. Do I need to buy a controller and what happens when it get dark out will my battery discharge ? For r-Pod travel trailer. just for one battery.
1796515
Yes you need a controller to charge your battery and prevent overcharging / discharging...Morning Star makes a good one.
1796516
Get the MPPT controller. It is more expensive but will allow battery charging even if the sun is not at full strength yet. You will get energy starting earlier in the day and also get charging later in the day.
1796517
Yes you will need a controller a panel this big would quickly destroy the battery. When it is dark your battery will not discharge any faster than it would naturally.
1796518
You need an MPPT controller to prevent the battery from overcharging. The controller also prevents the battery from discharging at night.
1796519
Yes you will need a charge controller, without it you will fry your battery. During hours of darkness it will not discharge you battery.
1796520
You should have at least a basic charge controller to avoid over-charging your battery and possibly damaging it. The panel has built-in diodes to prevent discharging your battery when there's no light on the panel.
2142212
I leave it hooked day & night to my 12v battery to my fence energyzer & I believe the controller prevents any discharge or problem at night.
1712592
Pretty sure yer safe without it. If I remember right , it says on the actual package that no controller necessary. I bought one at the same time and have never used it. Used the pannel all last summer on my trolling motor battery and absolutely loved it!!!
340761
As far as I can tell, the charging controller is NOT built in to the panel. At only 6 watts, I don't see over-charging a battery unless it is not used from day to day or as late as week to week. However, a small, low cost controller might be a wise investment if you plan to leave the panel charging indefinitely.
243759
I used this panel to keep the batteries charged for my gate opener. If you use this make sure you cover it to block the sun until after everything is connected. IE: Load controller and the load, batteries also if you are charging them. This panel puts out around 28V so it will fry anything that is not going through the controller. I charged to motorcycle size batteries, 24V kept them charged. Am going to use it now to keep the batteries charged on my Quads, I will reset the charge controller to use 12V instead of 24V Great little trickle charger and it will maintain your battery, Not meant to recharge the battery just maintenance. I used this panel to keep the batteries charged for my gate opener. If you use this make sure you cover it to block the sun until after everything is connected. IE: Load controller and the load, batteries also if you are charging them. This panel puts out around 28V so it will fry anything that is not going through the controller. I charged to motorcycle size batteries, 24V kept them charged. Am going to use it now to keep the batteries charged on my Quads, I will reset the charge controller to use 12V instead of 24V Great little trickle charger and it will maintain your battery, Not meant... » Read More I used this panel to keep the batteries charged for my gate opener. If you use this make sure you cover it to block the sun until after everything is connected. IE: Load controller and the load, batteries also if you are charging them. This panel puts out around 28V so it will fry anything that is not going through the controller. I charged to motorcycle size batteries, 24V kept them charged. Am going to use it now to keep the batteries charged on my Quads, I will reset the charge controller to use 12V instead of 24V Great little trickle charger and it will maintain your battery, Not meant to recharge the battery just maintenance. « Show Less
1237918
The batteries we use are deep cell batteries that would be used on campers not conventional batteries that are used in cars or trucks. I would follow the suggestions of the previous answer, one mor e note I went and bought a better Charge Controller from Renogy works much better and you have a lcd panel with all the data you need to be sure your battery and cell are working properly.
99420
No. You do not need a charge controller until you exceed 15watts of power. The discharge protection is a simple diode that prevents the battery from draining back out to the pane at night. But because of that diode, DO NOT START THE CAR WITH THE PANEL STILL CONNECTED TO THE BATTERY! You will destroy the diode and weaken the panel's charging ability.
1560202
Do you have the set up yet? When you do have, the instructions are very clear. They show the wires coming from the panel to the controller, a red and black wire. from the controller they go to the battery. This too is clearly marked. The wires that attach to your battery need a connector. If you still have trouble connect me again and I will give you my husbands email so he can walk you through it.
99419
No. You do not need a charge controller until you exceed 15watts of power.The discharge protection is a simple diode that prevents the battery from draining back out to the pane at night. But because of that diode, DO NOT START THE CAR WITH THE PANEL STILL CONNECTED TO THE BATTERY! You will destroy the diode and weaken the panel's charging ability.
826387
I would believe the instructions! Keep the + and - of the panels isolated from your trailer ground. The charge controller to batt should go directly to + and - terminals of batt ( + should go thru a 30A fuse! ).
2219553
I had the same problem and found the controller was not connected well. The battery connections are not very user friendly either. I took the motor and connected directly to the battery and it worked. I then checked power out of controller when I forced a turn on, all worked fine. So, it knew it was a bad controller to motor connection. I kept on messing with the connector , controller to motor, and it finally started working. I am talking about the connection inside the hopper that connects motor to controller.
875753
You know I went on vacation early November to PR and I have to say I survived ALL DAY on one battery. But, I don't use flash, and I don't chimp. I just shot jpg+raw, with a few short videos, under a minute. I would only charge the battery back at the hotel overnight. I was there three days, and returned with about 1300 images. No problems running out of juice.If I were to get another battery I would swap them out each charge. I would not let either the original battery, or the replacement sitting idle. I would run one down, then swap it out, let the worn battery charge...
1525787
How many watts of electricity do you require to run whatever it is you want to plug in? My grand kids used mine while on a camping trip recently and plugged in a boom box then their lap tops to play games. The vehicle's battery went dead in just over 6 hours. Lucky for them gramps packed a self contained emergency battery jumper to get the vehicle started up and back home. If they would've started the vehicle every hour for about 10 minutes, I think they would've been okay.
596065
it won't charge it without a battery, but you can keep it plugged in and use the controller without batteries it just has to remain plugged in the whole time.
45200
I had to buy the battery pack with a cord that plugs into the controller in order for the controller to work. You could also use regular batteries in order to get the controller to work, but I just went with the battery pack with a cord. I bought the battery pack from Gamestop, but I'm sure Wal-Mart or K-Mart have them also. Hope this answers your question.
1804232
Just quit working on a ride to Montana...not sure why. Bought my wife one and it doesn't work either. I have it connected to the port I use for my battery tender so I know that's not the problem....
1203339
I don't know how long the battery last. I would assume it depends on how much you use it. How many times do you un hitch the trailer and hook it back up. It is rare for me to keep un hitching my trailer. I do it maybe twice in a use. I love the Iball. It would take me half a dozen times of backing up the trailer without it.