My father in law lent me his 1.8 volt trickle solar charger a few weeks ago when i noticed the little eye hole showed the red ball on my passenger side battery. I used it for a few weeks and although the green ball didn't come back, the red ball was not there, maybe it was on its way back, who knows but it did seem to help. Well he got another one and he gave me his original one and i got it plugged into the cigarette lighter outlet and got the solar unit right in the cubby on the passenger side dash, it fits great there, we'll see how this works longterm. This unit i have is made by www.icpglobal.com but i found another link for you all to check out also. Sunsei SE-150 Battery Saver | BatteryStuff.com With batteries running from 80.00 to 140.00, an investment on these chargers wouldn't be a bad idea to keep them up to charge. What do you all think???

 

I'm with you. I want to know more about those chargers. I don't drive my truck everyday and would love to keep the batteries as fresh as possible when it sits. Might as well steal the sunshine since it's there.

 

i had an ICP unit many years ago. it worked great, until it died.
i now have the Harbor Freight units in all my vehicles.
most of them are now 3-4 years old.

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

the 10 year old battery in the 7 litre will go stone dead in 24 hours if the solar panel is disconnected.

but with it hooked up, it will keep the battery topped off and start the car with a dry carb.

 

I drive my truck every day, so I charge mine the old fashioned way with the alternator.

Is there any kind of overcharge protection or automatic shut off in these? You can kill a battery by overcharging it too.

 

Thats a good thing to know Tom.

As far as i see, the one i got trickles at 1.8 volts, very slow steady charging but thats a good question Chris, i didn't read everything on those links i posted to see about the overcharging issue. I guess this calls for some investigating..

 

Now that's in my price range.

 

Chris, i got this off the batterystuff.com web-site, guess it does have overcharging limiting characteristics.... 2.25 watt rated power at 15 volts operating voltage
Connects in seconds via male lighter adapter
Includes alligator clips also
Provides constant maintenance-level charge
3 Foot output cable
Works year round, even under light overcast conditions
Never overcharges
Extends battery life
Built-in reverse current protection; can't discharge your battery
5 Year Warranty

 

Very intriguing. I like the concept. Mine is a daily in the winter but not the summer. May have to look into this more come summer.