Solar battery chargers through the cig lighter - any good?

[eltax91]

Hi all

Having just acquired a "weekend toy" off-roader which is left unused for most of the week, I'm thinking I need to sort myself out with a solar charger to keep the battery topped up. Could anyone recommend one and think of any ingenious places to mount it on a LR Disco?

Also, are the £12 efforts on ebay up to the job? The disco only has a stereo on permanent live, so can't drain that much i wouldn't say.

[Vron]

Dont waste your money they're useless.

[henrycrun]

if you've got a disco get the 4w version - http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=34806...
Just chuck it on the dash

[robsti]

They will keep your battery topped up but not charge it up if flat!

[redstu]

I've used the 1.5 w maplin ones for a few years now, usually available at a tenner. They do the job for me. They will even fully charge a battery but that will take a couple of months!

[redstu]

I've used the 1.5 w maplin ones for a few years now, usually available at a tenner. They do the job for me. They will even fully charge a battery but that will take a couple of months!

[mudster]

Do they plug in to the cigarette lighter? If so, and if the lighter doesn't happen to work with the ignition off, then you will need to do a litttle rewiring for it to work.

At only 1.5W, it's not really going to be doing much in any case. At best it will charge the battery with a current of 0.125A (and I would suspect that will be in bright sunshine!)

[tr7v8]

redstu said:

I've used the 1.5 w maplin ones for a few years now, usually available at a tenner. They do the job for me. They will even fully charge a battery but that will take a couple of months!

Yup that is what I've found as well. Mine kept the Pork battery charged at peak even through the winter. I found every 2-3 months if lightly used it was worth shoving the battery on charge for 24 hours to keep it up.

[HiRich]

Like most say, they work fine, but don't expect miracles.

Expect it to struggle a bit in Winter, and check charge/give a full recharge to the battery with a proper charger on a cycle that you learn (maybe check every 4 weeks, two full charges in Winter).

Size/power depends on draw. How long does it take the battery to 'fade' (starter gets a bit sluggish) at the moment? More than 8 weeks, and 1.5W may be OK; more than 4 weeks and 4W will be decent. Less, and you'll need bigger, and to check your earthing. I would err to caution and avoid the 1.5W in most instances. The Maplins ones seem to be decent value and readily available.

Check your lighter is live with key out. You could either rewire it, or run fly leads through the bulkhead to the battery with a break socket hidden behind the dash. For location, look for the best sun - south facing, minimal shading. On the dash is fine. Alternatively under a glass sunroof (held in place by the blind. or devise a way to wedge it upright by any other window.

[morebeanz]

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but how much would these be affected by UV treatments that many manufacturers use in automotive glass these days?

[RobCrezz]

Make sure your cig lighter works when the ignition is off, or it wont work apparently.

[Mr Gear]

morebeanz said:

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but how much would these be affected by UV treatments that many manufacturers use in automotive glass these days?

I have a solar power DAB radio, and the difference in the solar boost is noticeably lower through car glass than in open air. It will never hit 100% charge rate through the windscreen. Maybe 75% max?