6 volt battery regulator

Hi
First of all I must say I am not really into electonics, But I am hoping someone can help me.
I use a model boat for my fishing and it is powered by a 6 volt 10 amp sealed lead acid battery, I would like to be able to charge the battery at the bankside so I bought a 5 watt solar panel that produces about 16 volts, I have been told that this would charge the battery ok but there is a danger of it over charging and causing damage to the battery.
What I need is something that will monitor the charge and not allow anymore current to go into the battery once it is fully charged.
I have tried every where to get a 6 volt battery regulator but cannot find one. It has also been suggested that I use 2, 6 volt batteries and charge them as one 12 volt battery, problem is both batteries would have to be equal in discharge and obversely I would not be able to use the boat while they are being charged.
Can anyone tell me where I could get this from, or could anyone make this for me.
I live in the UK any help would be appreciated.
Thanks for taking the time to read this.

I don't think you need to worry about a small solar panel overcharging a 6V 10A lead acid battery in the UK :lol:

The panel won't provide enough power to do any damage, try connecting it to the battery via a ammeter and measure the current you get.

Bear in mind the specifications of the panel, the 5W is very unlikely to be reached in the UK - think Sahara desert at midday to reach it's specified rating!.

If you could split the panel into two sections, and wire them in parallel it would help a lot, potentially doubling the charging current.

But try it 'as is' with a meter, and see what current you get!.

Yes it is Unlikely in the UK, But it Could happen.

A CHEAP and Effective Regulator Circuit I Designed is on my WebSite, at:
**broken link removed**

It is called the "Amplified Zener" and it will Regulate the Solar Panals voltage, Protecting the battery.

Take care........Gary

chemelec said:

Yes it is Unlikely in the UK, But it Could happen.

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I think it's unlikely anywhere :lol:

5W at 16V is only 310mA, and that's theoretical current into a short circuit, the lead acid cell in question should be quite happy with that as a trickle charge on a permanent basis - particularly as it's likely to be considerably less than that. If it is possible to rewire the panel in parallel, that would double the potential charging current to 620mA, which would obviously be helpful in keeping the battery charged.

It is called the "Amplified Zener" and it will Regulate the Solar Panals voltage, Protecting the battery.

Click to expand...

Yes, it's an old standard circuit, probably dating back to the 1960's?, I remember building one as a replacement for the high power zener on an old British motor bike - I think it was a Triumph?, the original zener was mounted on a heatsink under the headlight in good air flow. I didn't use a capacitor like your circuit though!.

However, the output from a motorbike alternator is somewhat higher than a 5W maximum solar panel :lol:

Thanks for getting back to me. The solar panel I have was designed to keep a fully charged 12 volt battery fully charged when the battery is not in use (hope you understand that) the guy at the shop I bought it from said it would be ok to charge a 6 volt battery with it as long as I reduce the output voltage, but when I checked with the manufacturer (icp global technologies) they said I would need a charge controller. I can buy a small 12v 7 amp unit that will tell me the battery is charging and also tell me the battery is fully charged but of course it will not work on a 6v battery, but from what you are saying it should be ok to use it as it is.
I also use a mains charger to keep the battery topped up in the winter months when the boat is not in use, and I was hoping that I could use the charge controller with that, so I could leave the battery connected all the time without fear of it being over charged.

thespook said:

I can buy a small 12v 7 amp unit that will tell me the battery is charging and also tell me the battery is fully charged but of course it will not work on a 6v battery, but from what you are saying it should be ok to use it as it is.

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I see no reason it wouldn't be, but as I said, connect it up and measure the current into the battery.

You should also bear in mind that a solar panel only provides power for part of the day, so that's going to drastically reduce the power available to charge the battery as well.

Just out of curiosity - since your solar panel question has been answered admirably - how is this business, fishing from a model boat, conducted?
Im my mind I can picture a huge pike grabbing the bait and disappearing into the distance, model boat in tow at full speed ?

Actually, I have never heard about this method of fishing, hence my curiosity.

Klaus

How do I fish using a model boat? I could say I am very small and use very small fishing rods lol.
I only fish for carp in lakes, and the bait I use is called boiliesThe boat is actually a bait boat, just under a metre long, and at the stern there is a hopper that holds my bait, so I can send the boat out with my hook and line plus some extra bait and drop it in a place that I might not be able to cast to, or to far to cast to, bring the boat back, set the rods up on the electronic bite alarms and hope I get a carp.
Sounds easy, but some times you are waiting a very long time just for one fish.
On some boats they even have a sona system to hep them find the fish and to read the bottom of the lake.
I have not had the time to check the amps on the charger yet but as soon as I do I will let you know the results. I would still have liked some thing that could control the charge to use on the small mains charger I have.

thespook said:

I have not had the time to check the amps on the charger yet but as soon as I do I will let you know the results. I would still have liked some thing that could control the charge to use on the small mains charger I have.

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Try looking here http://www.discovercircuits.com/B/batt-chrg.htm for some ideas!.

Thanks for that, but as I said I am not into electronics and I'm afraid it lost me. There was one bit that sounds exactly what I need but that was for a 12v battery and I would have no idea how to convert it to 6v.
The bit I refer to is here **broken link removed**
Thanks