Solar Battery Maintainer

[Geo-TH,In]

I keep the old JD 4020 in barn w/o electricity. It's used infrequently, sometimes not started for several weeks. I've just switched from two 12 volt batts in parallel circuit to a single, 31 series batt. I'm considering a solar powered maintainer and looking for input on positives/negatives.

No battery will last forever.
The life of a battery requires they remain at full charge.
Batteries don't like extreme temps, In the winter your battery will need a higher voltage to charge.
I don't think solar chargers will adjust their output depending on temps.
In the winter you have less sunlight to charge a battery.

I would check into a generator for remote voltage.
Or remove the battery and store it on a workbench.


I worked on a solar fence charger.
The solar cell was old and its output wasn't enough to charge a battery.


It is your money.
Let us know how a solar charger works out.

 

[Russ from MN]

If there is a parasitic drain then you need a disconnect on the battery, otherwise it should be OK. Last I counted, we leave 13 batteries in MN for 5 months in the winter, most in an unheated garage a mile from Canada, and when we come home they're fine. I was told once not to take them into a heated storage, they will fail faster, and i have found that to be true. I'm on my second battery that's lasted over 10 years in our JD 4600. In November I just lock the door, and when we come home it April it starts right up. No maintainers, no trickle chargers, I haven't found them to be necessary, and don't want to leave anything plugged in.

 

[Texasmark]

Thanks for your response. I'll need to put the panel outside but we don't have much problem with snow in Mississippi. Looks like it which will require pretty long connections, probably 30' or so. Will that be a problem?

Current level is "dribbling" considering wire size......like 1 Ampere give or take. 16 AWG 50' extension cord would be overkill.