Spartan Golive Power Supply Explained (long video with lots of details)

[@troybrake5686]

I went ahead and got one of your solar panels, wish I seen the antenna video and I would have got it at the same time, I'm loving the videos now I have time out of the woods to sit and watch em, good job on your products, very impressed!! Can wait for it to arrive

[@herd360]

Thank you 😊

[@davem5403]

FYI.... regarding even larger solar panels that were mentioned in the video: As long the output voltage is correct and not over 23V or whatever it allows, a 100W or 1000 watt panel is still just a voltage source. You could have a 50W or a 5000 watt panel and as long as the output voltage is within an acceptable range (such as 9-22VDC) the current draw will still be set by the load (the camera in this case). Naturally, larger panels tend to be designed to put out higher voltages such as 28V, 48V etc and those should not be used with the camera. Any voltage below the camera limit can have more "power" available which is simply the ability to output more current if the load called for it. With a panel large enough that it's not pulled down by the load then the LOAD itself will set the current draw. If it's cloudy and the panel drops to 15V or something less then the current may drop off, but keep in mind that the load (the trail camera) is actually determining how much current to draw or not as long as the source is online within the right voltage range. The charging circuit in the camera will draw what it wants within reason and as long as the voltage source has enough capacity to not get drawn down by it, then the camera will pull the correct amount until it's full. Then while the panel is STILL putting out 22V the current will be zero, because the charge circuit of the camera shut off and isn't completing the circuit anymore. The Spartan live GL-ALTEb charge circuit appears to be set to a fixed power delivery rate of 1.0 watts and will adjust the current up/down to get to that value if it can. I measured using a regulated industrial power supply with some accurate Fluke Meters and tested all levels from 7 to 15V to see what the camera is doing. Here are the results with a partially discharged Spartan 4V internal battery measured at the DC input socket/solar panel output. 7V or below it's not charging. 7.3V input = 0mA. not charging 7.4V = 14mA... 7.6V = 60mA charging slowly 8.0V = 130mA starts charging. 8.0V x .130mA = 1.0 watts charge rate 9V = 118mA = 1.06 watts charge rate (it is adjusting the current to stay at 1W rate) 10V = 106mA = 1.06watts charge rate 11V = 100mA = 1 watt rate 12V =85mA = 1 watt rate 13V = 86mA = 1 watt rate 14V = 80mA = 1 watt rate 15V = 74mA = 1 watt rate I didn't run it up to 22V but presume the pattern would remain the same. Eventually it will stop pulling any current when it's full, which is correct. The charging circuit tends to remain off from that point unless the battery discharges enough or if you remove the voltage source and reapply it then it will start again. But, it won't take long to finish the 2nd time if it's already full. The most i've seen it draw is 0.13Amps, = 130mA while charging with a voltage a bit lower than it likes, such as 8 -9V. Once you get up to 12V or 14 then the current drops down to maintain the 1W charge rate. In full sun even a small 5 watt panel would be plenty because it can output more than the camera takes. A 5W panel can output around 415mA and has no trouble with a 100mA load. However, with clouds and leaves in the way a larger panel is more reliable since it can charge even on cloudy days or when partially blocked by snow or leaves. Or go with one of the new solar panels with a battery onboard. Hopefully that's helpful to someone. Dave .

[@caskervold1]

So if I run AA's and the solar panel I bought from you, should I use rechargeable AA's or are the energizer lithium preferred? Or just energizer Maxx ? Does it use the batteries up before it draws from the solar battery pack or both at the same time ? And lastly will I have to replace the AA's more frequently? Thanks, Cris

[@herd360]

What model camera?

[@caskervold1]

@@herd360 the Spartan GoLive

[@dgoates20]

Ditto to Chris…with the solar pack spp1025 can we run aa’s as well and do they need to be rechargeable, alkaline, or lithium or does it matter? Will it just pull from the healthiest source?

[@herd360]

@Dustin Goates doesn't matter. Camera chooses the highest voltage

[@herd360]

@Cris Askervold the camera will always choose the highest voltage source to charge and maintain the internal lithium battery. The solar pack puts out just over 12v. That is higher than the 9-10v AA configuration so as long as the pack is supplying power the AAs will not be consumed.

[@XcessCapital]

This is a great video, thanks so much for making this. My question is what if I already have a solar set up/ battery bank I can pull power from. Is there a cable I can buy with just some aligator clips on the end?

[@herd360]

I don't have any alligator clips cables for Golives but certainly you could take one of my cables and addbthem

[@XcessCapital]

Oh nice. Thanks for the quick reply. Do you sell just the cable? @@herd360

[@EdBalcerzak-gc5nn]

Where did you get that little level? Great video!

[@herd360]

I ordered a pack of them on Amazon. Look up my video about trail camera mods