trailer is only used once a month “or so” then a solar panel is a
great option because not many amps are being pulled from the
battery so not many amps need to be replaced. With proper
sizing a solar panel can offset the amps used and the parasitic
draw. Parasitic draw is a constant drain on the battery. I will use
the gas tank comparison once again. A battery is similar to a gas
tank that has a tiny pin hole in it. So basically a battery is always
losing a little bit of its stored energy. Even when it is sitting in
storage not hooked up to anything. As you hook up any electrical
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device to the battery the parasitic draw increases. Even if it is
just a battery cable or a wire of any size, and then whatever
the wire or cable is hooked up to. Like the electric motor of a
hydraulic power unit. Similar to a gas tank and the pin hole is
getting bigger and bigger. Causing the battery to loose stored
amps faster and faster. With a properly sized solar panel on a low
usage battery the user will have a fully charged (and desulfated
with PulseTech) battery, every time he goes to use it. But even
the high usage user can benefit from desulfation. And the high
usage user will get longer life out a battery with a solar panel.
It just may not keep up with the amp draw but it is still getting
amps that otherwise it would not be getting.
Battery related potential problems
-1) System does nothing
Possible Reasons…
- Battery is dead
- Start Solenoid failure due to low voltage
Reasons start solenoids fail...
The 12 volt DC motor on your hydraulic power unit is very
much like a starter motor on a vehicle. So being, “similar to
a starter motor”, it has a starter solenoid on the side of the
motor. When the starter solenoid sees low voltage the magnetic
force in the solenoid has less strength. Therefore the pull down
force is not as strong. This can cause a bad connection causing a
spark. The longer the connection sparks the less conductive the
switch can be. This causes a powdery build up on the connection
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