Description
The portable Coleman 2-Watt Solar Battery Maintainer offers an ideal way to maintain the batteries of cars, SUVs, boats, tractors and more. This unit is completely maintenance free and easy to install. Made with durable ABS plastic and amorphous solar cells, this solar panel charges in all daylight conditions, even on cloudy days. The panel plugs directly into your cigarette lighter and the suction cups allow for easy mounting of the panel to a window or a dashboard. The complete kit includes: 2-Watt solar battery maintainer, 7.5 ft. wire, 12-Volt DC plug, suction cups for easy mounting, and battery clamps. It has a temperature range of -40 to 176°F.
JoJo –
Does what I need it to. It keeps my battery charged so I have power when and where I need it ( power outages)!!!
HomeDepotCustomer –
It appears that the solar maintainer does not put out enough power to maintain a starter battery with a battery isolator and an auxiliary deep cycle battery connected to the engine’s charging circuit.
I have a battery isolator with an auxiliary deep cycle battery connected to my 1988 Ford F150 charging system. I have to disconnect the starter battery’s negative cable and attach the solar maintainer to that battery in order to obtain voltage maintenance at around 12.76 volts. If I leave the (OEM) negative starter-battery cable connected to the starter battery and also connect the solar maintainer to that battery (and also leave the auxiliary battery connected to the battery isolator), the battery’s voltage drops to 12.56 volts, and it seems it would likely continue to keep dropping. Evidently, it seems the truck’s electrical system provides a steady, slow drain on the starter battery when connected like that, and the solar maintainer appears not to have enough power to overcome that slow drain. (I leave the solar panel mounted at the bottom of the passenger-side window to get maximum sunlight in the mornings with the truck (with cab-over camper) facing north. The panel’s wire is threaded out the window and through a gap at the back of the hood and up to the starter battery. Leaving it like that seems to provide the least rigmarole for when I want to drive the truck; I only need to connect and disconnect cables and wires to drive the truck, and there is excellent visibility through the passenger-side window.)
For diagnostic purposes I tried measuring the resistance in that battery-cable circuit with both the starter battery and the auxiliary battery disconnected. At first the digital multimeter shows infinite resistance. Then after several seconds, the meter displays readings that “flop” around in the vicinity of 3 mega-ohms. It also seems that that cable circuit acts as a large capacitor because it takes a while for the residual-voltage readings to drop down to the vicinity of 0.4 mili-volts and I have to short the battery cables together to get the voltage to drop that far. I also suspect that the auxiliary battery is not the major cause of the starter battery’s slow discharge when all cables and the solar maintainer are connected because the auxiliary battery’s rate of discharge is much slower than that of the starter battery. The starter battery is a brand new battery.
HOI –
I bought 2 Coleman 2-Watt 12-Volt Solar Battery Maintainers, 1 for my Sequoia SUV and 1 for my Craftsman riding lawnmower. I drive the SUV mostly for short trips (1-year old battery), and use the riding mower every 2-3 weeks ( 2-year old battery). The batteries frequently failed to start and required jump start every time. However, no more hassle with jump start during the last several months since I installed these 2 solar chargers.
I plugged the charger into the cigarette lighter socket and placed the solar panel on the dashboard. For the mower, I used the included clamps to connect to the battery posts and placed the solar panel on the roof of my patio facing south. Now with just a flick of the key, both engines jump to life immediately
GOOD THINGS: easy to install , all accessories for connection are included, Instructions are clearly written
BAD THING: a crack appears at a corner of the solar panel placed on the SUV dashboard after only 2 weeks. I guess the materials for the solar frame couldn’t withstand the summer heat of Texas, especially inside of a car. The cracked unit is still functioning with voltage output remains 13.8-14.00 Volts. However, I will update the functionality after additional 1 or 2 months.
HalB –
Works (charging) perfectly only problem is the wiring coming from the the panel itself, it’s where the wire meets the panel it’s very fragile after a couple of times to remove so I can use my atv it split and shorted. I was able to repair it and it’s working again. O/w the solar panel does what it suppose to do trickle charge.
Paul –
Be aware you need to completely remove connectors when using battery as the wires insulation will burn
HomeDepotCustomer –
Has been in service about 3 weeks, so far so good.
HomeDepotCustomer –
Inexpensive and durable item that will keep your battery charged up. I use two of them on my boats and am very pleased with them.
FS –
It’s easy to use, uses less space, so much lighter than a battery. We love this
STEVE –
So it really needs a mounting moveable bracket and pole