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Solar Battery Tenders

Discussion in '1st Gen. Tacomas (1995-2004)' started by Wulf, Jan 10, 2016.

  1. Jan 10, 2016 at 3:22 PM
    #1
    Wulf

    Wulf [OP] no brain just damage

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    Kira
    1789 28th St, Boulder, CO 80301
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    My truck is going to be parked for the next few months and I'd like to throw a solar battery tender on it to keep the battery fresh(ish), especially considering the freezing temps.

    Can anyone recommend one? I searched and it didn't turn up too much

    edit: I can't use a traditional battery tender because I have to park on the street
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2016
  2. Jan 10, 2016 at 6:08 PM
    #2
    keakar

    keakar Well-Known Member

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    karl
    louisiana
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    used to have - 99 2.4L I4 5 lug & 04 prerunner v6
    keeping it on a charger is really not needed for just a couple months but just take the battery out and put it in the shed or workshop on a charger. if you don't have a place like that then just have someone go start the engine once every other week and let the engine warm up, that will keep it charged and you don't need to do anything to it.

    pretty sure if you leave a solar charger on it parked out by the street, somebody is gonna grab it and run off with it
     
    Last edited: Jan 10, 2016
  3. Jan 11, 2016 at 8:30 AM
    #3
    jaunty

    jaunty Well-Known Member

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    I have this http://www.amazon.com/ALLPOWERS-Por...=UTF8&qid=1452529642&sr=8-3&keywords=5w+solar

    which runs off the cig socket, so its not going to charge if your socket isnt on when the key is off.
    I dont use it as a battery tender, but its such small current that it would probably do fine. I would keep a close eye on the voltage these things are like 20V at 0.2 amps. Also, grab on of those ammeters and check current flow while car is sitting out of the terminal just so you know the draining current.
     
  4. Jan 11, 2016 at 10:02 AM
    #4
    Wulf

    Wulf [OP] no brain just damage

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    Unfortunately I don't have either. I guess I could pull the battery and leave it on the back patio or something. After a month of sitting the battery is already too weak to start the truck, so I probably also have some kind of electrical drain I'll need to sort out later.

    I'll look into this a bit more, thanks. my cig socket isn't on with the key.
     
  5. Jan 11, 2016 at 10:05 AM
    #5
    colinb17

    colinb17 If at first you don't succeed, don't try skydiving

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    Build thread in sig...
    Dmonkey, Wulf[OP] and jaunty like this.
  6. Jan 11, 2016 at 2:26 PM
    #6
    keakar

    keakar Well-Known Member

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    used to have - 99 2.4L I4 5 lug & 04 prerunner v6
    yep, if its dead after sitting a month then you have something draining power or the battery itself is bad.

    to test this you can pull the battery terminal off and see if it stays charged that way, or just bring the battery in to be load tested, that should tell you if its bad but if its a bad cell, sometimes they can still test good.
     
  7. Jan 11, 2016 at 3:16 PM
    #7
    Wulf

    Wulf [OP] no brain just damage

    Joined:
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    rock raisin
    Hopefully it's not dead, it's less than 2 years old.
     

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