it is not very informative,but it does work,it shows a blue light to show it is active,hey what do you expect for £19.99 lol
it is not a battery charger as such,it just trickle charges it to keep it topped up,it will not overcharge it,and cannot drain it as it has a diode that only allows one way current flow.
works fine for me,available from maplin.
you could always fit in a gauge to show state of battery.
dove
Active Member
you get small solar panels from machine mart for trickle charging car batteries,not to expensive,check them out on their website(machinemart.co.uk)my brother bought one for his disco a few years back think it gives out about 3 watts,it is fitted on the inside of his sunroof,every little helps i suppose
the hooded claw
Well-Known Member
Solar chargers over 5 watts (and occasionally the actual 5 watt) need a solar controller to manage the output, and stop overcharging.
If its UNDER 5 Watts then NO it WILL NOT overcharge yer battery
If its UNDER 5 Watts then NO it WILL NOT overcharge yer battery
many come and take ****,but i have last laugh when mine worky,
but seriously it does work,even overcast it is still putting in a charge.
except at nighty,even bangs it in under artificial light.
has your landy got an alarm ?
yes this is what drains it down,which is why after about 3 days i had to start it to keep the battery in good order.
that is where i put mine still does the job,you must of bought the bigger one.
mine is only a trickle charger
discomalc
New Member
I fitted one of these about 3 or 4 months ago and thought at a measly 1.5 watts it would make no difference at all, but since then flat batteries are a thing of the past , so let everybody mock Roddy4 but as you say ours now start when the other are getting the charger out again.
the hooded claw
Well-Known Member
Tommo ..They all have a "Reverse Charge Di-ode" ..so you don't Drain yer battery when its dark
So Leave it connected 24/7 mate
LR90
Active Member
solar chargers about 15 watt for a 50amp car battery (mine is 15 watt) and the trickle is about 1.5-2watt its only made to slow down the natural deterioration of the battery.
a battery will naturally loose charge anyway which the trickle will stop unless the alarm draws to much.
Take about 44 hours to charge fully in direct sunlight with a 15 amp solar charger.
Trickle wont charge only top up.
a battery will naturally loose charge anyway which the trickle will stop unless the alarm draws to much.
Take about 44 hours to charge fully in direct sunlight with a 15 amp solar charger.
Trickle wont charge only top up.
Datatek
Well-Known Member
It's the BECM not the alarm the uses the juice, 30ma if it goes to sleep properly. So you really need a solar charger that puts out more than 30ma to keep things in balance. I have a 12 watt (1000ma) on mine with a regulator that I put in when I'm leaving the car for more than a couple of weeks. Even on very cloudy days it still puts out 100ma.
