1951plymouth Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 Hi all, I am trying to find an automatic solar battery maintainer for 6 volt car battery. I don't drive my car regularlynakd I live n California with bright sun every day. Between drives I thought it would be a great idea to keep my battery well charged using a solar trickle charger. Does anybody know of an appropriate solar battery charger manufacturer, model etc? Also, how many watts, amps or milliamps should I be looking for in a charger. The goal is too just maintain a healthy fully charged battery between drives and to not over cook the battery. Thoughts? Thx Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJK Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 Not solar: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 4 minutes ago, DJK said: Not solar: also not positive ground and yes the OP did not state the polarity of his vehicle but default is positive... as a note, my friend just found a blown battery in one of his many cars that is sustained between drives by a small tender of this nature....the battery box was able to contain most all the spill/spew if you consider a maintainer...I would consider a box also... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 https://www.walmart.com/ip/6V-Solar-Panel-Charger-for-6V-7Ah-Sonnenchein-E100-SLA-Battery/868262243?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=1082&&adid=22222222227116442717&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=t&wl3=381047993721&wl4=aud-430887228898:pla-387212343098&wl5=9005117&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=112561763&wl11=online&wl12=868262243&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjZvInojN6gIVGeDICh0LLg4UEAQYAyABEgKVE_D_BwE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desoto1939 Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 I have a Battery Tender that has the option for 12 or 6 volt and is a 3amp charger. i have used this for several years and is connected to Ground fault outlet in my gargae. i have it hooked up at all times. Since my 39 desoto is a positive ground i hook the black clip to the main battery cable on top of my starter since I have the foot plunger style ignition and the red clip to a bolt on the head. Will add pictures of my unit. Rich Hartung Desoto1939@aol.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soth122003 Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 I bought one of those 36 led solar security lights from Harbor freight and used for about 2 years. The light was in the elements and went bad from moisture getting inside. The solar panel for it was still good and it puts out about 7 volts. Not sure how many amps it puts out but it is low, maybe 1 amp at best. It had a long cord and I put a couple of alligator clips on it and hooked them to the battery in the car. Used some RTV and glued magnets to the panel. Ran the cables thru the car and leave the panel laying on the back floorboard. When I finish driving I put the panel on the roof and it trickle charges the battery just fine. Joe Lee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TodFitch Posted July 14, 2020 Report Share Posted July 14, 2020 My modern car with all of its electronics, including “keyless” door locks and ignition, will drain its battery if left parked for a long period of time. So I have a setup where I can put a 12v Battery Tender on it when I know the car will be sitting a while. But I have never had that problem with my 6v+ Plymouth. When the key is off there is no load energized anywhere on the car and the battery seems pretty happy even after sitting for months. Not saying you shouldn’t get a 6v trickle charger of some kind. Just saying that if I noticed that the battery in my old car wasn’t keeping a charge I’d start with looking over the car’s electrical system first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 Certainly there are no shortage of 6V plug in chargers and tenders. Solar options, I would have thought, would harder to find. That does not seem to be the case: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=6V+solar+charger&ref=nb_sb_noss_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los_Control Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 I wonder how they work on a 6 volt car battery. I suspect these solar panels have modern day electronics in mind. A usb port typically is ~5 volts. Or at least the power supply in a computer tower, the wires that power a usb port is 5 volts. Same when you connect a 110 volt outlet with a usb port, The usb port should be about 5 volts. So I suspect these 6 volt solar panel are so popular to charge a cell phone in remote locations. Would also charge some tablets and note books, while a laptop and other larger electronics may require maybe 12 volts to charge. They vary. I know a guy who does maintenance on wireless internet towers. All the work is done with cordless power tools and batteries charged with solar. You need a better solar panel to charge the power tools and of course he needed his laptop to check the signal strength, he charged it also. Sure a little better solar panel charger, you get some adjustment on voltage to your electronics. Only point is, I am sure they did not have a 6 volt positive ground desoto in mind when they created the 6 volt chargers. I assume it will work, you will need to disconnect the positive cable from your car while in use ... I could be wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 (edited) Postive ground makes little difference. Most of these chargers come with optional, quick-connect ends. So you can have a cigarette type male plug on the end or smaller sized sprung battery clips. Use the clips. Put the red on your battery positive, which is ground. (Which is ground for us die hard old Mopar lovers). Black on your battery negative post. Then relax while the sun charges it. The top one for $45, click on it. It has a video. The guy says they are good for any 6V battery. He mentions a golf cart battery. They have bigger batteries than our old Desotos. Edited July 15, 2020 by keithb7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los_Control Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 19 minutes ago, keithb7 said: Postive ground makes little difference. Most of these chargers come with optional, quick-connect ends. Well maybe I am doing it wrong. I know that when I charge my battery using a standard 110 volt battery charger. I connect the red to positive and black to neg on the battery, just like any other modern battery ... except charger is set to 6 volt. When finished I then install battery using positive ground. All seems fine here. I know if I connect my charger this way and leave the positive cable connected, I will have a very sad battery charger .... I assume solar charger would be sad also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 I use a 6V plug-in charger and don't disconnect anything. I have a 12V/6V Genius 750 model. Digital charger/tender .75A or 750 milli-amp. Works just great. It's sitting on my 53 Windsor battery right now. I've been cheating on the Windsor, enjoying my '38 most of this cruising season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 As seen here. Zero issues unless the battery is left to go stone dead. Then the digital charger won’t sense the voltage and charge. I must have 7 battery chargers kicking around here. Some are analog. I have a 1a 6V old school charger, but it has no auto kick out. So I rarely use it. I have various batteries that I store all winter. This Genius charger has been very good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los_Control Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 Last time I tried it, was a old school charger probably 20 years old think it was 10/6/2 with option for 12 or 6 volt. And it worked fine charging a 6 volt battery out of the car. The one time I connected it to the battery while still installed in the car (truck) It pegged the needle on the gauge and twisted it off. I assumed that was because of the positive ground still connected. And would myself assume would happen to solar charger also .... Maybe it was fine to connect it, and just was the end of the life of the charger? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TodFitch Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 4 minutes ago, Los_Control said: Last time I tried it, was a old school charger probably 20 years old think it was 10/6/2 with option for 12 or 6 volt. And it worked fine charging a 6 volt battery out of the car. The one time I connected it to the battery while still installed in the car (truck) It pegged the needle on the gauge and twisted it off. I assumed that was because of the positive ground still connected. And would myself assume would happen to solar charger also .... Maybe it was fine to connect it, and just was the end of the life of the charger? Not sure what you did, but I've used a battery charger on my 6v+ with the battery in the car any number of times. Just have to match positive to positive and negative to negative. I don't do it very often so I have to be very careful to remind myself that the red cable from the charger goes on the engine block and the black on the terminal lug on the starter (battery under the front seat so it is inconvenient to connect to the battery terminals themselves). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los_Control Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 OK then, thats the way I connected it the very first time that the battery was still in the car ... The charger died ... I thought "well, we cant do that" And never tried again. I do not want to spread dis-information, that was just my experience the first time, never did it again. Positive ground still seems so backwards to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Buchanan Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 (edited) 42 minutes ago, Los_Control said: Well maybe I am doing it wrong. I know that when I charge my battery using a standard 110 volt battery charger. I connect the red to positive and black to neg on the battery, just like any other modern battery ... except charger is set to 6 volt. When finished I then install battery using positive ground. All seems fine here. I know if I connect my charger this way and leave the positive cable connected, I will have a very sad battery charger .... I assume solar charger would be sad also. Your charger doesn't care what the battery is connected to as long as red clip is on positive terminal of battery and black clip on negative. No need to disconnect the battery. Now......if you try red clip to positive terminal of battery and black clip to the car chassis........you might have an unhappy (shorted) charger.....or you might not. Many modern chargers have short circuit protection designed into the charger. Edited July 15, 2020 by Sam Buchanan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 (edited) Might as well add that my budget level 6V battery is in it’s 4th year. I’ve always maintained it with my Genius 750 charger. Battery always installed in the car. Starts my 265 without hesitation. It will be interesting to see how long the battery lasts. Edited July 15, 2020 by keithb7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldodge41 Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 10 hours ago, keithb7 said: Might as well add that my budget level 6V battery is in it’s 4th year. I’ve always maintained it with my Genius 750 charger. Battery always installed in the car. Starts my 265 without hesitation. It will be interesting to see how long the battery lasts. Not solar but I also use the Genius on my 6v +grnd with good results. I also had a battery tender on my 8v +grnd that worked fine too. I have a couple 12v -grnd setups using battery tenders as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJK Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 On 7/14/2020 at 7:57 AM, Plymouthy Adams said: also not positive ground and yes the OP did not state the polarity of his vehicle but default is positive... as a note, my friend just found a blown battery in one of his many cars that is sustained between drives by a small tender of this nature....the battery box was able to contain most all the spill/spew if you consider a maintainer...I would consider a box also... Your charger doesn't care what the battery is connected to as long as red clip is on positive terminal of battery and black clip on negative. No need to disconnect the battery. Now......if you try red clip to positive terminal of battery and black clip to the car chassis........you might have an unhappy (shorted) charger.....or you might not. Many modern chargers have short circuit protection designed into the charger. Edited 13 hours ago by Sam Buchanan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plymouthy Adams Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 (edited) this is true...I saw the silver connector an thought it was a cigar lighter plug and they are normally wired negative ground.....my error....(bi-focal and computer screens often collide) Edited July 15, 2020 by Plymouthy Adams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 Rv solar panel to charge 12v rv battery. 12v to 110 inverter, connected to 12v battery, plug tender into inverter, set for six volts to trickle to 6v battery. Thank you Mr. Goldburg... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted July 15, 2020 Report Share Posted July 15, 2020 I have two black and Decker 12v 6c maintaners. Last year for some reason I hooked one to my Studebaker 12 v battery set at six folts. It indicated a charge for three days or so then the indicator light went solid indicating a fully charged battery. So the 12v battery just takes longer to charge fully when input is six volts. When I hooked the one onto the Plymouth, it was set for 6v and the indicator went solid after an overnight. I finally noticed the one on the 12v battery was set for 6 v and changed it to 12 but there were no issues. I doubt that with the rate so low putting the 12v on the 6v battery wouldn't damage the battery, the only caution I have seen on line is that it might not recognize the full battery state and would not go into standby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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