Solar power battery charger

[ThEGr33k]

Has anyone here got any exp with them? How good are they this time of the year?

I need something to keep my battery topped up, but i dont have power in the garage and cant put it in for long periods.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=228624&&source=14&doy=19m2

Thats what I been looking at. It doesnt say if its got stages built in so it dont over charge the battery or anything :confused:

Any help appreciated! :twisted:

[tigersaw]

Peak 1 watt? pretty useless. And its from maplins, so it WILL be useless.

[DarrenSV650S]

Can't see that working but would like to be proved wrong:p

[ThEGr33k]

Peak 1 watt? pretty useless. And its from maplins, so it WILL be useless.


There are higher power ones as well... :rolleyes:

[metalmonkey]

Has anyone here got any exp with them? How good are they this time of the year?

I need something to keep my battery topped up, but i dont have power in the garage and cant put it in for long periods.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=228624&&source=14&doy=19m2

Thats what I been looking at. It doesnt say if its got stages built in so it dont over charge the battery or anything :confused:

Any help appreciated! :twisted:

Why not just run power into the garage it isn't hard. If you just want a supply for a battery charger, at my last place we just ran a hard wired extention lead into the garage. That was able to supply enough power to run the optimate, lights ect. At some point I'm going to sort the lighting in my garage I have now one 100w bulb just isn't good enough. Just make sure its a heavy duty 13A cable, mine worked off a switched live which was fused.

[ThEGr33k]

Its like 50-60 meters from the mess to the garage's... :( So a no go really.

[metalmonkey]

Its like 50-60 meters from the mess to the garage's... :( So a no go really.

Thats is not along way to be fair, or is it more that the cable would get in way? I don't what the lay out is, could it not be ran along the ground, building line ect?

Or is there not a facilties manager? Why not ask them to help sort something out?

[ThEGr33k]

Pretty major road and several other garages in the way :(

[tigersaw]

There are higher power ones as well... :rolleyes:

Yea the £40 one will chuck out 260mW on a bright sunny day. A lemon and two bits of copper might do better.
None of these things will 'charge' your battery, they will offset the self discharge.

[Kilted Ginger]

My mate has one of those hooked up to his bandit which i'm sorry to say has been started 3 times in the last 2 years (he works away) to go for its mot's and its started first time each time, I had one attached to my bike for 6 months when i was in hospital and again started every time, yep a cheap option but works surprisingly well. only flaw is suckers for attaching it to car windscreen but i just screwed it to the garage door. hth

[ThEGr33k]

My mate has one of those hooked up to his bandit which i'm sorry to say has been started 3 times in the last 2 years (he works away) to go for its mot's and its started first time each time, I had one attached to my bike for 6 months when i was in hospital and again started every time, yep a cheap option but works surprisingly well. only flaw is suckers for attaching it to car windscreen but i just screwed it to the garage door. hth


Interesting, first hand exp. :)

Ill do some research and see about maybe using one then.

Cheers.

[Gazza77]

Interesting, first hand exp. :)

Ill do some research and see about maybe using one then.

Cheers.

I bought one of the Oxford ones about 4 months ago, as the ST doesn't hold charge well when it's not used and the triple lump needs a bit of cranking to get going and has a tiny battery. :rolleyes: Like you I can't get power to the garage for the time being (I'm planning on a turbine when I build the new one, when I can afford it). It seems to work well enough; the bike now starts when it's been left when it wouldn't before. Job done for what it cost (around £25 from HG when they had a sale on chargers).

[ophic]

We used one for a works pool car that was hardly ever used and always suffered from a flat battery. It made no discernable difference whatsoever. Mind you the car was utter rubbish anyway.

I'd be tempted to keep a 2nd battery and charger in the house, constantly on charge. Any old car battery could be jumped from, or if its another SV battery, just swap them over periodically.

[startrek.steve]

I had one on my cb250rs for 3 years, kept a knackered battery alive enough to start after being left for weeks. Nothing to lose Nick , mine was £10.00 from maplins.

[ThEGr33k]

I'd be tempted to keep a 2nd battery and charger in the house, constantly on charge. Any old car battery could be jumped from, or if its another SV battery, just swap them over periodically.


Mine needs a considerably bigger/more powerful battery than the SV :( I got a 220CCA battery 14aH... Big lad it is, well its a fair bit taller than the SV one. :(

[fatneck]

Hey Gr33k, get it and let me know how it goes...! I posted the same thing a while back and got mostly negative feedback.

http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=121722&highlight=fatneck

[Baph]

Peak 1 watt? pretty useless. And its from maplins, so it WILL be useless.

+1. And I used to work in a Maplin store.

If you have a boat moored in the South of France, fine, great, buy one. If you don't, keep your receipt. ;)

[ophic]

Mine needs a considerably bigger/more powerful battery than the SV :( I got a 220CCA battery 14aH... Big lad it is, well its a fair bit taller than the SV one. :(

yeah of course it does, silly me. I obviously meant a matching battery...

[ThEGr33k]

yeah of course it does, silly me. I obviously meant a matching battery...


ha ha I guessed so but i had to just make sure. :p

Think ill just see what i can do with what I got... 90% is negative, so i got to role with that... Solar sucks in the UK. :(

[Learningcurve]

I think if i was in your position, I would be investing in a small portable petrol generator. You can pick them up from places like Machine Mart for less than £200.

That way, you can have 230 volts in your garage anytime you like. You can run lights, chargers, drills etc. No problem with leads running all over the place.

I bought one recently from macro as a backup if we ever have a powercut. it cost me £110 and works a treat. Not even that noisy either! :)

[ThEGr33k]

I think if i was in your position, I would be investing in a small portable petrol generator. You can pick them up from places like Machine Mart for less than £200.

That way, you can have 230 volts in your garage anytime you like. You can run lights, chargers, drills etc. No problem with leads running all over the place.

I bought one recently from macro as a backup if we ever have a powercut. it cost me £110 and works a treat. Not even that noisy either! :)


Great idea, im sure someone else mentioned that but I forgot lol. Nice one :D

[Learningcurve]

Try these people for a portable generator. My mate has bought stuff from them and has had no problems;

www.toolbaydirect.co.uk (http://www.toolbaydirect.co.uk)

Les