RE: Solar Battery Charger.....

[whitestar505]

 Somewhere on these forums, someone was asking about keeping up with the battery during the winter. I ran across this site that has a solar power unit you plug into a 12 volt adapter. Like the one in the trailers these days. It keeps the battery charged like a battery charger. Take  a look at http://www.technoscout.com/general/subcategory/sub_category.asp?searchname=submenu&cat=5&SubCat=25&catname=Automotive&subcatname=Power+Sources&site=85838 " Solar Charger"  Battery Saver Plus ....$29.95
 
 
 Has anyone bought one of these yet? I am strongly considering it....[]

[ForestCreature]

 whitestar505
You re better off with a  regular battery charger to keep it topped off.
 This will never keep up with any kind of use, if you re lucky it will just keep a full battery full.
 
 They have the same 45 watt system that we got at Costco listed for $599[]
 We paid $319...

[MICJAR]

 whitestar505
I have 1 of these chargers for the boat, they work great for keep a fully charged battery charged as they only put out 125ma of power at 19 volts (FULL SUNLIGHT)
 I use mine for storage only. I alos have the next one up (350ma) for the camper it will keep up with the battery still hooked up to the camper (co2 senser running) if there is a lot of sun..... i do not to try to charge the battery with it as it will take atleast a month or more to do it....
 
 You can also get these at radio shack

[mike4947]

 whitestar505
One thing to remember if you have ANY kind of charger hooked up full time is you still have to check the water level. Even the low amperage chargers can put out enough voltage to outgas a battery and drop the water level.

[whitestar505]

 MICJAR
Great, Where I store my trailer there is no power. I do not want the battery at home, so I thought I would leave it in the trailer and connect up the solar power charger to it hoping it would keep the battery charged in the winter mouths.
 
 What do you think? Will 1.8 watts do it?

[mike4947]

 whitestar505
One thing never mentioned about solar chargers is the little ones without controllers usually don t have diodes in the curcuit so that when they don t have sun for charging they actually pull energy from the battery. Charging for like 9 hours a day and discharging for the other 15.
 Read any directions/instructions that come with a unit very carefully and IMHO if you do use one disconnect the battery from the PU, parasitic draw (like propane detectors) can easily overcome the .15 amp/hour charge provided by a 1.8 watt charger.

[ForestCreature]

 whitestar505
Here is a list of FAQs from ICP on the charger  you re considering. It dosen t specify anything about working under snow cover. And is not designed for outdoor use, but you can use silicone to seal it. Outdoor use voids the warranty.
 http://www.icpglobal.com/html/faqplus.asp
 
 You may want to consider this one instead, the PRO5watt. This one works under 3 inches of snow. any more and it probably won t work
 http://www.icpglobal.com/html/pro5w.asp