Need a decent, powerful solar in car charger

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mrblonde

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Are they pretty much like for like? or is there a better spec/rating one to go for? Any advice greatly appreciated guys
 
I think they don't work, even the highest rated ones, your getting such a small charge it wont make a difference, you may as well put LED's all around you'll save more energy that way (and even that's negligible)
 
996TURBO said:
solve your battery drain problem instead of that bodge
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It's not a battery drain problem, at least according to his other thread, it's too many short runs.
Look on Ebay, Maplin or CPC, a 5watt or plus solar panel should do the job. I have a 12 watt that I use if leaving the car at the airport for example. It sits on the rear parcel shelf and I wired a new connector in the boot direct to the battery via a fuse. It produces enough power that I have to use a charge regulator. It charges even on dull days.
A plug in mains charger is probably an easier bet, plug in when you get home at night:)
 
Dopey said:
I think they don't work, even the highest rated ones, your getting such a small charge it wont make a difference, you may as well put LED's all around you'll save more energy that way (and even that's negligible)
Click to expand...


Solar panels work fine, even on dull days if they are good ones. Takes a while (days) to charge a flat battery unless you get a big one though. Great as trickle chargers:) LED headlamps don't yet exist as far as I'm aware and the bulk of the consumption on the L322 will be ECU's.
 
I do mainly short (4 mile to work & back) journeys and my battery's struggling now the weather's getting a bit colder. Just changed the resistor in mine 'cos I thought it'd be better to try and fix any problems that might sap what little charge the battery was able to hold, rather than trying to find supplementary means of charging it while the car was standing.
 
Cheers everyone
Bigdel, the resistor you changed, was it expensive and hard to do? I'm sure mine had one changed, possibly something to do with the HEVAC (I think?) on recall?
Im not at home til tomorrow so cant check the paperwork
 
Datatek said:
It's not a battery drain problem, at least according to his other thread, it's too many short runs.
Look on Ebay, Maplin or CPC, a 5watt or plus solar panel should do the job. I have a 12 watt that I use if leaving the car at the airport for example. It sits on the rear parcel shelf and I wired a new connector in the boot direct to the battery via a fuse. It produces enough power that I have to use a charge regulator. It charges even on dull days.
A plug in mains charger is probably an easier bet, plug in when you get home at night:)
Click to expand...

Data, I've just ordered a 5watt one off Ebay, should that be OK to just plug in my cigarette lighter socket and leave on dashboard/rear shelf when parking for a few days?
 
mrblonde said:
Data, I've just ordered a 5watt one off Ebay, should that be OK to just plug in my cigarette lighter socket and leave on dashboard/rear shelf when parking for a few days?
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You need to check if your cig lighter works with the ignition off, most do not. If the cig lighter is dead with the ignition off you will need a direct connection to the battery, A 5 watt pannel will certainly help if you start out with a fully charged battery but it will depend on how sunny it is.
 
Datatek said:
Might be where you live, we have 10+ hours a day of sun here in summer, it cooks the caravan battery without the regulator:p:p:p
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so what ampage are you seeing from that 12 watt panel ? - putting an amp through a 65+ AH battery shouldn't do it any harm
 
mrblonde said:
Cheers everyone
Bigdel, the resistor you changed, was it expensive and hard to do? I'm sure mine had one changed, possibly something to do with the HEVAC (I think?) on recall?
Im not at home til tomorrow so cant check the paperwork
Click to expand...

The part itself (JG0000021) was £41 from LR. It wasn't difficult to fit, just fiddly. It's behind the heater controls up above the pedals. Need to remove a couple of trim panels to access.
There's detailed instructions on RAVE. Page 937 of the L322 service procedures section. Just a point though here, the instructions tell you to remove the heating duct to access, but you can't as it's fixed behind all the dash trims, so you just have to squeeze your hand behind it.
 
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