RECONYX SC10 Solar Charger 10W Instruction Manual
- June 7, 2024
- RECONYX
Table of Contents
SC10 Solar Charger
Copyright: October 2020
Getting Started
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Connect the SC10 internal battery.
Your SC10 comes with the red wire disconnected from the positive terminal on the battery.
use the Thumb Screw on the back of the unit to loosen the top/front of the unit from the back/bottom. Rotate the top/front forward to reveal the SC10 battery.
Remove the plastic cap from the positive terminal on the battery and plug the red wire onto this terminal.
Close the unit and tighten the thumbscrew to hold the two halves together. -
Connect the SC10 to the camera by plugging the shielded power cable into the external power jack on the bottom of your cellular camera.
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Turn on your camera (with no internal batteries inside) to test and see if everything is working.
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Optionally, you can now install a set of Lithium batteries inside the camera if you would like to have a backup power source in case someone or something unplugs or cuts the shielded cable going between the camera and the SC10 Solar Unit.
SC10 Solar Charger Overview
The SC10 Solar Charger is a great complement to your Reconyx Cellular camera.
The SC10 is a complete power supply system that includes a 10-Watt solar panel
with a 108 Watt Hour (9 Amp Hour) Sealed Lead Acid battery. The Lead-Acid
battery was chosen because it is a tried and true battery chemistry that will
run in the hottest summers and coldest winters that most of us will ever
experience.
With the SC10, you can power your cellular camera indefinitely with power from
the sun. For cellular users that can mount the SC10 in a spot that gets a few
hours of direct sunlight per day, this unit should provide sufficient power to
run your cellular camera indefinitely.
If you can get the SC10 in full sunlight, at mid-latitude locations, it should
provide enough power to take and send 500 to1000 pictures per day through the
cellular modem. Most users will never need nor want to send this many
pictures.
If you cannot get enough sunlight, or you are needing to send a very large
number of photos, you can daisy chain more than one SC10 together to double or
triple the power available to your camera.
Warranty
RECONYX® warrants this product to be free of manufacturer’s defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 1 year from date of original purchase. If during this period, through normal use, the product fails due to defects in materials or workmanship, RECONYX® will either repair or replace the product at our sole discretion. This warranty is void if a product failure results from “acts of God”, accident, abuse, improper use, disassembly, or unauthorized maintenance and repair.
NOTE: If you have any questions or concerns relating to the operation or functionality of your camera with the SC10 Solar Charger, please contact our Technical Service Department by email at support@reconyx.com or by calling toll-free 866-493-6064.
Mounting the SC10
Integrated T-Post (Star Post) Mount
The SC10 is designed to sit atop almost any “T-post” style metal fencepost
(also works with “Y” and “Star” posts) and can be rotated 360 degrees.
Rotate the unit so that it is facing the direction where it will get the most hours of sunlight during the day. Then lower it onto the post until the post is fully inserted in the slot. Gravity will hold the unit onto the post.
Using the Camera T-Post mount with the SC10
A great way to deploy your SC10 Solar unit and HyperFire 2 Cellular camera is
to mount both of them to the same T-Post. This allows you to put the camera
exactly where you want it and more than likely get sun on the correct facet of
the Solar unit at the same time.
The T-Post Camera Mount is sold separately and can be purchased at
www.reconyx.com.
Note: We do not recommend setting the SC10 on the ground. There are two primary reasons for this: 1) snow, 2) foliage. You don’t want the unit covered by snow or hidden by vegetation. You want the face of the SC10 to get as much sunlight as possible.
Mounting with Screws
The SC10 can also be mounted on a post, wall, or tree using a couple of screws
or lag bolts; one to hang the unit on, and one to keep it from rotating.
Mounting Bracket (Sold Separately)
The SC10 Mounting Bracket allows you to mount the bracket to a post, pole,
wall, or tree, then simply slip the SC10 onto the bracket and secure it to the
bracket with a couple of bolts on the bottom of the unit.
Connecting the System
Connecting to Camera
The SC10 comes with a 12-foot power cable that is wound around the keeper
cleats on the backside of the unit. This provides you with enough cable to
hopefully mount the SC10 where it can get the most sunlight (up to 12 feet
from the camera). There is a hold-down under these cleats to clip the cable
into to hold the excess wire on the cleats if your camera is closer than 12
feet. Note the Input Jack on the right side as you look at the back of the
unit. This is the input for daisy-chaining more than one solar unit together.
There are two basic reasons you might daisy chain: 1) you need to take and
send a lot of pictures, and one unit won’t keep up, 2) you are under the
canopy and you are not getting enough sunlight to recharge the SC10 internal
battery to keep up with even a moderate level of activity. To daisy chain, the
SC10s, just plug the output from one into the input of the other, and then
plug the output from that one, into the camera. You can add as many units as
you need to in this fashion.
Using Desiccant in your Camera
Long Term Deployment with Internal Backup
When you are deploying your camera for long-term operation (a year or
greater), we highly recommend that you use one of our desiccant options inside
of your camera to absorb any moisture that can penetrate the seals over time
with the heating and cooling cycles of the day. This will ensure your camera
runs at an optimal level for as many years as possible.
If you are using internal backup batteries, your desiccant option is to use
our desiccant sheets. They lay over top of the batteries and absorb moisture
that may enter the camera over time. These are available at
www.reconyx.com.
Long Term Deployment without Internal Backup
If you choose to deploy without internal backup batteries, you have an even
better desiccant option. This is the 14-gram indicating desiccant pouches we
have available on our website as well. You can put one or two of these in the
cameras in place of a bank of batteries. These pouches are indicating. The
little strip across the middle allows you to see inside the pouch. If the
pellets are blue, they are dry. When they turn pink/white, they need to be
recharged. You can recharge them by placing them on a cookie sheet in a low
oven (170F). Bake them dry and you can re-use them.
Camera Setup
Setting Battery Type on Camera
In the setup for the camera, find where you choose Battery Type.
When you find this option, Choose SC10 Solar for your setting. This will
provide you with % battery readings that are appropriate for the SC10 Solar
unit.
We recommend that you try to run your camera at an activity level where your
internal battery rarely goes below 25%. This will give you the longest life
possible for the internal battery.
You have the option of installing a set of Lithium batteries inside the camera
that can act as a battery backup to the solar unit. If a Saber Tooth Squirrel
were to chew through your cable, or someone/something unplugs the cable from
the camera, the internal batteries will take over and keep your camera
running.
Note, if your camera reads 0% while set to SC10 and it is still running for
some time, you can be pretty sure something has gone wrong, and it is running
on its internal batteries. In this case, you may want to plan a trip to the
camera to check it out. If you have a sunny day and the % goes back up, then
you know the Solar unit is working and it was likely too many clouds or too
much drain on the batteries that got you into this state. In this case, you
may want to buy another SC10 unit to daisy chain to prevent over-stressing
your battery.
Copyright & Trademark Information
Copyright October 2020
Other trademarks and registered trademarks referred to in this document:
• HyperFire2TM is a trademark of RECONYX®
All other trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their
respective owners.
RECONYX, Inc.
3828 Creekside Ln
Holmen, WI 54636
866-493-6064
www.reconyx.com
Manual Version: 20201001
©RECONYX, Inc.
References
- 📧support@reconyx.com
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