Author Topic: Can I solar charge my 12v. battery?  (Read 959 times)

Hugh R

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Can I solar charge my 12v. battery?
« on: July 24, 2021, 03:24:53 PM »
I'm soon taking delivery of a new Jazz EX.  Often I may not use the car for a couple of weeks, sometimes more, and as I have to park in the road and have no access to electricity I've been putting a solar panel on the windscreen of my existing car (Mercedes 2009 A160 - does that sound familiar?!)  and plugging it into the OBD2 port to keep the battery happy. 
1) Can I do ihe same when I get the hybrid - or is the wiring on the port different?
2) Is the Honda 12v battery going to be more resilient without use than my present one, or is it also charged from the lithium battery when not used, so no need for solar power?
Anyway, looking forward to this new little treasure - it'll be the third Honda I've owned in over 60+ years of driving.

Bristol_Crosstar

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Re: Can I solar charge my 12v. battery?
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2021, 03:50:52 PM »
I'm soon taking delivery of a new Jazz EX.  Often I may not use the car for a couple of weeks, sometimes more, and as I have to park in the road and have no access to electricity I've been putting a solar panel on the windscreen of my existing car (Mercedes 2009 A160 - does that sound familiar?!)  and plugging it into the OBD2 port to keep the battery happy. 
1) Can I do ihe same when I get the hybrid - or is the wiring on the port different?
2) Is the Honda 12v battery going to be more resilient without use than my present one, or is it also charged from the lithium battery when not used, so no need for solar power?
Anyway, looking forward to this new little treasure - it'll be the third Honda I've owned in over 60+ years of driving.
The 12v battery is only used to power the electronics, it's not used to start the petrol engine and it's recharged by the lithium battery when driving the car. I've left mine for a week 2 or 3 times and there've been no issues so far so I think you'll be ok without having to charge the battery. If I know I'm not going to drive the car for a while I try and make sure there's a reasonable amount of power in the lithium battery before I switch it off, this can be done by using 'B' mode for the last few miles, you get to know how to drive to give the battery max charge after a while.

nowster

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Re: Can I solar charge my 12v. battery?
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2021, 06:18:18 PM »
As has been said, the 12V battery is small and only used for the electronics side of things. The manual recommends you run the car for more than 30 minutes at least once every three months to make sure the High Voltage battery is topped up.

It also says, "Be careful not to let the High Voltage battery drain too much. If the battery level becomes close to zero, it will make it impossible to start the power system."

Kremmen

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Re: Can I solar charge my 12v. battery?
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2021, 04:10:30 AM »
I noticed in the showroom last week that all the cars were hooked up to a CTEK, including the Jazz and Crosstar.

I don't mind leaving a car for a fortnight max but any longer and I give it the same CTEK treatment. Can't hurt to give the 12V a CTEK workout. I will do the same when I get the Jazz.

What I did find interesting was a post here a short while ago where a member found that connecting the CTEK negative lead to the body didn't work but direct to negative battery terminal did.

When I next visit the showroom I must remember to open a bonnet and see what the dealers do.
Let's be careful out there !

Pine

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Re: Can I solar charge my 12v. battery?
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2021, 06:42:50 PM »
I noticed in the showroom last week that all the cars were hooked up to a CTEK, including the Jazz and Crosstar.

I don't mind leaving a car for a fortnight max but any longer and I give it the same CTEK treatment. Can't hurt to give the 12V a CTEK workout. I will do the same when I get the Jazz.

What I did find interesting was a post here a short while ago where a member found that connecting the CTEK negative lead to the body didn't work but direct to negative battery terminal did.

When I next visit the showroom I must remember to open a bonnet and see what the dealers do.
Try connecting the negative lead to a convenient place on the engine, engines always have a good ground connection.

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