Solar power charger

I have a 15W solar power battery charger/maintainer, is there any way to test it to see if it is working with a meter. I have only had it in opperation for a few days and it didn't seem to increase the amount of charge in the battery. The only way to find out if it had any change was to use the 4 battery indicator lights on the MK Terrova, I don't have a load tester. We have had clear blue bird weather the last couple days and thought I would see an increase in the amount of charge. I have the angle and direction set properly for my location.

Sure you can measure it; set the meter to Volts DC, and you should measure around 13.5 V when A) TM is OFF and B) the sun is shining on the panel. 15W is not very much power, it would only deliver around an amp of current, so it would be a slow/trickle charger.

What voltage is the panel supposed to deliver? Was it marketed for trickle charging auto/boat batteries?

The name brand is Battery Tender and suppose to deliver 1 amp. How or can I test the amount of amps it is producing say at 1 pm when the sun is at its max? I don't have the meter in front of me but I think it has 3 DC settings.

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Originally Posted by Skippa Chippa

How or can I test the amount of amps it is producing say at 1 pm when the sun is at its max? I don't have the meter in front of me but I think it has 3 DC settings.

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Set it on Amps for DC and see what it says.

You have to connect the meter in series to measure the amps. Just check the voltage across the battery terminals. It will read 13+ VDC if charging.

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Originally Posted by Barnacle Bill

You have to connect the meter in series to measure the amps. Just check the voltage across the battery terminals. It will read 13+ VDC if charging.

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This. Remember, a meter set in Amps mode is like a straight wire. Disconnect one battery charger terminal, and use the Amp meter like a wire jumper to measure current. Don't forget and connect it across any terminals - ZAP.

Edit: in fact, if you aren't sure how to use a multimeter, or what the difference between series and parallel is, best to find a friend who does to measure. Or watch some youtubes to learn.

Thanks to jawjatek, Barnacle Bill and FurFlyin you guys on CDC came through again.

1 amp isn't much at all

On average, you can expect a 10 amp charger to fully charge a battery in 8 to 12 hours.......with a 1 amp charger that would take between 80 to 120 hours. So basically if your solar panel charger ran all day with a full sun sky, you could expect maybe 10% of battery recharged which wouldn't be noticeable at all on your 4-bar trolling motor battery gauge.

That size solar panel will maintain a battery if it is fully charged .... but not gonna be much good for charging.

You could get 5-6 amps from a 100W panel. They do make those in a fold up portable model, but they want too much for them. You could get creative and figure a way to make one portable.

Still .... if you try to charge the battery after you fish for the day .... there will probably not be enough sun left to get them charged.

I wish I would have asked this question before I spent the $100 on it before I knew what it would do. Now I'm back to removing the battery and transporting it back to the house to charge.The solar maintainer will get attached to the roof of my shop and tend to the tractor battery. Thanks guys for all the help.

my son bought that solar charger and worst part is when at night or cloudy will actually DRAIN your battery of power. Makes no sense at all in my experience. with no power at my condo complex on the docks, have to lug it up to shore and hide it in bushes to charge.