Trickle charge?

"Henry" wrote

Although Maplins probably more convenient.

Cheaper on Ebay

Thanks for that link; I was hoping for something a little bit cheaper, however if I can find a cheaper alternative then that will be just the job.

If this is a silly question humour me please. My cigarette lighter sockets only work when the ignition is on; will a solar panel plugged into the cigarette lighter not work without the key in the ignition or is it different as the current is goung the other way?

"Henry" wrote

No such thing as a silly question, only silly answers- see the thread below yours for examples!

No, it won't work if you need ignition activated to operate your cigarette lighter, but most of these panels are supplied with crocodile clips so you can connect them directly to the battery.

On the subject of price, someone mentioned eBay, and this one

Merry Christmas all!

Q.

Best solution would be to get someone to drive it a few miles every couple of weeks, keep everything else working as well as the battery. Otherwise just remove the battery.

That looks promising, thank you.

I did think of that; as you say it'll give everything an airing.

Assuming you can get a mains feed to it, a trickle charger.

IMHO, forget solar types in this country at this time of the year. You'd need an expensive and large one to make the current needed.

Thanks, I've got three pratical options from posters for which I'm grateful. A cheaper (& the one on ebay was that) solar powered charger, the Optimate mains charger or the Getamate :-) to drive it round every couple of weeks.

Here's the one i've got, £20 inc delivery. I use minefor keeping to jetski battery topped up, and a mate uses his for his motorbike over the winter, easily enough to 'counteract' the alarm etc, although they seem no use at all for charging from flat.

As has been mentioned before its best to get a mate to drive it around, although if you dont then just remember to chock the whels and leave the handbrake off!!!

I can get a mains feed to it. I take your point about the sun at this time of year; I live in Manchester so we don't get that much sun.

that one looks a good buy, doesn't it?

Is that because the brakes seize or something?

The message from Henry contains these words:

Yup, and it's a bastard to get off if they're well stuck.

Seasonal greetings.

I am also of the opinion that an 1W photovoltaic panel cannot provide the necessary current at 53ºN in our usually overcast weather, remembering that the incident light needs to strike orthogonally to the cells to be effective. To compound the difficulty, in winter the shorter daytime means the required total charge demands a collection over a long period.

For your project, I would first secure a permanent live feed from the car battery, i.e. live without requiring the ignition key to be in the Auxiliary/Accessory position (this is of course useless, for you have to leave the key in -- you can bypass this but, shall we say, we don't want to go that route!). If the interior light of your Toyota is anything like mine then you should be able to locate the +ve and the -ve leads easily using your digital multimeter, after removing its cover, and with the door closed. Alternatively, if you don't mind diving in the fuse box inside the cabin (the one outside, under the bonnet is less suitable for your project), you should be able to locate a live feed there too. Poke around with the multimeter; a service manual's wiring diagram would be invaluable.

When that is successful, get hold of a Car Computer Memory/Code Saver. Halfords sell one made by Draper, but I prefer the one by Gunson (this I think is more suitable for your purpose; can be had from, for example, a branch of German Swedish & French Car Parts near you). Do read the PDF (on its website) of this Gunson module, especially the first paragraph concerning its secondary use, which is what you are after, and further down the explanatory note the steps to overcome the cigarette- lighter-on-only-with-the-key-on difficulty (unsuitable in your case, but read as an adjunct to remind yourself what you are doing in seeking a live feed).

Draper

This is designed to be connected to another battery to retain 'memory' while changing the main one so not much use for the task in hand.

This is a mains version of the above, and may not be rated for long term connection.

There are several mains powered battery conditioners on the market designed for just this purpose - keeping a battery fresh during a long lay up. They are rather expensive for what they are, but at least shouldn't be a fire hazard.

Thanks, I'll make sure of that then.