Trickle charger

[jelevents]

So the Ro has been sorned and tucked away in the garage last 2 months and I needed to get it out to get something out at the front of garage (car only just fits in) and as I thought battery was too flat. So thinking of a solar powered trickle charger as have no power in garage. But will it withstand weather, will it keep battery topped up, if it's plugged into 12v socket will it charge as the socket it only live for power out with key in????
Anybody had success with solar chargers, Maplins sell a range?
Thanks

[Mud_]

Got one, it's crap. Sorry, find another plan! Remove battery and take it somewhere with power (though ideally a shed, as it'll give off horrible gases as it charges).

[anonymous-user]

12v socket isn't live on these unless the ignition is on and as above, solar chargers are crap.

[stevieturbo]

A solar charger will work.....if it has plenty of daylight and the battery is not connected to anything else.

But in most cars, the alarm etc will still drain more than the solar charger is providing, unless it was a pretty big charger.

[robbyd]

why not take the battery out if the car is stored, and just charge it every couple of weeks?

[Z0m81e]

Can't say i've looked at the commercially available ones but my brother made his own out of a solar panel and charge controller. I guess at that point you can size it to your needs.

[eliot]

Mud_ said:

Got one, it's crap. Sorry, find another plan! Remove battery and take it somewhere with power (though ideally a shed, as it'll give off horrible gases as it charges).

It will only gas if you are charging it at more than 13.4-8v, Which is not trickle or otherwise known as float charging.

Edited by eliot on Sunday 13th November 22:24

[Mud_]

eliot said:

It will only gas if you are charging it at more than 13.4-8v, Which is not trickle or otherwise known as float charging.

Edited by eliot on Sunday 13th November 22:24

I stand corrected - I assume the conditioning cycle on mine gases a bit.

[jelevents]

Thanks for all the replies guys, taking the battery off is very difficult when in garage as its very tight and can't access the front when its in, can only go in forwards and outside is sloped so can't push in. Was hoping a solar charger would just keep the battery topped up not really bothered about it having enough power to start, just didn't want it to go totally flat.
So looks like the options are.......
1. move house get decent size garage with power
2. remove battery and charge every couple of weeks
3. take some solar panels of my neighbors roof, to up the power
4. just let it go flat and probably have to buy a new battery next year.
Guess all you other guys who sorn for the winter have garage with power?
This is the first time I've laid the car up as normally still use even in winter, but having just resigned from my job to start my own business venture, £1k for the tax and insurance was not on the cards at the moment.

[stevieturbo]

jelevents said:

Thanks for all the replies guys, taking the battery off is very difficult when in garage as its very tight and can't access the front when its in, can only go in forwards and outside is sloped so can't push in. Was hoping a solar charger would just keep the battery topped up not really bothered about it having enough power to start, just didn't want it to go totally flat.
So looks like the options are.......
1. move house get decent size garage with power
2. remove battery and charge every couple of weeks
3. take some solar panels of my neighbors roof, to up the power
4. just let it go flat and probably have to buy a new battery next year.
Guess all you other guys who sorn for the winter have garage with power?
This is the first time I've laid the car up as normally still use even in winter, but having just resigned from my job to start my own business venture, £1k for the tax and insurance was not on the cards at the moment.

if you got a big enough solar charger then it might.....although how how much sunlight will it get inside a garage ? But as said, disconnect the batter and the solar charger should keep the battery alive...again if it sees adequate daylight.
I'm sure something like this might charge the battery as installed in the car ok.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEISURE-DIRECT-FOLDING-MO...

hardly cheap though

The likes of this will not.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Visua-Powered-Battery-Cha...

So perhaps find some middle ground...or more towards the upper end


Most trickle chargers have a wiring setup that allows you to simply plug it into the car after you add some wiring.
So you dont need to fk about near the battery, just place the connector somewhere convenient.

Do not let the battery go flat. It would probably be ok if just sitting there and not connected to the vehicle

[jelevents]

stevieturbo said:

if you got a big enough solar charger then it might.....although how how much sunlight will it get inside a garage ? But as said, disconnect the batter and the solar charger should keep the battery alive...again if it sees adequate daylight.
I'm sure something like this might charge the battery as installed in the car ok.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEISURE-DIRECT-FOLDING-MO...

hardly cheap though

The likes of this will not.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Visua-Powered-Battery-Cha...

So perhaps find some middle ground...or more towards the upper end


Most trickle chargers have a wiring setup that allows you to simply plug it into the car after you add some wiring.
So you dont need to fk about near the battery, just place the connector somewhere convenient.

Do not let the battery go flat. It would probably be ok if just sitting there and not connected to the vehicle

Yes I was going to fit the panel on top of the garage roof, and run the wiring inside, something along these lines??
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/solar-powered-12v-24w-ba...

[monkfish1]

Just disconnect the battery. Problem fixed.

[stevieturbo]

And I repeat again...a small one like that will be no good if the battery is still connected to the car.

It will drain far faster than it can re-charge

[Yanayaya]

Last winter and this winter I'll have my Monaro hooked up to my Ctek charger which I bought from Amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/CTEK-MXS-5-0-Temperature-...

I loved it, worked perfectly and kept the batter in perfect working order.

[TonyTwoTribes]

Drive it.

[Z0m81e]

I think my brother uses something more on the magnitude of http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Biard-100W-Monocrystalin... on his garage roof to charge his Capri though a camping type charge controller I think.