I'm hoping to get some advice on charging my trailer batteries.
The trailer has two 6v golf cart batteries run in series giving me 12v and 210ah capacity. They are running a 12v fridge and a string of led lights. Once fully charged, they can run the fridge and lights for ~12 days until they hit 11.7v which is when the fridge cuts off. I have the output side finished and working well.
Now I'm looking into the input side and how to charge the batteries. I would like a permanent "shore power" Input and eventually solar input. The trailer batteries receive no charge from the truck.
Can I buy a charger capable of handling both solar and shore power? If so, any suggestions?
For the solar, do I need a charger and a "controller"?
Thanks!
This past two weeks I have been testing 3 Chargers, As I want a mountable unit for the camper, The 3 Chargers are about the best money can Buy, If you want to charge those batteries at the correct rate then you need something around the 20/25 amp mark, I have been testing the NOCO G3500 (3.5A) and the NOCO G15000 (15A) and there biggest Charger the NOCO G26000 (26A), These Chargers are incredible and come with a 5 year Guarantee, These Chargers are the best I have ever tested,
Don't think that just because you have a large bank of batteries you need a big charger Because these NOCO chargers are that good there 15 Amp model will charge twice as fast as a 35amp linier type charger which are the old type chargers, I charged 2 115Amp 12v batteries side by side One on the 35amp linier charger and the other on the NOCO G15000 15amp Charger, And the NOCO Blitzed it Not only did the NOCO charge it's battery in under 2 and a half hours, But the Linier charger took over 4 hours and by the time it got close to being fully charged it had started to damage the battery, Because it had dropped the 800cca batteries CCA, When I put it on the Linier charger it was reading 563 and when I took it off the linier charger it was down to 416cca, So this was a good time to test NOCO's claim about charging and the Repair Mode.
After seeing how the NOCO G15000 performed on it's battery I place the 2nd battery on the NOCO and not only did it charge the battery Properly I then ran it's REPAIR MODE and Again in just over 2 hours It was charged and then I ran it's Repair Mode which NOCO state that it takes about 4 hours and sure enough It ran for 3Hrs 59mins and 49secs, I then rechecked the CCA and it was back up to 728cca, So I am truly impressed with how these 3 Chargers perform,
Even though I have the 3.5A and the 15A and the 26A, I tend to favour the G15000, It's very fast and efficient at Charging 115amp batteries and they have Bolt Holes as part of the body work so you can mount them Full Time in a Camper or RV etc. And you can remove or buy a new end piece for the leads and Screw them straight to your battery posts, It is impossible to over charge a battery with these chargers and they can be left on charger for Years on end without ever turning then off or removing the charger from the system, Another great feature is the larger models are Fan Cooled and they never get above room Temp,
They all Charge Normal wet batteries and AGM's and Calcium Batteries and Lithium Batteries so These Chargers are Future proof and the Larger models also have a Boost Start function that you can use twice in 24hrs, Why twice I don't know but that is what they say for some reason and every one of their Chargers have the Repair Mode, As they come to the end of their charging cycle the Voltage drops down to around 13.19/13.2 volts and then they go in to sleep mode until the batteries voltage drops a little then the Charger turns back on and tops up the battery and then shuts down again and it will keep doing that for ever or until you disconnect it, They Charge both 12v and 24v and the Larger G26000 can Charge 12v and 24v and it also Charges 16v AGM Racing Batteries and 16v Lithium Racing Batteries and it has a 30amp Boost Start function and the G15000 has a 20amp Boost Start function.,
If You had 4 of those batteries I'd say get the G26000, But I truly believe that the G15000 will more than do the job you want and it can charge Batteries up to 400amps as well as maintain bigger banks of batteries 24/7. But the G26000 can charge Batteries of up to 500amps as well as maintain bigger banks of batteries 24/7
These Chargers also have a 13.6v 5 Amp Supply Mode.
Hope that helps.
Here's the NOCO G15000
https://no.co/g15000
Here's the NOCO G26000
The G26000 is a 26-amp 12V and 24V portable automatic car battery charger with engine starter designed to fully charge AGM and deep-cycle batteries.
no.co