Anyone recommend a good Solar Trickle charger??

Mon Oct 31, 2011 1:43 pm

As above lads, cabs been put away into a garage for the winter, and need a solar charger as there is no live feed into the garage.

TIA

Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:24 pm

Come on guys, someone must use one.

Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:47 pm

By far the best ones are the VW part ones. They actually use them to keep their new car batteries topped up while in transit.

They have the best type of solar and they have all the right diodes so your battery doesn't go flat.

Can't find any on UK but here is what the look like. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLKSWAGEN-SO ... 19c80ebbbc

Don't bother with cheap crap.

Couldn't you just take the battery out of the car though?

Mon Oct 31, 2011 4:55 pm

I bought this one from Maplin for £20. Probably comes under the "cheap crap" category, but I thought it was worth a punt. Haven't tried it yet so cant validate that it's any good.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/solar-powered-1 ... rger-98358

Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:03 pm

Taking the battery out isn't an option, I would like to leave it connected so the alarm is on.

Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:04 pm

Maplin Solar stuff is usually OK. At least the soldering should be OK unlike a lot on ebay.

The Maplin Panel is 1.5w and the VW is 3.2w. I also think the VW one works better in lower light conditions.

You could always buy a nice Romag 12v solar panel have some lights and charge your neighbours batteries as well!

Mon Oct 31, 2011 5:05 pm

The you need to make sure the solar panel is powerful enough to charge more than the alarm will drain.

Mon Oct 31, 2011 7:15 pm

Mine's the same as this, works a treat albeit wth the car garaged it doesn't really get used. When I have used it it does keep the battery topped up perfectly.

Mon Oct 31, 2011 9:08 pm

What about this one?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Watt-12v-Vo ... 1e6500faa1

Thu Nov 03, 2011 11:38 pm

Just picked up a second one from Maplin this evening - 2.4W for £12.99 a half price at the moment.

http://mobile.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?moduleno=223251

Got one each for the cab and one for the VW campervan - both seldom used in the winter.

Thu Nov 03, 2011 11:40 pm

I've ordered the one in my link above, should do the job at 4watts.