[Shop-talk] Trickle Chargers

[Nolan]

You think he'll actually do it?

Hearsay, but I've heard the harbor freight solar charger has a crude float 
circuit, so it won't overcharge.  Not that a tiny solar charger really has 
any chance of overcharging a battery anyhow.

If he's got electricity to the barn, you might want to consider this a/c 
powered float charger instead. 
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=42292  At 
$4.99, it's even cheaper still.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jim Stone" <jandkstone99 at msn.com>
To: "shop talk" <shop-talk at autox.team.net>
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2008 9:56 PM
Subject: [Shop-talk] Trickle Chargers


> My cousin keeps two cars at his summer home and they tend to sit outside 
> for
> weeks at a time over the winter.  He recently mentioned to me that he has 
> to
> call the AAA once or twice each winter to jump the batteries.  I'd like to
> help him avoid that hassle.
>
> The cars sit close to a barn, so it would be a simple matter to lengthen 
> the
> wires on a couple of trickle chargers so that the charger could sit in the
> barn and the wires extend out to the cars.  However, he is not terribly 
> handy
> and I figure he would just jump them himself if we was inclined to put 
> cable
> clamps on a car battery.  One option I have considered is to permanently 
> wire
> a plug to the batteries and put the mate to that plug on the charger.
> However, the other possibility is to buy a couple of solar trickle 
> chargers.
> HF has one on sale right now for just $9.99
> (http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44768). 
> I
> am fairly certain the car gets enough sunlight in the winter, provided the
> arrays were properly positioned.  I assume I'd have to rewire the 
> cigarette
> lighter to be independent of the ignition switch, but that shouldn't be a 
> big
> deal.  Do these things work?  Any other ideas?