Technical Solar powered trickle battery charger

[TedBundy]

Howdy guys n gals, I have noticed me poor 500 slowly getting less perky on these winter morning starts, cause i only live like 5 mins away from work, am wondering whether the battery is just not getting enough charge from such little trips
Sooo was wondering if it might help, getting one of them there 'solar powered trickle battery chargers' anyone used such a device on the 500?? does the cigarette lighter still work when idle??

http://www.maplin.co.uk/solar-powered-12v-1.5w-battery-trickle-charger-98358

yeah or nah

Damn, a mini driver laughed at the colour of the back of my car in tescos this evenin...'i know its dirty but, hey its winter'

 

[frupi]

Howdy guys n gals, I have noticed me poor 500 slowly getting less perky on these winter morning starts, cause i only live like 5 mins away from work, am wondering whether the battery is just not getting enough charge from such little trips
Sooo was wondering if it might help, getting one of them there 'solar powered trickle battery chargers' anyone used such a device on the 500?? does the cigarette lighter still work when idle??

http://www.maplin.co.uk/solar-powered-12v-1.5w-battery-trickle-charger-98358

yeah or nah

Damn, a mini driver laughed at the colour of the back of my car in tescos this evenin...'i know its dirty but, hey its winter'

When you say you only live 5 minutes away, do you really mean literally only 5 minutes away? If that is the case, you're probably doing your car no favours whatsoever and ultimately you'll probably stuff the battery in short order. I can therefore see your logic behind some sort of trickle charger, but in all honesty, you'd probably be better off getting a bike.

 

[loveshandbags]

Howdy guys n gals, I have noticed me poor 500 slowly getting less perky on these winter morning starts, cause i only live like 5 mins away from work, am wondering whether the battery is just not getting enough charge from such little trips
Sooo was wondering if it might help, getting one of them there 'solar powered trickle battery chargers' anyone used such a device on the 500?? does the cigarette lighter still work when idle??

http://www.maplin.co.uk/solar-powered-12v-1.5w-battery-trickle-charger-98358

yeah or nah

I think it sounds like a great idea.
The draw on a car in the winter can be quite substantial
Fan on,
lights including the daytime running lights (DRL),
rear window de-mister,
A/C as a de-humidifier,
including some with a Aldi heated seat cover ,
etc.,
AA reckon that it could have a 'hit' of 10% on fuel usage because the 'work' that has to be done in charging the battery.

The idea of using free solar power to re-charge the battery is a step in the right direction.

Can this charger charge through the cigarette lighter and can the panel stay inside the car ?

If I was 5 minutes from work I would walk.

When you say you only live 5 minutes away, ... you'd probably be better off getting a bike.

What not to do...

 

[TedBundy]

hey been surfing the information super highway :slayer: and found out that you got to have a 'permanently' live cigar lighter socket?? (unless using the crock clips method),
so i found a 'Christmas novelty de-icer thingy me bob' under the stairs, which so happens to be powered by a cigarette lighter.............and it doesn't work (with car turned off) ....guessin the Solar powered trickle battery charger, wont either:idea:????
guessin the 500 doesn't have a 'permanently' live cigarette socket

ohwell

To clarify, 5 mins = short commute bout 20 minutes (by car) unless hit traffic and if car is frozen up, well its just easier 4 me (and car) 2 walk...

 

[Andy Monty]

Hello from Goole Ted :wave:


Do you have a drive way?

might be easier once a week to stick the car on a mains charger (even better if you have an outside socket)



Only other option is if you want to stick to your original idea is to find the constant live in the fuse box (behind the glove box (well that open fronted cubby thing)

shove one of these onto a constant live fuse attach another wire to a clean bit of metal behind the dash which is ground

(not wanting to teach you to suck eggs but the battery's Negative poll is connected to the chassis)

then combine your 2 wires to a little in line jack socket

http://www.maplin.co.uk/dc-power-line-sockets-43091

replace the fag lighter on the charger to a jack plug

http://www.maplin.co.uk/screw-terminal-dc-power-plugs-612377


but 1.5watt output from that solar cell will not do much especially on a dull day

 

[Andy Monty]

erm well working on a 40ah battery fitted in a 1.2 engine 500


your looking at 400 Hours to fully charge the battery with that solar charger

http://www.esolarsystems.co.uk/pages/Battery-Charging-Calculator-for-Solar-Panels.html



(and thats based on the solar cell delivering full power)

 

[sludgeguts]

Hi, I used to have the same problem on a diesel pickup. 4 mile journey stuffed the battery but having a solar panel in the widscreen all day really did the job. I simply bought an extension socket for a car (so plug one end, socket the other), chopped the plug off & hardwired it to the battery terminal with the solar panel being the only thing plugged in. I used to park up always facing south so as to get the best aspect. The other thing I did (as I had bags of room under the bonnet) was to wire a second battery parallel to the first - both batteries weren't in tiptop condition, each being about 5 years old, but together they gave plenty of poke to turn the engine on a cold morning. I also wrapped the batteries with insulation material to help keep out the cold.
I also did the solar panel trick on my dad's (then brand new) civic as the battery died if the car wasn't run for a week or so.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Solar charger will only be any good to maintain a battery that is sitting and by no means charge a battery.

Ive 3 batteries with 3 solar maintainers connected in the garage. When they're fully charged it stops them from going flat, but I occasionally connect a head unit to a battery for music when working in the garage, and it needs charging with a battery charger every now and then, a solar trickle charger will not recharge the battery for me

Also as mentioned there will be the issue of the thing being connected to the battery via the crock clips, and it need to be disconnected everything you start the car to prevent damage to the solar unit, so it a bit of a faf really

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Although just checked, and the better unit is on offer cheaper ATM

http://www.maplin.co.uk/solar-powered-12v-2.4w-battery-trickle-charger-223251

 

[306maxi]

better off with a battery heater imho