I have a 2005 Chevy uplander, handicap conversion by Braun. Over the last five months I've gone through 3 AAA batteries. Recently I gave it to Chevy to see if they could find what was killing the batteries and their tests turned up nothing. I only drive the car at the most, once a week but have been using the auto start feature to let it run for about ten minutes every other day.

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with those Solar battery Maintainers. Do they work and if so do you have any recommendations. TIA

 

what was the measured parasitic draw on the battery. they should have put it in the repair order notes. find that out so you know a solar charger can meet the charging you need.

10 min of idle run time will not charge the battery....the start up will use more than you put in.

the auto start itself will add between 10 and 40mamps of battery draw. Ideally you want the entire vehicle to be under 50mamps draw after 20mins.
I prefer an electric trickle charger cause they work at night, overcast etc. A shop can wire one in so all you have to do is plug it in to an extension cord like a block heater.

 

Tech2, Thank you.

The notes say that system charging at 14.5 volt which I just looked at and verified, the Parasitic draw test showed a value of 28 milliamps. The battery that triple A put in was reported as weak. I had them throw in a new one rated at 42 months.

As I stated I don't drive it for a week at times and would like to try a solar maintainer and a solar regulator so it can't over charge it. I live in an apartment complex and and what you advised would be perfect, but My parking spot in like 40 feet across a road. I have looked on amazon. maybe you could advise me of one. Thank you!!

 

@tech2 are you there?

 

that draw is not excessive. I haven't looked up solar charger data . post a link to what you what to buy and maybe we can figure out the size you need for the draw the vehicle has.

 

i always throw a solar panel in the south-facing window of a car i dont drive often
an amorphous panel picks up some mA even in low light
park facing south and just throw it on the dash.
a 5W panel should do the trick. just remember to brush the snow off and take it for a spin about once a week.
ive had mine a long time but i would think you can get one for $30 or less.