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Originally Posted by nellie1289
so on that cougar of mine i connected it to the battery, and then when i was in storage i just used the red factory disconnect to off. Does that answer your question? The parasitic draw was not enough to drain the battery, or should i say, the solar panel was enough to keep up with it.
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I'm not challenging your enthusiastic testimonial for the product. No I don't own one so I can't give a "first hand" review. What I can comment on are the facts as I see them, given the information that's available. I also don't know what parasitic drains are on your camper, i.e. what systems are retaining memory, if the element in the CO detector is still functioning, what the Ah capacity of your batteries are, Joe what the "fully charged" status was when you stored your unit, what the status of the batteries were when you went back to it, or what the actual output of your solar charger is.
I read what Amazon reviews that were available There are 18 reviews and according to Amazon 76% are 5 stars. By my math, 76% of 18 is 13.68 so I don't know how that number was derived. Anyway, 9% or 16.2 people rated 4 stars, and 15% or 2.7 people rated it 3 stars. Must be something wrong with my calculated as I've be never seen a fraction of a person. Moving on.
I can only read the 5 star reviews. When I click on the "show all reviews" or use the filter to narrow down the reviews it still only displays the 5 star reviews. Maybe it's me. Anyway, it seems like the majority of the reviews were on the ease of install and two mentioned the efficiency but with little more than anecdotal comments.
With that said, the advertised "charge rate is 3/4 Amp." Now the vast majority of any advertising is going to publish a "best case" number. So like the mpg claims on a new car I question that number but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt. For the purpose of this analogy I'll use the 3/4 Amp even though that number most likely came from some test under '"ideal conditions" such as full direct sun exposure with a new solar panel with no obstructions such as dirt, dust, or water spots or other debris or obstructions.
Winter daylight hours in Portland OR in winter is between 8-9 hrs. So at best let's say 3 hrs full sun and we all know it's sunny almost every day there right? With the angle of the winter sun the sunlight intensity will drop off rapidly on either side of that. Three hours of full sunlight producing 3/4 Amp per hour is 2 1/4 Ah of charge. Take your parasitic drain in amps and multiply by 24 for the daily drain on the battery. That's what the solar panel needs to replenish as an average over time. If the parasitic drain is 1/8 Amp per hour then it will consume 24/8 or 3 Amp hours. I know that the 3/4amp capacity is totally dependent on a direct angle to full sun exposure to operate at "maximum output" setting on a fixed object will not produce it's full potential.
So I'm not refuting your claim of great results. What I'm saying is anyone considering solar should research all the available facts and do the math. Find out what the needs are, what the requirements in storage capacity and production would be to meet those demands and plan accordingly. It's really no different than computing water needs, there are X amount of people that consume Y gallons per day and I can store Z gallons in my tank. When Z is deplete I must have a plan to refill it.