12v - solar - charging ipod dock ?????

[Logga]

Hi,
I'm pretty new to solar, 12v, electronics and everything in between.

I have recently set myself up with a 12v 33AH battery, 20W solar panel and 4.5A charge controller mainly for charging electronics while camping for extended periods.

My ipod docking station charging requirements are 12.9V and 1.39A. Can I charge straight off the battery or will there be an issue with the .9V difference between available volts and charging requirements? The battery is sitting on 12.8V at present but not sure if this will begin to drop when charging begins, potentially causing a problem? The docking station has an internal Lithium-ion battery.

Also would it be less drain on my battery to charge the docking station using a 12v-240V inverter or just straight 12V DC.

Thanks

 

[Resqueline]

Without knowing the docking station the 12.9V & 1.39A requirements seems strange & unusually precise. What type of power plug does it have? Do you have the mains supply for it? If so can you measure the output voltage from it? Is it lightweight or heavy?
The voltage could start at 14 and would drop slowly to 12 but I don't think it would present a problem. Going through a 12-240 inverter would put a higher drain on your storage battery compared to going direct.

 

[Logga]

Thanks.

It is pretty light weight, heavier though than say a mobile phone charger.

Info on the switching power supply is:
input: 100-240V, 50/60Hz 600mA
ouput: 12.9v---1.39A.

I would much prefer to charge it using 12VDC just don't want to damage the batteries.

cheers