Trickle Charger

[cerbmeister]

Just bought a trickle charger which plugs into the cigarette lighter, not sure it is getting a charge to the battery though.
Anyone know if charge gets to the cigarette lighter when the engine is off?
The charger does say this may be an issue in some cars.
Cheers.

[alinton]

Well does your cig lighter work when ign is off?

If it does (mine does) then the charger will also be connected to the electrical system when ign is off.

Andy.

[cerbmeister]

errr, good point. off to try.

[cerbmeister]

lighter works when the ignition is off but the charger led isn't flashing red to say it's working unfortunately. must be an other problem.

[byker28i]

Fuse?

Mine works fine (97 4.2)

[equinox]

Check the connection between the charger adaptor and the cars lighter unit.

Equinox

[FUBAR]

equinox said:

Check the connection between the charger adaptor and the cars lighter unit.

Equinox

He means wiggle it about a bit

[c3ber]

cerbmeister said:

lighter works when the ignition is off but the charger led isn't flashing red to say it's working unfortunately. must be an other problem.

Is it flashing blue and is it the solar powered type?

[mxi933]

I just got myself one of those solar powered torches.
Not that good really

[equinox]

yer,

Wiggle it just a little bit, yep wiggle it just a little bit.!!

Equinox

[Ireland]

The lighter socket does stay "live" when the car is switched off.

You can easily confirm this on your car with your phone charger / sat nav / etc.

[cerbmeister]

yeah it's one of the solar powered jobs, the led flashes blue.
any chance that means it is in fact working?

[Timmy2TARs]

cerbmeister said:

yeah it's one of the solar powered jobs, the led flashes blue.
any chance that means it is in fact working?

I got one of them - same symptoms. The manual it came with says the blue light will change to red when its charging. Ain't had nothing but the blues, so have dumped it at the back of the garage.

[optimax sniffer]

I also have a solar charger which has a blue led. When it flashes it means there is power being created. No red led at all on mine. Cig lighter socket live all of the time.

[c3ber]

cerbmeister said:

yeah it's one of the solar powered jobs, the led flashes blue.
any chance that means it is in fact working?

Yes thats what I'm getting and after playing with the cig socket and the clips for the bat I have a feeling everything is fine and that there is a miss print and it should actually say... when the blue light flashes its working.

eta: in the dark the blue led stops.

Edited by c3ber on Sunday 14th January 21:15

[byker28i]

I don't think those solar ones would give out enough to stop the alarm discharging the battery would it? Best to get an optimate or similar surely.

[c3ber]

byker28i said:

I don't think those solar ones would give out enough to stop the alarm discharging the battery would it? Best to get an optimate or similar surely.

They have a gizmo in them that stops reverse flow and if the garage has no power then the solar type are a good idea if they work?

[thegreengoblet]

Guys, be careful with the constant pulling and pushing of the lighter socket - they have a habit of comming loose. There are 2 parts screwed together either side of the dash. It's a right PITA if they become separated - especially if you have no ashtray.

After mine did this, I bought a lighter socket extension from Halfords for about £8 or something which has a switch on it. Means I can live it plugged in all of the time and simply switch it on and off as and when I need it. It also has 4 sockets, useful for connecting the phone, sat nav etc all at the same time.

[grass widow]

thegreengoblet said:

It also has 4 sockets, useful for connecting the phone, sat nav etc all at the same time.

Won't that overload the cars electrics, they're not the most reliable in the world. If not then its a damn good idea.

[optimax sniffer]

byker28i said:

I don't think those solar ones would give out enough to stop the alarm discharging the battery would it? Best to get an optimate or similar surely.

They do actually work, I had to use mine the other day as the engine was turning over but not firing, after a morning with the solar charger on the engine started straight away. But it could have been damp, so went out few a few hundred miles to dry it out.....