Augmenting an HME solar battery box

[@jedidiah5131]

You might know now ,but for those that don't , there is a reverser plug you can buy to reverse the polarity on those types of plugs....I couldn't figure out why my 12v panel wasn't running my 12v fan during the day...until I tested the polarity , I never new the reverser plugs existed and just by chance I was watching a vid of a guy setting up his small solar system and mentioned these plugs...Thanks for the video...

[@basilkey2949]

I built my know battery box. 7 Amp hour battery. Stared with a 10 watt panel in good sun half a day. It was hooked straight to the battery . It cooked the battery. I have one out that has 3 watts for over 3 years and still good battery.

[@jacksprat7087]

Solar panels are funny. They can read fairly high voltage in low light conditions. Voltage from a solar panel is not linear with the amount of sunlight received. What you really need to measure is the current (Amps). It’s the amps that is doing the work. In full sun a 10watt panel will deliver about 0.6 amps. In low light conditions maybe 20 to 30 milliamperes. (0.02 to 0.03 amps). Also just for you info, solar panels deliver about 0.095 watts per square inch of surface area. Or, a 10” x 10” panel will give close to 10 watts. Watts = amps x volts. At full sun a 10 watt panel will deliver about 0.6 amps and 17 volts into a 30 ohm resistor. But when you hook it to a battery the voltage will drop to just above the battery voltage. Hope that helps.

[@AdamWeatherall]

Great tip on the wires great post thanks.

[@matthewwright7065]

It's called a controller that's keeping the voltage regulated so it don't cook the battery. Buy a $20.00 solar controller & use the bigger panel.

[@bearskinner2601]

The other panel is 3 times larger, it’s not surprising that it’s output is more. Right?

[@jeremywilson1299]

My 5 works on my 5 cell cams in the woods. Sending pictures at each detection. For a year at a time with no batteries in cams. And one of mine has broken glass over the solar panel. Sounds like that one is faulty. I pull mine in the spring charge on the wall charger and put back out. Have been using them this way for about 4 years.

[@DavidAbreu7777]

Is is possible to charge from the output cable? I cut mine and switched to a sae connection to charge usb and power a light at night. My hme solar battery doesn't have a built in sae connection. They changed the configuration and removed the sae connection

[@DavidAbreu7777]

Will this work with the 25 watt harbor freight panel also or only the 9 watt harbor freight solar panel?

[@Swimbait_addiction]

I'm getting ready to move the same setup to my cabin up north. Now it looks like I need to hit Harbor freight first. Thanks for the info. My question to Cabelas was this thing uses 12 1.5 volt batteries so 18 volts. How can a 12 back up keep up with it? They said oh its a 12 volt system it will be fine. But now I'm definitely gonna add the extra solar panel. Its a 4 hour drive one way to check it. So an extra 30 bucks is definitely worth it. I have a moultrie xv 6000.

[@terryguin9529]

The camera doesn’t run all the time so you don’t need a solar panel that puts out full voltage, only enough to match the draw.

[@Hugeroost]

I just bought a Tactacam Reveal X, they told me if i run a solar panel w a external battery the hattery needs to be at least 2800mah. I wonder if this unit will work, i think its only 800mah

[@Reds-Customs]

I have the same camera and 12v charger. So u need to have batteries in the camera for it to all work

[@Informationforwethepeople]

No, the camera does not need aa batteries to function, when connected to a good 12v battery.

[@echtigren8188]

Hey quick question. The red lead on my battery was unhooked when opened. The instructions say to charge the battery for 20 hours. Then it says wire the red cover connects to the battery but isn't very clear if I charge without that lead hooked up or with it hooked up. Can you give me an idea if I need to leave unhooked while charging?

[@markanthonybergeron3897]

Hey whats the battery 🔋 type size and numbe

[@SFVYachtClub]

Hello! Forgive my foolishness, but might one of these be able to drive a 12v trolling motor?

[@NelaRc]

Where did you get the hme box and battery from?

[@bsinga3155]

I got one on Amazon and one from Academy Sports when they were on sale.

[@tjmurphy838]

Jeewiz........you have a solar panel 90% smaller and can't figure out why it can't keep up with the big panel!?!? Also, think about what your going to say b4 making a video

[@DavidAbreu7777]

Don't be a jerk. This video helped me a lot