Under The Hood
CORE PRINCIPLE
Keeping the start battery properly maintained regardless of cab accessory power drain is always the first priority for the Paddock Solar Maximizer System.
STANDARD SETTING TECHNOLOGIES
Smart Charging
- The Paddock Solar Maximizer manages all generated electrical current
for auxilliary use in three stages:
- 1. Bulk – for deep discharge
- 2. Absorption – for medium discharge
- 3. Float – for maintaining a "top-off" charge
HOW THE SYSTEM WORKS
Truck Engine Running
While the truck is running, the truck alternator recharges the primary truck batteries. Once the primary batteries are fully re-charged, an intuitive voltage sensitive relay switch in the Maximizer box is activated to recharge the auxiliary batteries.
The Paddock Solar Maximizer system recharges both banks of batteries fully while never allowing the primary batteries to fall into a state of deep discharge. This gentle re-charging technique protects the life expectancy of your primary starting batteries and lets the deep-cycle dry-cell auxiliary battery technology handle any deep discharge.
Truck Engine Off / Daylight, No Accessories in Use
When the truck engine is off during daylight hours, energy from the solar panels continue to feed a "Smart" controlled charge to the auxiliary batteries as needed.
By activating an on/off switch in the cab, the Maximizer intelligently transfers a "Smart" charge (up to 7.5 amps) per hour from the primary batteries to the auxiliary batteries to augment any accessory use. Combined with just one solar panel, this technique gives you up to a constant 11.5 amps per hour in addition to your stored auxiliary battery power.
No more running inverters or accessories directly from the primary truck batteries!
Truck Engine Off / Night, Accessories in Use
At night, when the truck engine is off, the auxiliary batteries power the cab accessories and appliances.
Using "Smart" technology, a limited amount of of the primary truck battery power is used to augment the auxiliary batteries. (The top 10% or until a customer directed pre-set cut-off voltage is reached.)
This technique adds several hours of run time at night, even for high amperage draw accessories, such as DC-powered air conditioners, computer printers, microwaves, etc. without deep discharging the primary batteries.
After coming in off the road and shutting the motor down, your primary truck batteries and auxiliary batteries are efficiently charged at or near "Float" level.
When available, you can connect a shore power 3-stage charger to the auxiliary batteries and plug it into any standard 120v AC outlet for running accessories while maintaining a full charge for your next off grid use.
This feature provides unprecedented flexibility when spending the night where plug-in power is available--without giving up the sophisticated power control and battery management capabilities of the Paddock Solar Maximizer.
