I recently set up four solar panels and a pair of 6V golf cart batteries
to run my station. When I first set it up 6-8 weeks ago I was getting 35
Ah per day. Now with the sun lower in the sky and the panels shaded by
my tall trees, it's more like 25 Ah/day.
The batteries didn't seem to be holding a charge, and I thought they
might be defective. Then someone noted that K3s pull some current when
they're switched off, so I just measured mine. Sure enough, when
switched off, my oldest one is pulling 420 mA and the next oldest one is
pulling 350 mA. The combined load is 18.7 Ah/day! That load, combined
with a a few hundred mA for antenna switching relays is what's draining
my batteries.
Is there a fix for my K3s short of an external switch to disconnect them
from the battery?
73, Jim K9YC
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