Solar Power Help

[Jeff405]

So here's my setup, the panel and battery are brand new. I took it out in the field yesterday, got it all mounted and plugged in to my Primos TruthCam 35 Ultra. It was only showing 10% battery power, why so low? This may be a dumb question, but does the battery need to be charged before use? I figure it would be charged up since its brand new. Is there something I'm missing?
I ended up just putting the AAs back in so I can get some pics atleast, but the AAs only last about a week so I really need to get this solar power going.

 

[aviator41]

Yes, the battery should have been fully charged. As they sit on the shelf the tend to start losing their charge as the sulphates build up. The solar panel will, over time, overcome this.

It's always best to have a fresh lead acid battery. Did you buy it locally? Is it possible that the battery isn't the proper Mah size for the camera, so it thinks that that battery isn't fully charge, but in reality the battery is too small?

If the battery isn't size properly, the solar panel won't be able to keep up with the draw.

 

[oden_sparks]

I agree with aviator. Also, if you don't fully charge your battery before you install it then the solar panel will never fully charge it and this will lead to your battery developing a short memory (it won't hold a charge very long).

 

[Jeff405]

I got it from Academy, it's the recommended size from all I've read online. I tried it this past weekend with a different battery. This battery was not the lantern coil top type, it's the one the sale for feeders, sealed lead or acid I think. Anyways, same thing happened, it just sat at 10% and the came wouldn't stay on. The plug were the battery wire plugs into the cam was just a cord I found that fit, it may not be fitting correctly, and so maybe there is a short there. I have another old camera that I'm gonna hard wire the same setup to it and see what happens.