Battery Tender tripping Viper Alarm

[MarkD51]

given a stock config, typical parasitic drain might be 7-15ma. a maximum of would be 30ma. in mild weather that would give 23 days roughly at a 30 ma draw. of course you likely have a different capacity battery then was used to calculate that. note if the battery gets below 32°f while discharged the damage becomes permanent.

SLC, with a couple trades of facebook posts with Viper, they believe an AC Ripple from the charger is causing the alarm to trip.

They also stated the Shock-Knock Sensor is integral to the Main Control Module, so no way of removing it like it is some outboard plug in accessory.

So, figured there is only one way to find out, and I ordered a relatively small Coleman 12V, 6W, 400MaH Solar Battery Charger/Maintainer from Home Depot.

Not sure whether this will be adequate to maintain the Yellow Top Optima, but we do get plenty of sunshine here, I can mount the Panel where it will get adequate sunlight for a good number of hours a day.

I would assume what I'll need to do, is take a battery voltage reading before, and while hooked up. And then monitor-check voltage readings again perhaps a couple days later to compare?

There is supposedly a diode contained within the charger to prevent reverse discharge of the battery during no sun, or night conditions, or possibly over-charging.

It's a $40 gamble to see if this will work. I'm truly not liking the idea of having such a decent alarm, then continuing to not being able to arm it while the vehicle sits in storage covered under my carport.

 

[SunlitComet]

let me know. worse comes to worse build yourself a descent solar system on top. i am thinking along the same lines.

 

[MarkD51]

let me know. worse comes to worse build yourself a descent solar system on top. i am thinking along the same lines.

Hello SunlitComet/All

Well today I picked up the Coleman 6W Solar Charger from Home Depot, and was of course eager to get home, hook it up, and see how the Viper Alarm would react.

For now, I simply hooked the two Alligator Clips to the Top Termnals on the Optima Yellow Top Battery. I have standard type Battery Clamps on those Top Terminals with Screw Studs/Wing Nuts, and simply clamped onto them for now.

While the Coleman Solar Charger is said to be weatherproof/waterproof, I preferred to offer it some protection by hanging it slightly under my Carport Roof by about 18"-20" from the edge, and hung the Solar Charger Panel to a Main Support Beam via two lengths of Stainless Steel Wire. Should be able to withstand hurricane force winds, and will not get soaked from any rain.

With 10' of supplied cable, there was ample length that I can still cover the Tahoe with my Covercraft NOAH Cover no problemo.

With the Panel facing the west, there should be a good amount of hours where it will receive afternoon sun, and even though direct sun wasn't hitting it at the time, I was reading 17V at the Alligator Clips. Forgot to take an amperage reading though.

The Yellow Top at the Time with no charger hooked to it read 12.6V. I'll keep an eye on it, and see what it reads a few days from now.

So far, so good, it's been about 1 hour, the alarm is armed, and has not tripped!

Evidently, Viper, Deltran a long time ago, and you Sunlit were correct, some odd funky AC Ripple must've been occurring from the AC Powered Chargers-Maintaners.

Glad that issue is seeming to be now solved, and felt I got away cheap ($40) with little very little hassle involved.
Mark

 

[SunlitComet]

holy panels batman. that charger is huge.

 

[MarkD51]

holy panels batman. that charger is huge.

http://batterytender.com/products/solar.html

I believe this Coleman 5W I bought at $40 from Home Depot has a Panel 14'X18"x1".

From Battery Tender's site, you can see once you usually go much above this output they get even considerably larger yet, like Deltran's 15W for example.

This one I have will easily fit-position on basically any vehicle's dashboard (That wouldn't work in my case because of the car cover in use)

I'm certainly no "expert" in solar chargers, but gather that these smallish ones, like this one I bought might be able to a least "maintain" a full charged battery and stave off some parasitic draw in the meantime, but probably cannot be of much worth for taking a considerably discharged battery, and topping it off. Unless one wants to maybe wait a month? LOL

The gamble is, it's only $40, maybe not as high quality as what Deltran offers, and the unknown of course is how long will it last? Six months, 2-3 years? I best make sure I hold onto the receipts just in case it prematurely craps out.

PS: It's been hooked up about 3 to 3-1/2 hours at this point, and all is good!
No tripping of the Alarm. Mark

 

[SunlitComet]

according to specs and i assume it mean full sunlight on it is strong enough to handle the parasitic draw of seven stock obs hoes or burbs. i really think you will be fine now. in my world i wanted one set that would fit under my entire roof basket. part of my master plan.

 

[MarkD51]

One thing I've noticed while studying the sun's path today, is it becomes a little odd as we go into fall, and then probably into winter, how the sun doesn't make that straight of a path from due east, to due west, that it "arcs" across the sky.

Here at about 32-33 degree latitude, it looks like the sun rises in the northeast, arcs lower to the south at midday, then sets to the northwest at dusk.

Thus I notice the Solar Panel, and where I have it currently mounted is not actually getting much direct sun, but more ambient light instead.

I could probably figure a way to mount it face up on the roof of my little storage shed next to the carport, and it would for sure get more direct light throughout the day, but will also be subjected to a lot more intense heat, and can also then be subject to moisture. It could perhaps be placed within some type of Ziplock Bag, or such to further waterproof it?

With midday sun intensity here, I'm sure the panel could then double as a frying pan, and one could literally fry eggs upon it at lunchtime.

Maybe I'm "anally over-thinking" things at this point? I'll see how it goes with where it's at for now, and perhaps make position adjustments if deemed necessary?

 

[SunlitComet]

that is because the earth axis axis does not change from year to year. it has minute changes about every century. so for our life time the earth axis will not change. because of that and the fact that the season will give you the arcing effect you see. and from year to year it may change as well because the earth does not travel the exact same path around the sun every year. nothing wrong with thinking it threw. it is a hoe man's destiny to explore, imagine and create.

 

[ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)]

okay we learned this is geography class i took last year
we have a summer solstice occurs when the tilt of a planet's semi-axis, in either the northern or the southern hemisphere, is most inclined toward the star (sun) that it orbits. Earth's maximum axial tilt toward the sun is 23° 26'. This happens twice each year, at which times the sun reaches its highest position in the sky as seen from the north or the south pole.
this happens between june 20th to the 23 in the northern hemisphere and december 20 to the 23 in the southern hemisphere
and then we have what is called an equinox
An equinox occurs when the plane of Earth's Equator passes the center of the Sun. At that instant, the tilt of Earth's axis neither inclines away from nor towards the Sun
these occur on 20 march and 22 september
so
Solstice is basically were the earths axis is tilting tword or away from the sun and the maximum axial tilt is 23.4 dagrees (this would be that day you hear about in the north pole were its light all day long in the summer and dark all day long in the winter
equinox is were the earths axis is straight up and and down

 

[SunlitComet]

uh, you just learned this last year? also no matter what orbit you take around me i always bring life to everything.