Solar trickle charger just to keep battery charged?

[OnTheEllipse]

I have a 2001 SR5 that will be doing a lot of sitting for a while and would like to put a trickle charger on it. It's nowhere near an outlet and I was wondering if a solar charger would do the trick. This doesn't need to power any auxiliary items like fridges, I just need a way to keep a charge.

Does anyone have any experience with these? Recommendations? Will this do what I need?

Not mandatory, but I'd love to be able to hardwire the wires to the terminals and stash the solar panel when it's time to drive the car, but that's not necessary.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

[spartacus]

I have a 2001 SR5 that will be doing a lot of sitting for a while and would like to put a trickle charger on it. It's nowhere near an outlet and I was wondering if a solar charger would do the trick. This doesn't need to power any auxiliary items like fridges, I just need a way to keep a charge.

Does anyone have any experience with these? Recommendations? Will this do what I need?

Not mandatory, but I'd love to be able to hardwire the wires to the terminals and stash the solar panel when it's time to drive the car, but that's not necessary.

Any thoughts are appreciated!

I don't see why not. lots of folks use that on boats to keep their batteries charged.

 

[spartacus]

I think a solar panel, a controller with in line fuses to the positivery from controller to the battery positive and another from the solar panel to the controller. They might even sell kits for rvs or boats.

 

[phattyduck]

It wouldn't take much to keep the battery charged, assuming a sunny location. I have a friend that does it that way for his rarely driven cars, he has a panel that is like 4"x12" that does the job.

-Charlie

 

[OnTheEllipse]

Thanks guys

I posted and then ordered this: Amazon.com: POWOXI 7.5W-Solar-Battery-Trickle-Charger-Maintainer -12V Portable Waterproof Solar Panel Trickle Charging Kit for Car, Automotive, Motorcycle, Boat, Marine, RV, Trailer, Powersports, Snowmobile, etc.: Garden & Outdoor

They say that you can use the cig lighter port to charge if it's not switched by the ignition. Does anyone know off the top of their head if the cig lighter in the 3rd gen will work without the key being turned to auxillary/started?

 

[phattyduck]

They say that you can use the cig lighter port to charge if it's not switched by the ignition. Does anyone know off the top of their head if the cig lighter in the 3rd gen will work without the key being turned to auxillary/started?

The cig outlets are off when the key is off. You can hotwire the lower front outlets easily (bypass the relay with a jumper) or connect directly to the battery, your choice.

-Charlie

 

[2chains]

Interested in following this as my third gen is my winter vehicle. Mostly drive the 19' Tundra in summer.

 

[OnTheEllipse]

I don’t have a way to test the battery before and after, but I’ll see how strongly it cranks before tossing the solar trickle charger on it