Solar battery maintainers with cigarette plugs?

[Elkins45]

Do these really do anything in modern vehicles? Aren’t most modern lighter outlets switched off when the vehicle isn’t running, so there is no closed circuit for the charger to function? I’m pretty sure the outlet in my Nissan only works when the switch is in aux or run position.

 

[vpr5703]

Depends on the vehicle, really. My Mazda's lighter outlet is on at all times and can take up to 10A of power, so on my car a solar maintainer would be pretty handy.

 

[thastinger]

No. Most of those things are less than 5 watt panels. Your windshield will cut half the sun energy to it and the panels are not at the optimum angle to the sun. You might get .1-.3 amps out of the larger ones.

 

[Dave9]

^ That's still more than nothing. They aren't meant to charge but rather maintain or at least slow down how fast the battery drains.

Some vehicles have both switched and unswitched outlets. Up to you whether to rewire an outlet to always be live if you want to use it instead of lopping off the connector and wiring straight to battery (with a fuse) or another live circuit.

 

[Jetronic]

No. Most of those things are less than 5 watt panels. Your windshield will cut half the sun energy to it and the panels are not at the optimum angle to the sun. You might get .1-.3 amps out of the larger ones.

Which should be much more than the parasitic draw. Of course the sun shines half the time at best.

 

[joekingcorvette]

First of all I love the plug in maintainers. No bothering with clamps and easy to switch to the clamp type with the correct pigtail. You do need a live plug in. The solar charges work for stop signs and smaller things like charging a cell phone or something and will maintain to some degree. I do not own a solar charger/maintainer.

 

[kpatter]

I am in the market for solar battery charger as well..

I spoke with battery tender rep. He advised to go with their 15 watt panel with a built in charge controller. Its about 149.00 on amazon.

I also drive a nissan and have the lighter issue as well.

I wish I knew how to hardwire thru the firewall etc.. And yes I have heard all about feeding the wire thru the rubber grommet, but this is not something I am comfortable doing..

Not sure what to do really..

 

[Elkins45]

I am in the market for solar battery charger as well..

I spoke with battery tender rep. He advised to go with their 15 watt panel with a built in charge controller. Its about 149.00 on amazon.

I also drive a nissan and have the lighter issue as well.

I wish I knew how to hardwire thru the firewall etc.. And yes I have heard all about feeding the wire thru the rubber grommet, but this is not something I am comfortable doing..

Not sure what to do really..

Feeding a wire thru a grommet isn’t hard IF you can find a convenient one and IF you’re flexible enough to get under the dash to do it. I remember having to wire the trailer brake controller on my 98 Chevy and it wasn’t horrible. Wasn’t fun either.

I would guess there’s a YouTube video that could help make you comfortable.

 

[f355spider]

Depends on the vehicle, really. My Mazda's lighter outlet is on at all times and can take up to 10A of power, so on my car a solar maintainer would be pretty handy.

Actually the OP's concern is valid. More and more cars have cig lighters that are on a switched circuit with the ignition. The reason is so many owners leave phones, tablets and other items plugged in when parked, and with modern cars already with high parasitic loads on the battery, it can leave people stranded after sitting only a few days...sometimes less.

 

[vpr5703]

Actually the OP's concern is valid. More and more cars have cig lighters that are on a switched circuit with the ignition. The reason is so many owners leave phones, tablets and other items plugged in when parked, and with modern cars already with high parasitic loads on the battery, it can leave people stranded after sitting only a few days...sometimes less.

Oh yeah I know. My wife's Hyundai is that way.

 

[michael007]

I am in the market for solar battery charger as well..

I spoke with battery tender rep. He advised to go with their 15 watt panel with a built in charge controller. Its about 149.00 on amazon.

I also drive a nissan and have the lighter issue as well.

I wish I knew how to hardwire thru the firewall etc.. And yes I have heard all about feeding the wire thru the rubber grommet, but this is not something I am comfortable doing..

Not sure what to do really..

When I research it quickly on the Chinese markets, the smallest is 20W and the largest is 60W.

I don't think you need to hardwire through the firewall as some models charge via the OBD.

Here's a 50W model. The kit is sold over there for $43US.



I translated the text in the video so we can learn more

 

[Elkins45]

I had no idea an OBD option existed. This one from Tractor Supply was the first hit when I searched for one.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/coleman-35-watt-trickle-charger-with-obdii-1128984

 

[michael007]

I had no idea an OBD option existed. This one from Tractor Supply was the first hit when I searched for one.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/coleman-35-watt-trickle-charger-with-obdii-1128984

Me either. Seems expensive if something goes wrong but Coleman was confident enough to jump on board selling these things. I see the one you linked says it can output 0.233 amps and it's 3.5W

No. Most of those things are less than 5 watt panels. Your windshield will cut half the sun energy to it and the panels are not at the optimum angle to the sun. You might get .1-.3 amps out of the larger ones.

The 50W one advertises an output of 2.38 amps but one of the reviews says they only get 0.7amps so thastinger spoke some truth

This could mean the 3.5W model from tractor supply would only get 0.06amps in similar conditions.

 

[thastinger]

Me either. Seems expensive if something goes wrong but Coleman was confident enough to jump on board selling these things. I see the one you linked says it can output 0.233 amps and it's 3.5W



The 50W one advertises an output of 2.38 amps but one of the reviews says they only get 0.7amps so thastinger spoke some truth

This could mean the 3.5W model from tractor supply would only get 0.06amps in similar conditions.

View attachment 174980

Yup...a 3.5W panel CAN output .2A, but that would be at a 35 degree sun angle and OUTSIDE your UV rated windshield. Laying flat on your dash behind your UV windshield it will produce .05 on it's best day in July sun with no clouds.

 

[zzyzzx]

I had no idea an OBD option existed. This one from Tractor Supply was the first hit when I searched for one.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/coleman-35-watt-trickle-charger-with-obdii-1128984

Need LED indicating that it's working. Otherwise probably fine. You don't have to use the OBDII option if you don't want to.

 

[dervdave]

All my vehicles have solar power battery maintenance panels all fitted via the OBD socket

 

[zzyzzx]

All my vehicles have solar power battery maintenance panels all fitted via the OBD socket

Just out of curiosity, have you ever tried using one of your solar battery maintainers to keep your settings while swapping out a car battery? If so did it work?

 

[dervdave]

Just out of curiosity, have you ever tried using one of your solar battery maintainers to keep your settings while swapping out a car battery? If so did it work?

I had thought of that but not had the opportunity yet, don't see why it wouldn't

 

[zzyzzx]

I had thought of that but not had the opportunity yet, don't see why it wouldn't

On a sunny day if the solar panel has enough capacity, I would think that it should. interesting experiment.

 

[dervdave]

Review of AA Solar Power Car Battery Charger Maintainer - The Car Stuff

Are you going away or do you have persistent car battery problems? If either of these are true, a solar powered car battery charger could be perfect for your

thecarstuff.com