Opinion?

[WMDunkin]

A quick run down of my setup. The main thing I need to run is a thermo cooler for about three days at most. I am not sure I need a second battery etc. But I was wondering would either of these two set ups be enough to keep the factory battery topped up for the weekend? We do drive at some point during most of our trips so the alternator would be used for recharge as well.

First option: I love the simplicity of the set up but will it have enough power?

http://www.batterytender.com/Solar/15-Watt-Solar-Tender-Charger-With-Built-in-Controller.html


Second option: more professional but more "complex"

http://www.amazon.com/Renogy-100W-M..._n_feature_keywords_two_browse-bin:6907042011

 

[AndrewP]

A 15 watt panel isn't going to do much for you.

Thermo coolers are pretty heavy power users. What's the amp draw?

 

[WMDunkin]

I am not sure off hand because we got the cooler used. It is a Coleman Thermocooler II. Now we normally run it to the camp site power but not everywhere we go has power. I was just looking for something to keep the battery from being dead/no start the Pathfinder.

 

[AndrewP]

Without knowing your power consumption, you can't plan to replace what you use.

Either measure the amp draw, or see how many watts it takes to run it and then figure out the duty cycle by seeing it run. From that you should be able to calculate the power it will use, and thus, how much you need to be able to replace.

A cursory look at Coleman's website did not reveal any detailed specifications like power consumption.

 

[228B]

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I was just looking for something to keep the battery from being dead/no start the Pathfinder.

Please allow me to get straight to the point: Running a thermoelectric chip cooler for three days would add up to a sizeable amp-hour hit. You'd need at LEAST a <ballpark figure> 100-watt panel and that is just the tip of the iceburg for a solar electric charging system necessary to keep up with such a massively-inefficient device as a Peltier thermoelectric-chip "cooler". You're better off with an ice chest or two...

 

[jonyjoe101]

From what i read on the internet it uses about 5 amps of power. This is continuous when its on. That will drain any starter battery fairly quickly maybe after 5 hours. If you have a older battery it would not be good. The start battery is not design to be used for running auxillary items, everytime you drain below 12 volts it reduces its life.

you definitely need another battery if you plan to run the cooler more than 1 or 2 hours with the engine off, at least a 100ah deep cycle battery. And definitely get the 100 watt panel. 100 ah battery will let you use your cooler at night for several hours without running the engine.

A 120 watt panel will give you about 7 amps of power, 100 watt will give you a little over 5 amps. That 15 watt panel will give less than 1 amp of power, barely enough to charge a cellphone.

Also worst case scenario, the 100 watt panel will charge a completely dead start battery. So even if you dont get another battery, 100 watts of solar will at least keep you from being stranded if you cant get a jump.

 

[4x4junkie]

Yep, about 5 amps continuous for a thermoelectric cooler. That'll suck up close to 1500 watt-hours over 24 hours. You'll need a minimum of 250 Ah of battery and 325 watts of solar if you're looking to keep up with that for any length of time (not exactly a practical situation).

I agree, you're much better off with a simple ice cooler if you only need it for a 3-day weekend tops. A compressor-based fridge would work great too, though for 3 days max I don't think the advantages would make up for it's higher cost.

 

[AndrewP]

So estimating 5 amps continuous is about 100 amp-hours per day. That's a huge amount of power.

While a 100 watt panel can make 5 amps or so (5.7 amps with my panel) it only makes that kind of power the best sun times of the day-that's maybe 6 hours. So figure a bit more than 30 amp-hours per day-

You would need 200 amp hours of stored battery power(assuming a max 50% cycle) and 300 watts of solar to do what you want.

It would be cheaper to buy a real 12volt refrigerator and a single 100 watt solar panel.

 

[WMDunkin]

Thanks for all the info guys, I will try and find a manual for it. It also looks like I will need a second battery to run it outside any powered camp sites.