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Solar Trickle Charger for
1995 E 350 Ford Van
This little Solar Trickle Charger gadget saved my van's battery. It may be seemingly the most wimpy insignificant way to use solar energy, but I'll be darned if this little thing doesn't work.
All I know is before I got this 'solar car battery charger', if I let the van sit for a week or so, especially during a rainy day, it wouldn't fire up. It would immediately crank slow and the battery level would be too low to turn the motor over.
Since I've been leaving this solar trickle charger in my van plugged into the cigarette lighter (verses the alligator clips) and simply laying the solar panel on the dash board, I can now jump in the truck after any period of time, (even in the drenching rain!) and it will start up. No Problem.
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 Northern Tool sells a 1.8 Watt kit for around $20. Click on the graphic link here for information. Plug in 'solar panels' in Northern Tool's search box and the "Powered Battery Maintainer 1.8 W" solar panel will show up on that page.I don't know the exact explanation as to why my van would not start after setting for a while and trying it in wet conditions, which immediately drained the battery when I cranked it over. One thing I do know is 'Betsy' (my van's nickname) has over 440,000 miles on it!(Don't they all get more temperamental as they get older!) It seems the ignition systems seems to be weaken by the moisture and needs a good strong battery to provide the initial spark to start it in those conditions.(Just my theory, but I haven't had much time to bother with it..but the solar charger solved the problem.) My next test is charging a dead battery on my 1969 Case CK580 Backhoe.
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