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Charging battery in the car without AC power. Such a thing exist?

6K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  Campfamily 
#1 ·
Question all,

is there a battery charger/maintainer that is fully portable that does NOT need to be plugged up to AC to charge/maintain the battery in the car?

does such a thing exist?

im not talking about a portable jump start setup (As far as I know those dont charge a battery, just jump start the car), rather a battery charger that has it own built in battery, etc so one can charge the battery in the car when no AC/shore power is avail.

perhaps not such a thing but worth asking....
 
#2 ·
Sounds like the functional equivalent of a larger capacity battery.
 
#3 ·
I haven't seen anything yet that's self sufficient , it either plugs into a inverter or 12V supply and trickle charges your battery.
I'm sure it would be easy to build one with a few Deep cycle batteries but then its a heavy slab to tote around.
 
#4 · (Edited)
There are solar panels designed to do this. They work as long as there is sunlight.
Many sources - Amazon, big box stores, Tractor Supply, etc.
 
#7 ·
98% of where i Park is in garages. the 2% is when i go out on dates.. ;)

the cigar ports are not activated when the car is off. don't they need to be activated in order to get charges to the battery?

i know the obd port has the capability to accept a power source through it...can one attach the solar thingy to the obd port and have it act the same as going through the cigar port?
 
#8 ·
marc, So are you trying to back charge the original battery in the truck or just keep the trucks battery conditioned.
 
#10 ·
Shore power

Two ways- solar power or 900 watt mini generator. Unplug solar before starting engine, shut off mini generator and disconnect prior to starting engine.


QUOTE=marctronixx;418497]Question all,

is there a battery charger/maintainer that is fully portable that does NOT need to be plugged up to AC to charge/maintain the battery in the car?

does such a thing exist?

im not talking about a portable jump start setup (As far as I know those dont charge a battery, just jump start the car), rather a battery charger that has it own built in battery, etc so one can charge the battery in the car when no AC/shore power is avail.

perhaps not such a thing but worth asking....[/QUOTE]
 
#11 ·
the 2012 qx (is what i have) , all the cigar ports are deactivated when ignition is off.

i am just wanting to keep the battery trickled when it sits for a couple days or so.

so I am correct in ASSuming that since the cigar ports are deactivated when key off, that these solar panels will not work?

I dont have access to shore power, hence my initial query for a standalone product.. ;)
 
#12 ·
That's interesting. My 2005 keeps the cig lighter closest to the driver and the one next to the rear lift gate energized with the ignition turned off. The front passenger side and second row seating lighter are ignition switched. Those pairs have one fuse each, for a total of four lighters on two fuses.

If all new Armada's lost that feature, it wouldn't be hard to add with a long wire and a fuse.
 
#15 ·
soooo,
to follow up,

what i did was a lot of research.

I had a obd cable that plugs into a jump box to feed power to pin 16 on the obd port. this is a direct connection to the battery. this charges/maintains the battery just fine.

i am glad i asked this question because it got me to thinking, which led me to search for other options.

so when im in the garage for long periods, i will use my jump box and the obd cable form that to the obd port, and when im out in the sun parked for a while (super rare) i purchased an oem/factory solar panel that has an obd plug on it. nissan uses these in their cars on long trips around the world.

usually not sold to the public but you can find one if you look...

thanks again for pointing me in the right direction gents..
 
#16 ·
How much was the solar panel? What are the specs on it? Output in particular.
 
#18 ·
Awesome, thanks! My folks travel back to the UK a couple of times a year, I'm thinking I'll have them order one of these and ship it to their house their next visit.

Keith
 
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