On my panels I used the Weather Pack connectors (Delphi?). They are better in my opinion, because they have a seal protecting the contacts (as opposed to the Cole Hersee, which is a classic trailer connector). Probably either would do, as the trailer connectors operate in somewhat harsh environment, as well.
Marek ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2014 17:42:18 -0500 From: "Rick Brass" <rickbr...@earthlink.net> To: <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Subject: Re: Stus-List Solar panel wiring Message-ID: <02a501cf10b0$b7614f10$2623ed30$@net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" What Rich said. My 25 has no AC system, and I use a Guest portable battery charger to maintain the batteries, one of which is in a box in the forward end of each cockpit locker. I hook up the portable charger to one of the batteries, turn the 1-2-all switch to all, and plug the charger into a 50 ft 12 ga power cord that has been modified to have a male 30 amp plug on one end instead of the 15 amp male plug that came on the cord. Most of the 12 ga extension cord and the power wire for the charger gets dropped into the locker, and the lid gets closed. 19 years, no damage, no leaks. The 35 watt Sunforce solar panel (bought on EBay, but identical to the panels they sell at West Marine for over twice as much) that I use to charge the 85 AH battery under the v-berth on Imzadi came with an 8 or 10 foot long cable about the size of the 14-16 ga extension cords you have around the house. On the end is a Cole Hersee polarized DC plug like this: http://www.downwindmarine.com/Cole-Hersee-Universal-Trailer-Connector-2-Pole -p-91001840.html . I just put the solar panel on the foredeck in front of the hatch, drop the cable down, and then dog the hatch closed. The foam seal on the hatch has more than enough "give" to accommodate the small size of the power wire. I permanently wired the pigtail for the other end of the connector to my forward battery after drilling a 3/16ths hole in the bulkhead just below the step up into the v-berth. That way I just need to plug the connectors together, and when the panel is in storage the pigtail attached to the battery is out of sight and protected from damage. The Sunforce panel also came with two other pigtails that have a Cole Hersee connector on one end for connection to the panel. One has 6-8 feet of wire and ends in a pair of clamps for battery terminals - for something like trickle charging a car battery. The other pigtail ends in a male connector for a cigarette lighter plug. I have a cigarette lighter plug wired to my house bank and use it for stuff like charging cell phones and my Wi-Fi hot spot. On occasion when at anchor I've laid the solar panel on the top of the dodger, dropped the wire into the cabin, and plugged into the cigarette lighter outlet. On a good day this arrangement only produced 8 or 10 amp hours of power, so it would never be adequate for recharging my house bank. But it does do a bang up job of powering the stereo and the various instruments I tend to leave on like the GPS and the wind instrument. Someday I have GOT to get around to putting 300-500 watts of solar panels on the boat to be a source of power when cruising. Another project. Rick Brass
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