Batteries down..jumping with charger

[buswarrior]

Busnuts either don't like spending money, or don't have money to spend.

The best solution for most readers will be the cheapest immediate solution.

This discussion is about maintaining the coach batteries, not charging them up.

No great number of amps is required. The car charger the busnut, or his best buddy, has now will do the job just fine at the 2 amp setting.

Motivation to swap the wires periodically?

DO YOU WANT TO PAY FOR AN UNNECESSARY NEW STARTER THAT YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR KILLING???

Unfortunately, many find themselves parked in storage yards with no power available. An accelerated solar panel install is very desirable.

You can obsess about choosing the beginning pieces of a larger system that you will add to, or just buy something cheap now to protect your batteries and starter.

If you don't know what to do, get a package/bundle, controller and panel together. Just as an example on Amazon.ca, with CDN dollars, Amazon and Ebay searches are your friend:

https://www.amazon.ca/ALEKO-SP30W24VLM118-Monocrystalline-Charging-Controller/dp/B016PHSJWM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541426249&sr=8-1&keywords=24+volt+solar+panel&dpID=517CnF9Hx1L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

There's just as much ca$h to spend as you want or have, but a busnut does not need to spend lots of money, and at this stage of the conversion, ca$h is rarely plentiful... it must be spent in a careful order, or you're going to be spending it on self inflicted distractions.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Oonrahnjay]

   Too good to be true??  $33.89 

https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Battery-Charger-Intelligent-Motorcycle/dp/B0797XMSDL/ref=sr_1_9?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1541428240&sr=1-9&keywords=24+volt+battery+charger#customerReviews

    I'm sure it's lightly built and junk, but some commenters say that they use it on trolling motor batteries and golf carts with success.  Some comment that it's not fast enough for golf carts but if you're talking about a maintainer for a winter, that wouldn't matter.  Would I entrust high-$$$$$ batteries to it?   Dunno, I'd have to think about that.

[buswarrior]

For those that know, that high voltage unregulated charge feature has its purposes, and in a cheap charger too!

happy coaching!
buswarrior

   Too good to be true??  $33.89 

https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Battery-Charger-Intelligent-Motorcycle/dp/B0797XMSDL/ref=sr_1_9?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1541428240&sr=1-9&keywords=24+volt+battery+charger#customerReviews

    I'm sure it's lightly built and junk, but some commenters say that they use it on trolling motor batteries and golf carts with success.  Some comment that it's not fast enough for golf carts but if you're talking about a maintainer for a winter, that wouldn't matter.  Would I entrust high-$$$$$ batteries to it?   Dunno, I'd have to think about that.

[luvrbus]

   Too good to be true??  $33.89 

https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Battery-Charger-Intelligent-Motorcycle/dp/B0797XMSDL/ref=sr_1_9?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1541428240&sr=1-9&keywords=24+volt+battery+charger#customerReviews

    I'm sure it's lightly built and junk, but some commenters say that they use it on trolling motor batteries and golf carts with success.  Some comment that it's not fast enough for golf carts but if you're talking about a maintainer for a winter, that wouldn't matter.  Would I entrust high-$$$$$ batteries to it?   Dunno, I'd have to think about that.

It works good keeps my start batteries right on the money has a manual mode too that will go up to 16v to replenish a old tired 12 v battery I haven't tried it 24v ,the draw back is it is pulse charger so it is slow on automatic heck of lot better than the battery minder and tenders for a lot less money lol and it has pretty LED's

[Oonrahnjay]

Too good to be true??  $33.89

It works good ... and it has pretty LED's

     Oh, well, that's that then!!   

[chessie4905]

Heres a Century brand new model that also does 24 volt.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Century-12-and-24-Volt-High-Frequency-Battery-Charger-K3234-1/205187171

[Fred Mc]

Solar will work good to keep battery charged. But it looks like prices have really jumped. I bought Renogy 100 w panels in May of this year .Last one was 100 watts for $100 and now see the same at almost double.Have prices gone up that much?

[buswarrior]

The Trump Tariffs kicking in?

Just a guess?

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Lin]

Electric wheelchairs are very often 24v.  You can check Ebay or Craigslist for used chargers.

[Dave5Cs]

   Too good to be true??  $33.89 

https://www.amazon.com/Automatic-Battery-Charger-Intelligent-Motorcycle/dp/B0797XMSDL/ref=sr_1_9?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1541428240&sr=1-9&keywords=24+volt+battery+charger#customerReviews

    I'm sure it's lightly built and junk, but some commenters say that they use it on trolling motor batteries and golf carts with success.  Some comment that it's not fast enough for golf carts but if you're talking about a maintainer for a winter, that wouldn't matter.  Would I entrust high-$$$$$ batteries to it?   Dunno, I'd have to think about that.

Careful now the writing on the front is Russian and they can probably read your emails through it too, Hey just sayin

[richard5933]

Running something like that my fear would be coming home to find the bus (and house and barn) burned to the ground due to a catastrophic failure. At the least I'd be concerned my batteries would be fried. I've had problems with more than a few lower cost chargers over the years, and I just don't think it's a good idea to take chances with things like this.

Even the cost of the batteries alone makes buying a trustworthy charger important, even more so if there is any risk to the bus or buildings next to it.

If the decision is made to buy a low-cost charger just to maintain the batteries, then at least get one that has a known quality level and reputation.

[chessie4905]

Don't they make temperature probes for batteries that could be wired into a relay to disconnect charger incase it goes Devcon5? I think any charger could go bad, some sooner, and some batteries probably went bad from not checking and adding water as needed.

[luvrbus]

Don't they make temperature probes for batteries that could be wired into a relay to disconnect charger incase it goes Devcon5? I think any charger could go bad, some sooner, and some batteries probably went bad from not checking and adding water as needed.

They all can go bad you got that right Chessie ,the cheap ones are worth a try mine is doing a good job I checked it everyday with a meter for week or so . I don't why Richard is afraid I had a $400.00 ProMariner hard wired charger in place later in it's short life it cooked 2 -8D starting batteries then a $2000+inverter charger with heat probes help do a number on $4200.00 (6-8D Glass Mats) batteries.Why not try cheap the big buck s*** is not working for me   

[eagle19952]

Don't they make temperature probes for batteries that could be wired into a relay to disconnect charger incase it goes Devcon5? I think any charger could go bad, some sooner, and some batteries probably went bad from not checking and adding water as needed.

as much as I know how important it is for you to be right
The Defense readiness Condition (DEFCON) is an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. ... It prescribes five graduated levels of readiness (or states of alert) for the U.S. military. It increases in severity from DEFCON 5 (least severe) to DEFCON 1 (most severe) to match varying military situations.

devcon is epoxy.

[Jim Blackwood]

So does that mean Devcon 5 is for 5 tubes of epoxy? Sorta sounds like an emergency condition to me...

Jim