Solar Trickle Charger

[Soundguy]

I leave my cig light female adapter hooke dup to my tractor battery. dangling when not in use. That way if I need to use an appliance that needs it.. I have it.. .like tire pump.. small inverter.. etc..

Soundguy

 

[BobReeves]

When I was riding motorcycles most Motorcycle shops carried cigarette lighter kits that were semi weather proof. With smoking on the decline, not sure if that is still the case. Next trip into town I am going to stop in the Honda shop and see if they still carry them. My 3000 has a hole plug in an empty hole just below the key, it's too small for a lighter receptacle but a Greelee hole punch will fix that.

 

[3RRL]

Thanks guys,
I bought the Harborfreight solar chargers for $9.99 and the Radio Shack outlet for $6.99. The stores are about 2 blocks apart where I live so I picked them up...no shipping. Got 3 of each for all my toys.

I'll be installing them this weekend on the tractor, atv and forklift. Harborfreight also has the 110v type that I'll get later for my Harleys. They're only $9.99 as well. Need to keep those suckers charged too!

Thanks again for all the help...

 

[Jay4200]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I picked up a cheep solar unit at harbor freight. Now I am looking for an exterior cigarette lighter plug I can add to my tractor to plug it into. I have looked on the net an can not find an exterior cigarette lighter plug any ideas/sorces? )</font>

They sell these at WalMart. They are in the automotive department and called something like Auxilary Power Modules, or something like that. They are intended to provide a power plug in a pickup bed and are an outdoor cigarette lighter socket, which is exactly what you want. I think the whole kit is somewhere in the $15 range.

Jay

 

[DFW]

Oliver, I found a bunch of them cheap on e-bay and use them on all my batteries. FYI, they are about twice the wattage as the HF cheap ones. I have two of those as well...

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Rob,

I have been using this charger from HF for 3 years on my 1973 Caddy, it does a great job. HF has them on sale at the store for $5. If I had power at the shed I would just use one for the tractor.

web page

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( have you thought of connecting the unit directly to the battery? or with some other type of connector? cigarette lighter plugs are sort of clumsy. )</font>

Mike,

I think it will be easy just to plug it into the socket. Getting to the battery on a BX is a pain and not quick. The install will take a few mins, but I will then have a place to plug in the air compressor or what ever. I picked up the socket today at Radio Shack. I plan to install this weekend.

 

[3RRL]

Well, I saw the $5.99 ones at HF but I have no power on the property so I ended up getting the solar ones . Here are some pictures mounting the Radio Schack 12v plugs. On the tractor, I mounted the plastic holder by drilling #29 drill and tapping 8-32 on the frame so it is under edge of the hood.

 

[3RRL]

This is a picture of the plug mount completed.

 

[3RRL]

Another picture of the Radio Shack socket with the Harbor Freight solar panel plug in it. It is located just behind the hood so I don't have to open the hood to plug it in or take it out.

 

[3RRL]

This picture shows the connections directly to the battery. I have avoided wiring it through any other electrical circuits in case there happens to be a short, loose connection or broken fuse I'm not aware of. The Radio Shack 12v plug has a fuse on the hot wire that comes with it.

 

[3RRL]

I also mounted one of the Radio Shack plugs on my ATV. This one was a lot easier to do because I did not have to attach the little dash mount provided. I drilled a Ø1-3/32" hole in the rear fender to snap the socket into and wired it up to the battery in the same fashion as on the tractor.

 

[3RRL]

The last thing to do was to mount the Harbor Freight solar panels so they are facing South. All I have are some canopies so I had to make a little wooden bracket to hold up the solar panels in the right position.

 

[3RRL]

This picture shows the solar panel frame being tied onto the canopy. Looks kinda like a small radar or something. By the way, Harbor Freight recommends that you put RTV Silicon sealer all around the frame and panel if your going to mount it outside. This sounds silly because where else would you mount it?... But when I unpacked the solar panel in my garage at home, the led indicator on the plug started blinking just from the flourescent lighting!

 

[3RRL]

Please forgive the long post here, but I wanted to let you know (you guys who gave me information), that I used your advice and got the stuff done. Over all, it was very easy to install. It was a fun project even though it poured the night before and in the morning when I was doing this. (see pic) Last one for now.
Thanks,

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Rob,

Looks great!

I did the project last week. I mounted the solar collector inside of the shed window. It faces East, but the red light blinks so I assume it is getting enough light to work. I mounted the socket on the BX below the key to start the tractor. Wired it direct to the battery since it was within 12" of the switch. Nice project and I am sure the battery will be nice and strong when I go to start the tractor.

 

[3RRL]

Tom,
Looks like we are on the same page now.

I hope to find a fully charged tractor and ATV when I go up for the New Year.
Have a great Christmas and New Year too.

 

[3RRL]

One last post here.
It's a picture of the Harbor Freight solar panel and the Radio Shack 12V plug adaptor. Thought you may want to see what they looked like in case you're interested in the set up.
Notice the blue RTV silicon sealer around the perimeter of the panel and plastic frame.

 

[Buckeye_Jim]

Just wanted to point out that this design does not seem to include a charge controller. Because the open circuit voltage of the panel is about 18 to 20 volts, it is possible to overcharge the battery.

In 3RRL pictures, it seems that the panel was pointing into the trees, with the self discharge of the battery and the small size of the collector, you may not be overcharging. Only way to know is to check it with a voltmeter in the late afternoon. Reading should be less than 13.8 Volts.

For others, a charge controller such as the 5310 from
http://www.highsierraelectronics.com/highsierraelectronics/hse/spec%5Fsheets%5Fpdf/model%5F5310.pdf
would be insurance against damaging your battery.

Jim

 

[IslandTractor]

I is almost impossible to overcharge a tractor or car battery with one of these little photovoltaic panels. They just don't put out enough juice, even at noon, to overcharge these batterys. Adding controller electronics just adds cost.