[Question] Solar 12V Car Battery Trickle Charger & Maintainer

[RajGiandeep]

Been looking into this -> https://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/l ... awn-garden
for keep the 12V car battery topped off as I don't drive every day & it's getting cold soon. Just something to keep on the dash & store before starting the car.

Noticed that many have a cigarette lighter plug that charges the battery. But does this work with a 2013 Nissan Leaf when the car is off? Or would I have to use the crocodile clips?

[LeftieBiker]

Most vehicles these days don't have continuous power to the lighter/auxiliary socket - it's on while the car is on, and off when it isn't. What you could try is using a hardwired SAE cable used by battery maintainers, with a maintainer lead spliced onto the solar panel so it can be plugged in as the maintainer. If you run the car side of that lead through a small hole in the charge port compartment, you can plug it in without having to open the hood. Just make sure the panel has a blocking diode to prevent it from draining the battery at night, and consider getting a battery maintainer that uses the same SAE cable, as a backup. Finally, make sure that the solar maintainer is actually a good one.

[RajGiandeep]

Thanks for your feedback. My grandpa that has since passed years back, had this solar panel that nobody used. So I got some wires & a solar charge controller. Seems to be working. I'll be borrowing a multimeter to see what this older panel put out this week.

[LeftieBiker]

I was going to say that the output might be too high, but the charge controller should take care of that.

[RajGiandeep]

Did a video about this & figured out how to close the charging flap but still have it connected to the solar panel.

https://youtu.be/nvn4X3cCA3Y