcharging".
1528837
I've used it the entire time of driving however just to be o the safe side I would not leave something plugged in it overnight. Expecially if you have an older battery.
1578093
Basically I got very sparse directionsMyself. These type batteries should not be charged over 8 hours. Will possibly overheat. Recharge when they go dim. I never need to use full power as housing gets very hot. Do not leave light connected to battery as small led in switch will run down battery. Hope this helped. Lee R
2197001
I'm going to assume it's a standard 120v television, so you will have to power an inverter to get the 12v DC up to 120v AC. You have some loss in that process. The basic math is battery voltage x battery Ah so 12x35=420 wh. watt hours. That will run 420 watts for 1 hour, 210 watts for 2 hours etc. In theory. But you never want to drain your batteries below a certain point. I've been warned not to discharge batteries more than 50%. Plus the loss from the inverter, lines etc. You would be looking at 6 batteries just for this simple math not even taking into account the discharge factor. If I'm wrong on any of this someone please point it out.
1738462
Yes - You are correct. The battery will overheat and it can be damaged! Try using a thermostatically controlled outlet like Farm Innovators model TC3-3545 as long as the 120V receptacle (or thermostat) in the same general area as the battery.
2197002
I'm going to assume it's a standard 120v television, so you will have to power an inverter to get the 12v DC up to 120v AC. You have some loss in that process.The basic math is battery voltage x battery Ah so 12x35=420 wh. watt hours. That will run 420 watts for 1 hour, 210 watts for 2 hours etc. In theory. But you never want to drain your batteries below a certain point. I've been warned not to discharge batteries more than 50%. Plus the loss from the inverter, lines etc. You would be looking at 6 batteries just for this simple math not even taking into account the discharge factor. If I'm wrong on any of this someone please point it out. I'm going to assume it's a standard 120v television, so you will have to power an inverter to get the 12v DC up to 120v AC. You have some loss in that process.The basic math is battery voltage x battery Ah so 12x35=420 wh. watt hours. That will run 420 watts for 1 hour, 210 watts for 2 hours etc. In theory. But you never want to drain your batteries below a certain point. I've been warned not to discharge batteries more than 50%. Plus the loss from the inverter, lines etc. You would be looking at 6 batteries just for this simple math not even taking into account the discharge factor.... » Read More I'm going to assume it's a standard 120v television, so you will have to power an inverter to get the 12v DC up to 120v AC. You have some loss in that process.The basic math is battery voltage x battery Ah so 12x35=420 wh. watt hours. That will run 420 watts for 1 hour, 210 watts for 2 hours etc. In theory. But you never want to drain your batteries below a certain point. I've been warned not to discharge batteries more than 50%. Plus the loss from the inverter, lines etc. You would be looking at 6 batteries just for this simple math not even taking into account the discharge factor. If I'm wrong on any of this someone please point it out. « Show Less
1665361
We have left it plugged in to our car for up to 6 hours without losing power for the car. I also have the electrical plug in so I can plug it in overnight at motel rooms. Have never tried it overnight on the car battery. Some cars will shut off the battery after a certain length of time so you would want to check on that before you set out on a trip. Hope that this helps. We have found that if you place a frozen bag of water or ice in the cooler it also helps keep items colder on hot days. I some times double bag it so as to prevent leaks. I don't use the blue ice packs as they take up to much room. We have left it plugged in to our car for up to 6 hours without losing power for the car. I also have the electrical plug in so I can plug it in overnight at motel rooms. Have never tried it overnight on the car battery. Some cars will shut off the battery after a certain length of time so you would want to check on that before you set out on a trip. Hope that this helps. We have found that if you place a frozen bag of water or ice in the cooler it also helps keep items colder on hot days. I some times double bag it so as to prevent leaks. I don't use the blue ice packs as they take up to... » Read More We have left it plugged in to our car for up to 6 hours without losing power for the car. I also have the electrical plug in so I can plug it in overnight at motel rooms. Have never tried it overnight on the car battery. Some cars will shut off the battery after a certain length of time so you would want to check on that before you set out on a trip. Hope that this helps. We have found that if you place a frozen bag of water or ice in the cooler it also helps keep items colder on hot days. I some times double bag it so as to prevent leaks. I don't use the blue ice packs as they take up to much room. « Show Less