solar trickle chargers

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fatboy · #1 Post by **fatboy** » Sun Nov 30, 2014 6:24 pm

Seems I've killed another one,really not done much work,not needed over summer,charger kept in the dark when not in use so should have hibernated OK but now I need it its dead
Do the posh brand name ones live any longer than a few months?

squadron Nero · #2 Post by **squadron Nero** » Sun Nov 30, 2014 7:56 pm

I've got an old Oxford charger, very basic but it's lasted almost 10 years and still working as it should. When I bought the Falco I bought a new all singing all dancing Oxford charger as people seemed to be queueing up to tell me that it would drain it's battery faster than a teenage girl on a mobile phone. Now I've put her away for winter I've connected up the new charger but it told me the battery was in perfect condition and went to sleep the lazy bastard. Hopefully it'll wake up and trickle charge as and when it's needed.

lazarus · #3 Post by **lazarus** » Mon Dec 01, 2014 11:03 am

got a couple of opld optimates that seem to work OK. but one caveat. a classic bike guy with loads of different bikes reckons based on his experience that these trickle chargers sooner or later do for a battery. why this would be, I do not know.

i wonder if vibration comes into it. maybe also battery quality because the previous volvo car had its factory battery for 9 years and the current merc has its battery since 2009. for that matter my wifes car is on its 2005 battery and my toy car has just had battery failure at 7 years. all car factory batteries so maybe the problem is the rubbish we get from the spare parts shops.

#4 Post by **mangocrazy** » Mon Dec 01, 2014 7:36 pm

I've used two solar chargers wired in parallel to keep the battery on my car topped up quite successfully, but they don't get put away for any great length of time. They were just Maplins cheapies as I recall. I'd guess that a single solar charger should be sufficient to keep a bike battery topped up, providing the panel has good unobstructed access to sunlight (which in the UK is not that often, of course...)

For mains chargers I swear by my Accumate. It's a smart charger that adjusts itself according to battery condition. I've got 4 (for different bikes) and they all work really well.

fatboy · #5 Post by **fatboy** » Mon Dec 01, 2014 8:03 pm

Well an Oxford solar charger is around twice ish the price of cheapies,your testimonies point to the error of my ways !