Monday, Sep 12, 2011 at 18:06
I would say 99% of the time you want the Regulator (solar booster?) switch in the 14.4V setting.
14.7V is good for reconditioning wet cell batteries but is to high for AGM batteries.
Assuming the CTEK is for charging from 240V, when you have access to mains, or
generator power, no effect on your solar setup.
There are indeed other variables so its a little hard to answer exactly but hopefully this helps.
Depending on your vehicle setup, (do you have dual batteries in the vehicle?) and the type of isolator installed, if you have dual batteries in the vehicle...... there may be no point, but also no harm in leaving the anderson plug connecting your vehicle's power to the camper trailer when hooking the
solar power up to the camper trailer.
The 4way switch in the camper trailer... you need to look at how it is wired. All functions may not be in use anyways, but for the sake of it you should look if possible at how it is wired.
I doubt it has been wired this way, but it could have been...
You said you have two aux batteries in the camper trailer, they may be connected in parallel via this switch, or not... If they are connected independently, i would guess you therefor have the ability to switch between OFF, Aux battery 1 only, Aux battery 2 only and Both Aux batteries together.
(BUT i think it is more likely to be wired like this:)
Since it has been labled "Car battery, Trailer battery" etc. I would assume this switch actually allows you to isolate the Camper trailer from the vehicle via the switch therefor you do not need to disconnect the anderson plug (for the car). Basically that positive wire goes through to this switch, so if you have the switch set on both, it allow's both the car and camper trailer to charge together ie. when the engine is running.
(But this is another little can of worms, you see over the length of wire between you vehicles alternator and you camper trailers batteries there will be substantial voltage drop, so you will most likely find that your vehicles alternator is not able to charge the camper trailer batteries when the engine is running, for this, you will need a DC-DC charger which will effectively BOOST the volts from the alternator and allow you to charge the camper trailer batteries when driving)
But, when stopped, if the switch is set on BOTH you could potentially also drain your vehicles battery(s) via. the fridge in the camper trailer etc. So, when stopped you should switch it over to Trailer or unplug the anderson plug, does the same thing to isolate your car's battery(s?)
If this switch is wired as above, (would make more sense then wiring the 2 camper trailer batteries independently through it but you never know...) then you have the ability to, leave the anderson plug connected to your vehicle and plug in the solar panel to the another anderson plug, and charge the whole lot together, or just the camper trailer batteries. Potentially even direct the charge to the Vehicle only, Trailer only or Both...
Again, depending on your vehicle setup, (do you have dual batteries in the vehicle, and anything connected to the aux battery in the vehicle - car fridge, lighting, stereo etc?) If so, then you may wish to charge the vehicles aux battery with the camper trailers batteries... So the 4 way switch in the camper trailer should be set to BOTH. But if there is nothing draining power from the vehicle, or no vehicle aux battery simply switch the 4 way switch to Trailer when you connect the solar panel anderson plug to the circuit.
Hope this makes sense. Kinda just thinking out aloud, happy to explain things in a little more detail but hopefully this gives you an idea how things should work.
Travis.
AnswerID:
464814
Follow Up By: Travis22 - Monday, Sep 12, 2011 at 18:25
Monday, Sep 12, 2011 at 18:25
Still thinking about this Avidcamper
If your CTEK charger, is a DC-DC charger (would be nice, then you dont need to buy yet another thing!) then, basically as above, what it is doing is when you are driving, it takes the voltage from the vehicle (most likely around 10-11 volts by the time it gets to your camper trailers batteries (due to voltage drop)), and boosts this back up to around 14.Xvolts.
If this is the case, then for the CTEK to work, you need to have the 4 way switch set to BOTH.
So when driving, the vehicle anderson plug is connected. 4 way switch set to BOTH.
When stopped for a long period of time, it would be perhaps a good habit to change the 4 way switch over to Trailer - but again if there is an isolator in your vehicle this is not absolutely necessary. Or simply leave the switch set to Both, and disconnect the vehicle anderson plug.
When charging via the solar panels, connect the panels to the camper trailer via the other anderson plug, and change the 4 way switch to Trailer.
This Solar Booster in your camper trailer, sounds like the solar panel regulator, yes. Again, 14.4 volts is best. But 14.7 volts for a short period of time will not hurt anything. (Again, if you have wet cell batteries, 14.7 is good to recondition them ie. once a month if you are on the road for a long long period and time and constantly cycling the battery, but you will need to open the caps on the battery and monitor the water levels... if you have AGM, forget about it. 14.7volts will kill the battery but again im talking hours, 6hours, 12hours more before the damage is done.)
Sorry if im repeating myself. Again, any questions just ask.
Travis.
FollowupID:
738778