I have just bought one of the Maplins 1.5 watt trickle charge units - special offer £9.99 and it is about the same size as the mat that sits in on the dashboard - which I never use.
I plugged it in to the cig lighter but sadly the little blue flashing LED stops flashing. It only works when I connect it directly to the battery doh!!!

My P38 is a 51 plate 4.6L so just a heads up if anyone is thinking of it as the cig lighter only accepts charge when the key is in the ignition.

I am now thinking of how I can connect to the battery but have it switch off when the ignition is on.... I love DIY I always end up making more jobs than I started with.:doh:

SolarPowered 12V 1.5W Battery Trickle Charger : Solar Battery Chargers : Maplin
 
Mine is connected directly to the battery with a inline fuse. I leave mine on the car 24/7. Great when we go camping. I use a inverter to charge laptop, cellphones, lights and I also run a fridge. I can camp for 7 days without problems from the 2 105ah batteries connected to the 20w panel. Obviously at a campsite there is no interference to start the BeCM, so the car itself draws little power.
 
Mine is connected directly to the battery with a inline fuse. I leave mine on the car 24/7. Great when we go camping. I use a inverter to charge laptop, cellphones, lights and I also run a fridge. I can camp for 7 days without problems from the 2 105ah batteries connected to the 20w panel. Obviously at a campsite there is no interference to start the BeCM, so the car itself draws little power.

So it is ok to run the car with it attached?
 
I've had no problems. Mine is mounted on the roof rack. Had it on for a year now. Use the car daily, but sometimes it stands for a long time. Stood for 2 weeks when I was in hospital. Started with no problems.
 
I have just bought one of the Maplins 1.5 watt trickle charge units - special offer £9.99 and it is about the same size as the mat that sits in on the dashboard - which I never use.
I plugged it in to the cig lighter but sadly the little blue flashing LED stops flashing. It only works when I connect it directly to the battery doh!!!

My P38 is a 51 plate 4.6L so just a heads up if anyone is thinking of it as the cig lighter only accepts charge when the key is in the ignition.

I am now thinking of how I can connect to the battery but have it switch off when the ignition is on.... I love DIY I always end up making more jobs than I started with.:doh:

SolarPowered 12V 1.5W Battery Trickle Charger : Solar Battery Chargers : Maplin

I have a cigar lighter socket in the boot connected directly to the car battery via a fuse, my solar panel sits on the rear parcel shelf where it will not slide about if left there on the move. No problem to leave the solar panel in while running the car as the panel has a blocking diode to prevent reverse current flow.:D
 

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