Solargizer installation

[m151dave]

Just thought I would share a little about how I installed my solargizer trickle charger. Perhaps others in the forum have done something similar or have a different application......

I got one of the 24 volt solar charging units from a friend who bought a half dozen on ebay. Instructions are pretty clear and concise. I made an alteration that made things a lot easier .

The instructions are very clear that you do not alter the length of the cable that leads from the box housing the charging regulator to the solar panel. I was about to trim them to fit when I just happened to notice that bit of text on the sheet laying in the pile where I threw everything after opening the box. Any way, big no-no. Sometimes directions are our friend and a good thing to read as long as none of the other guys are watching......

My biggest concern was that I be able to remove the solar cell easily without the need for tools so that it did not interfere with the overall appearance of the jeep when on display. I never saw one of these nifty little things until about 1994, they sure were not around in 1972 which is the year of my mutt. Anyway after hitting a couple of web sites and researching the matter I figured out the the length of cable dimension which factors into the resistance of the wire and balance of the charging dingus in the black box or some such thing would not be impacted if I cut the wires a foot or so from the box and fit the two ends with a plug. I selected a white two pin polarized plug like those used on home computers for power to the hard drives. I installed the plug and fit it into the battery box where the cover has a slight angle cut into the flange. This is at the outside rear corner of the cover. The plug is out of sight during display and easily accessible for plugging in the cell.

The wire from the control box to the cell is very long. Long enough that I can lead it out of the garage and lay the panel on the fender of my M416 trailer outside with wire to spare. The charger does a great job of conditioning the batteries and keeping them charged. I have a small butt pack hanging on the back of my jeep and I unplug the solar panel and roll the wire up and store it in the bag when the jeep is out and about.

It should be noted that the weak point of this entire product is the soldered joint where the wire connects to the solar panel. I managed to break it in just a few weeks of rolling up the wire and unrolling it again. I re-soldered (polarity is important, take heed) the connections and added some extra shrink wrap at the end of the wire where it connects to the panel and this has cut down on the flex and strain of the solder joint a bit. That and being a little more careful.

The solar panel does have holes in each corner so that you can mount the panel to the vehicle body. That just wasn't an option for my needs.

[Floyd]

Dave I was just thinking I could use one of those to keep the charge up. Thanks again for the heads up on the leads, good information.

Floyd