Does Solar Powered Trickle Charger work?

[The Chee]

I`m helping a good mate of mine looking for one .What brands do you recommend? He`s working offshore so won`t have access to his car from time to time.

Thanks

Chee

[vcallaway]

I have a couple from harbor freight tools. I currently have two cars that I`m storing for a friend. We disconnected the batteries and connected the panel. The wire runs inside the car and the solar panel is laying on the dash.

After a year we connected the battery up on one of the cars to clean it. The car fired right up.

The other thing at least in the northwest is we put a couple of Dry-Z-Air`s in the car. It keeps any mold from forming.

[cwcad]

Am not sure if this is any help to you but I store my vehicle in alaska for 6 months at a time. It is parked on my friends yard covered with a tarp. the only thing that i do is open the hood and disconnect the positive battery cable. It stores thru the winter unattended. When i arrive I connect the battery cable and the vehicle starts right up.

The battery needs to be charged fully before storage. If that happens you should have very little problem starting the vehicle after months of storage. Providing that the battery has been properly disconnected.

I had considered a solar powered charger but the expense does not justify itself considering how easy diconnecting the battery is.

[The Chee]

He was afraid disconnecting the battery would reset his ECU thus didn`t go that route. Thanks guys :beer_smil

[cwcad]

Hey Chee, since I did not help out at all, I was wondering if you could help me out? What is ECU? I did not find ECU on the secret decoder ring.

[Dutch]

if you want a simple tricke charger.......
use an old charger from something cordless like a cell phone etc.
the chargers convert 115v. to 12v..using low amps.....
cut the end off the cord. ..spread out the wires ...add a couple alligator clips and your in business

[The Chee]

Hey Chee, since I did not help out at all, I was wondering if you could help me out? What is ECU? I did not find ECU on the secret decoder ring.

:) here you go ECU (Engine Control Unit) is a computer processor that analyses and controls the various complex calculations that effect the performance of the car’s engine (from howstuffworks.com) ...the only Lexus agent is an hour an a half from his place, it`ll be very inconvenient for him if the ECU has had a reset. :no:

[cwcad]

Thanks, Chee!!! I did not know. I do now. :bigups

[The Chee]

No problem, I`ll get him the one from Amazon as an early birthday present, I don`t dare suggest the `plug in to the main type` as I don`t want to be responsible if he comes home to a burnt car :emlaugh: jking

[maximv1]

i have one from a volkswagon dealer. many of their cars come with them from the factory for shipping. they plug into the lighter outlet. the ususally get thrown out so if you have a vw nearby ask the service manager. i have a small trickle charger for my harley from battery tender. you leave it plugged in and it charges when it needs it. i believe it self tests and works accordingly. http://www.batterytender.com/

[joe.p]

No problem, I`ll get him the one from Amazon as an early birthday present, I don`t dare suggest the `plug in to the main type` as I don`t want to be responsible if he comes home to a burnt car :emlaugh: jking
http://www.autosportcatalog.com/index.cfm?fa=c&cid=41

[Autogeek]

:) here you go ECU (Engine Control Unit) is a computer processor that analyses and controls the various complex calculations that effect the performance of the car’s engine (from howstuffworks.com) ...the only Lexus agent is an hour an a half from his place, it`ll be very inconvenient for him if the ECU has had a reset. :no:

If the ECU is reset, no data is erased (at least on my car that`s how it is). I`ve never heard of data being erased from a simple reset on any car.