You just made me feel a lot better. I have been a programmer for over 15 years now and I still need to look up functions I use all of the time.

I programmed IBM-compatible mainframes in an OS/MVS environment for a number of years. I had a LOT of manuals! Shelves full of them!

 

There just isn't a practical substitute for that big ol' ball o'fire in the sky.


Yep. Don't know what kind of regulator is in your lights/panels, but even a LM317L regulator needs about 5mA current before it can output a decently regulated voltage.


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Once again you are 100% correct! We FINALLY got a sunny day around here and I have the charger outside and it is producing a nice healthy 12 V to the battery!

Thanks again!

Oh the charger is producing 5.5 ma. Should that be enough to charge the battery effectively?

 

Once again you are 100% correct! We FINALLY got a sunny day around here and I have the charger outside and it is producing a nice healthy 12 V to the battery!

Thanks again!

Oh the charger is producing 5.5 ma. Should that be enough to charge the battery effectively?

5.5mA to charge a 12v 5AH lead-acid battery?

Let's see... it would take about 15 days to charge it.

Methinks you need a much larger panel.

 

5.5mA to charge a 12v 5AH lead-acid battery?

Let's see... it would take about 15 days to charge it.

Methinks you need a much larger panel.

Or the panel is bad?

Should I measure the current from the panel?

How much current should I be getting out of it to charge in a day? Please explain how to figure that out.

 

Or the panel is bad?

The panel could certainly be bad, yes. I don't know what kind of life span solar panels might have.

Should I measure the current from the panel?

I thought you already measured it?

Were you measuring the current when the battery was already charged? That would explain very low current readings.

How much current should I be getting out of it to charge in a day? Please explain how to figure that out.

OK. Let's say the charging efficiency of the battery is around 75%-85%. We'll just use 80% for simplicity's sake.

You'll want to charge it over an 8-hour span for best battery life, but that won't be possible on a number of days.

Anyway, it's a 5AH battery; roughly 80% efficient. 5/80% = 6.25 Ampere hours to charge it, but to charge over an 8-hour rate, you'll need 6.25/8=781.25mA. A 1A charge rate would charge it in 6.25 hours.

 

The panel could certainly be bad, yes. I don't know what kind of life span solar panels might have.


I thought you already measured it?

Were you measuring the current when the battery was already charged? That would explain very low current readings.

I measured it from the charger to the battery. Not sure if the battery was charged. I think I will hook up the light and drain the battery. Should I still be measuring from charger the battery?

OK. Let's say the charging efficiency of the battery is around 75%-85%. We'll just use 80% for simplicity's sake.

You'll want to charge it over an 8-hour span for best battery life, but that won't be possible on a number of days.

Anyway, it's a 5AH battery; roughly 80% efficient. 5/80% = 6.25 Ampere hours to charge it, but to charge over an 8-hour rate, you'll need 6.25/8=781.25mA. A 1A charge rate would charge it in 6.25 hours.

Thanks for the explanation.

 

I measured it from the charger to the battery. Not sure if the battery was charged. I think I will hook up the light and drain the battery. Should I still be measuring from charger the battery?

Measure the battery voltage with the charger disconnected. If it's 12.7v or higher, don't expect to see much (if any) current coming from the charger.

Discharge the battery slowly over several hours using the light. You can stop when the battery gets below 12v.

If you're going to check the charging current, better have your multimeter set to read on the 10A scale. You will most likely to use a different jack for the positive lead on your meter for the 10A scale.