Solar battery chargers??

[A Pirate]

Hi all,

I have a question...the~ $30 solar battery chargers from places like jaycar and fleabay are they worth it?

My second car the SP23 sits under the carport with out being driven for 3-4 weeks at a time and whenever i go to start it after this period the battery has not enough power to start the car (its not dead but flat at around 10.4V). I am running a 18 month old deca gel cel battery.

I was planning on getting the $90 Ctek trickle charger but they do not recommend to leave these connected to the battery for more than 2-3 days.

I then saw the solar battery chargers, they supposedly provide 15V at 100-120mA.

So im interested to know;
Will it produce enough power to keep the battery alive?

Could it over charge the battery over the duration of 4 weeks or so?

I am looking at items such as;

Jaycar for $30 (primarily)

Smart Solar Battery Charger - Jaycar Electronics

Fleabay for $28
Solar Panel Battery Trickle Charger for Car and Boat | eBay

ta for the advice
Andy

[andy b]

I used to have one in a Ford Meteor and on a sunny day it used to power the CD player without they key!

I'm pretty sceptical about how these work through the cigarette lighter in modern cars without the key in. At the very least you could buy a 12v plug adaptor with alligator clips and connect to the battery

[A Pirate]

i was thinking exactly that...i was planning to wire it directly to the battery.

another idea was to install a battery isolator switch to disconnect the battery all together.

While im away the wife cant (read will not) take the car out of the car port as its a very tight elbow to get it out. It takes a few back and forth's to get it out and she's scared she'll damage it. she use to start it but that seemed to drain the battery faster as once started the revs are not over 2K ...from my understanding need 2K and above so that the alternator charges the battery rather than just providing enough power to cover the cars own power consumption.

[andy b]

If you disconnect your battery you will reset your ECU evry time you want to re-start it, not to mention those valuable radio and clock settings!! Lol

[Nexus]

Another option is to use a CTEK charger that supports the ~17V bare output from generic solar cells. The solar cell generates a continuous output according to sunlight and the ctek manages the battery - including battery desulphation, conditioning, etc, etc. 7 stage charging including maintenance. Several times the cost of a battery, probably. There's a version of the D250S that I use that handles solar cells as an auxiliary power source.

If there's mains power nearby, a simpler ctek charger will do the same job for a lot less $ (no solar)

I use a reserve battery under the boot floor. With bypass switches this can be used to boost the main battery for cranking in an emergency, or to retain ECU settings etc while battery is replaced.

It's saved me from dead battery inconvenience several times now.

www.ctek.com

[Doug_MPS6]

Forget the pissy $30 cheap ones. Get a 12v 5w panel, about 30-40cm square from someone like BCF or Supercheap autos. I use four, one on each car if it is standing while I am away, and 2 on my boat (1 for house batteries and 1 for the start battery). The won't keep up with normal usage with hjeavy drain (such as a 4WD-mounted fridge) but provide a trickle charge just to stop the batteries from dying and/or sulphating up. Used them for years and can be away for months and come back to a healthy start every time. The one I have cost between A$85 and 100 each and have lasted for over 5 years in the case of the oldest one.

Try ICP Solar Technologies Inc. [customers@icpsolar.com]