I was just wondering what sort of job it was, and whether I could just replace the rubber bushes?
The bushes aren't commercially available, but the complete track rods aren't that expensive. I have made up some Polyurethane bushes in the past, which did the trick.
The 10W solar panel was totally inadequate (it seems they'll only give out 10W on a cloudless day, on the equator, in mid Summer, at the moment the sun is directly shining on them)! I've had to buy him a second one, so we have one facing South and another facing West.
A 10 Watt rated solar panel, will make 10 Watts. However the full wattage will only be obtained if:
A: the sun energy is at strength of 1000W per square metre (Only available around peak summer in the UK).
B: the panel voltage is at it VMPP (Maximum Power Point Voltage), which is normally around 18 Volts for a 12 Volt panel.
C: the panel current is at the IMPP (Maximum Power Point Current), which is just a bit lower than the short circuit current, probably around 0.55A in this instance.
Both these ratings are normally on the panel's label.
If you are using a PWM charge controller, then the panel voltage will be pulled down to the battery voltage, which reduces the panel wattage as a result.
If you take the VMPP of 18V and multiply it by 0.55A, then you'll see a Maximum output of around 10W, remember this is in full summer sun, and panel alignment spot on. A few degrees off axis will reduce the power output markedly.
Now look at what happens with the panel at NBV (Nominal Battery Voltage), of 12.6V.
The panel voltage is now 12.6V multiplied by the same 0.55A, you'll see the output is now 6.93W, again full summer sun, perfectly on axis, so the power available is much less than the panels true rating.
There are 2 methods to get round this derating issue.
The 1st is to over panel the setup, and my preferred method to maintain a decent level of charge. If this is used in combination with a low energy charge controller (the PWM5 is my preferred one), then you should be able to keep the battery charging all year round.
The second and not my preference on low power solar is to use an MPPT charge controller, which should extract more energy from the panel, however on low power systems, the operating overhead of an MPPT charge controller (it'll also use battery power at night), often makes them worthless unless you're using a large battery and a couple of hundred Watts of panels.
For your setup, you'd be better off with a couple of 25 Watt panels, angled to collect the sun's energy throughout the days. 10W panels aren't really up to the job, especially in low sun conditions over the winter.
Hope this helps.
and a slight knocking from the front. I can't find anything wrong with droplinks, ARB bushes, track rod ends or bottom balljoints, but I think there might be a tiny bit of play in the inboard end of one of the track rods, where they bolt to the centre of the rack. I was just wondering what sort of job it was, and whether I could just replace the rubber bushes?
