Solar Charger

[Ian]

Here's a question from Victoria from Milton Keynes. I hope someone can help.

I have a Solar Panel Battery Maintainer 2.4W. I am not sure how it works. Do I leave it in the light/sun to power up and then plug the battery clips onto the leisure battery? How much of a boost does this give to the leisure battery?

What is an OBD11 connector and how does it work? I don't understand how this gives permanent charging when the ignition is off.

What is the point of the 12v cigarette/plug socket if you must have a permanent live feed on the vehicle?

Instructions for the solar panel are on the packaging, not very helpful. EEK!

[Alkers]

You have to leave it in the sun while it is connected to the vehicle battery, there is nothing in the charger to "power up" before connecting.
2.4w is minuscule, this product is likely a complete waste of time.
You can connect it via the crocodile clips direct to the battery or via the 12v socket (only if the socket remains live when the ignition is off).

An OBD11 is a diagnostic port, which will remain live when the ignition is off, apparently you can use this to connect either but the most simple will be the crocodile clips.

[g8dhe]

Got to agree panels rated at less than 15 Watts are total waste of time, bearing in mind that they don't use a controller and hence you can't get anything like the rated wattage from the panel into the battery either
At 15 Watts your at the lowest possible charging rate that can actually make up for even the constant drain on the battery from backup and idle currents.