Portable solar trickle chargers

jimbohorlicks

jimbohorlicks

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Hi
Has anyone any experience of using portable solar trickle chargers a
similar to this one currently available on e bay?


4 Watt 12v Volt Solar Panel Trickle Car Battery Charger Boat | eBay

Solar charger.jpg

It would be for used on an old spare 110ah leisure battery that is not connected to my 12 v system. When stored on my drive between weekends out

any recommendations?
( I have an 80 watt roof mounted panel supplying a 110 ah Leisure battery also for as the main usage van habitation battery.

Any thoughts on this topic would be appreciated

TIA
Jimbo
 
i have a similer 1 to that , it is connected directly to my vehicle battery ( disconnected when driving) and i connect it when the van is parked, this keeps the vehicle battery charged up nicely. well worth doing in my book
 
Suit case

Hi jimbohorlicks,


I have a suitcase Solar I got from Maplin at 13 amps I don't think you will light up the world, but it is good back up for your battery's, I put it in my windscreen while off hookup,but you will not cook your dinner on it.

Regards Snowbirds.:rulez:



jimbohorlicks said:
Hi
Has anyone any experience of using portable solar trickle chargers a
similar to this one currently available on e bay?


4 Watt 12v Volt Solar Panel Trickle Car Battery Charger Boat | eBay

View attachment 11580

It would be for used on an old spare 110ah leisure battery that is not connected to my 12 v system. When stored on my drive between weekends out

any recommendations?
( I have an 80 watt roof mounted panel supplying a 110 ah Leisure battery also for as the main usage van habitation battery.

Any thoughts on this topic would be appreciated

TIA
Jimbo
Click to expand...
 
sol panel

divide volts into watts,ie a 15 watt panel divided by 12 would be 1.25 amps,with loses in wiring you would get about just 1 amp,that would keep a battery on float.
to get a decent charge you would require a panel of about 100 watts ,giving you about 8 amps.
batteries should not be charged at more than 10%,take a 0 of you batts ampage and thats your max safe charge rate without buckling the plates .
fast chargeing say to jump start a cranking batt is ok short term butt will in the end will damage it if repeted to many times,same with a lesure batt.
 
We have a similar one just to keep the leisure battery topped up when not in use. Wont do much to charge it, but if full when attached it should do the trick. You can get much bigger folding panels but obviously there is a price factor :-(
 
I have a 4w one, definitely worth having for either battery, better than nothing or running engine when vehicle isn't being used for a while or if staying in same location for a few days.

The only problem I've had is that the lead is quite short and so there was a sideways pull on the tip which connects to the panel which has pulled the wires loose out of the tip. I got someone to solder it back on but the repair didn't last so I've got to try to redo it again more securely and reinforce the join somehow, but I'm going to use a longer cable.

It came with 2 cables, one with cig socket adaptor and one with croc clips so there is an alternative if all else fails, but I'd rather use the cig socket adaptor (which is the one which has broken) than the croc clips and even with the croc clips, there's the risk of the same thing happening.

So you may want to reinforce that join of the wire to the tip or lengthen the wire if the same happens. A longer wire means that you can have the panel outside too, where it'll be more effective than under glass.
 
Solar trickle chargers

We use them, we always buy them in maplins...they always seem to have a solar panel of some sort on offer
 
Thanks for all the responses -I have decided to give one a try, especially with the special price offer advised at maplins -£14.99

I will advise what the results are when I have tried it out.

I also have a couple of 6 v alarm baterries that I can connect in series to see if they charge up ok with this item

thanks again


Jimbo

:cool1:
 
Don't forget if your going to use the panel via your cigarette lighter socket, you need to make sure the socket is wired live all the time and not only when the ignition is on
 
Thanks for the reminder -but it's for use on a spare battery not connected to the system/starter battery or internal charger

cheers:heart:
jimbo
 
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