Hawcara Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Maplins have this at £9.99. Not sure about this, but can I connect this to the cigarette lighter on the motorhome to charge the engine battery? Is this a power in place, as well as a power out place, if you see what I mean? I intend to leave the panel on the dashboard. I realise it will not be that great at this time of year. We usually give the van a run every fortnight aside of going away each month, but just in case we can't make it, I wanted a reserve. Advice would be appreciated. Thank you :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Most Cig sockets are only live when the ignition is turned on. Check by connecting something like a satnav to the cig socket and see if it is live with the ignition switch off. If the socket is live it can be used to charge the vehicle battery. I have a 7.5w solar panel which just manages to keep the battery charged in winter time. Summer time is fine with the longer days. Come winter when the windscreen can be frozen over or wet on the outside, hence reducing the ambient light on the panel, a larger power unit would be preferable. I would suggest you will find 1.5W solar panel next to useless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 as above, you need around 10w panel to maintain your batteries in winter, and with an alarm on a modern vehicle this can struggle in certain conditions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawcara Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 Excellent advice. When I turn the ignition off, the sat nav goes off, so I have my answer. Thank you both. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Hawcara - check again - in our Flash we used one of these as the lighter sockets remained live with the ignition switched off. :-S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hawcara Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 Hi Mel, yes you are correct, the right hand one goes off with the ignition, the left hand one in the dash stays on, but it seems the cheap solar panel will not do the intended job. No worries, plan B take it for a run as we did before, no harm in that, but would have been a good back up :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 This is the one we have, although when we got it, it was on promotion at £9.99 I think! Maplins There are some small panels on Ebay: Ebay 1 Ebay 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 These 1.5 watt panels are a total waste of money, and will never in a million years keep your batteries topped up. Don't even bother trying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 peter - 2012-11-07 8:32 PM These 1.5 watt panels are a total waste of money, and will never in a million years keep your batteries topped up. Don't even bother trying. The ones I've marked are 4w. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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