garage with no power

[Swervym]

After 12 months of searching I got me a garage for my Vantage BUT there is no power to it or nearby.
Helpful suggestions from all your clever PHs who know electronics please!
Can I trickle charge from a motor home type leisure battery through the ctek charger?
2 solar panels feeding a storage battery but how much storage capacity and how many weeks would it last if just feeding the cteck trickle esp if weather was shyte and not much sun?
Other ideas?

[ridds]

How often do you use it, winter / summer?

My MY09 Vantage will happily site for 6-8 weeks not attached to a charger or with the battery disconnected, no issues at all (haven't had a longer gap to test yet).

If yours does, either the battery is done or it has an electrical drain.


Myself, for long term, I'd unhook the battery, seal the main door and run a dehumidifier with a constant drain hose off of one of these Power Stations.

https://www.anker.com/uk/collections/portable-powe...

Would be far better for the car and the battery.

Dehumidifiers available for c. £100 off Amazon.

[melhuishjames]

I’d be nervous leaving my V12 Vantage for more than a 3-4 weeks off charge.

I similarly have a garage without mains. I use a leisure battery connected to a CTEK CS free connected to the car.

It can drain the leisure battery in 2-3 weeks, so I tend to just recharge the leisure battery every fortnight. Only takes a night, and the CTEK CS Free has its own charge for short periods so it’s all good.

I’d love to feed the leisure or the CTEK with solar to keep it topped up and CTEK do offer a panel for this model but I’m not convinced it’ll charge or justify the expense.

I also have a couple of passive dehumidifiers, which cost about £20 and I just change the blocks in them a few times a year.

All worked happily for a few years. I was hoping the set up would last months rather than weeks but the alarm seems to have quite a drain on the battery.

I’d personally not disconnect the battery as vantages seem notorious for electrical issues if on/off battery so just haven’t fancied trying that out.

Edited by melhuishjames on Friday 20th December 23:46

[AstonV]

I see solar battery tenders on Amazon. Never used one though. But worth looking into.

[alscar]

I thought the whole point of the CTEK “one /free “ or whatever’s it’s called is that once charged it’s a stand alone device - how long does its charge actually last without further being self charged ?

[AMTony]

Buy a high capacity battery.
Buy an inverter.
Buy a CTEK battery maintenance charger.

Charge battery and put in boot with maintenance charger plugged into inverter to keep car battery charged.

When battery feeding inverter depletes, remove and recharge.

Repeat the cycle.