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Old 02-02-2018, 01:28 PM   #1
enchant
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Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Marshfield, Massachusetts
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Solar trickle charger all the time?

My wife and I work out of our house. We have two cars - the one we keep in the attached garage and use for our day-to-day stuff, and the minivan that is parked off the driveway. It can often see several days without use. About a month ago, I went out to start it and the battery was nearly total dead. A portable jump start unit got it going. So I went for a nice long 45 minute drive. After it was all done, it still wouldn't start. My initial though was the alternator was bad. My mechanic checked out the car totally and said that everything was in working order, but the battery simply can't sit out in days of sub-freezing weather and stay fully charged. AND once the battery is that low, modern day alternators are not designed to bring it back from the dead by just driving it around.

Ok, so now I'm more educated about it, but it doesn't change the fact that the minivan isn't getting a lot of love. Just recently, my wife and I had bad colds and didn't go anywhere. Today she went out and yet again, the battery is dead. I've got a 110v charger and can bring it back, but I was wondering...

Would it make any sense for me to buy a solar trickle charger, connect it semi-permanently to the battery and leave it in the windshield? I'd have to figure out how to run the wires from the inside of the car to the engine compartment, but I'm sure I can figure that out. Is there anything harmful that can come of that?
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