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  #21  
Old 24th August 2016, 04:12 PM
SilverS8 SilverS8 is offline
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On sale now for £18,64

Tried to sign up, but only UK it seems like

Two of these would be great in the Boat, when anchored up without landpower available
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  #22  
Old 24th August 2016, 04:16 PM
mattylondon mattylondon is offline
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Originally Posted by SilverS8 View Post
On sale now for £18,64

Tried to sign up, but only UK it seems like

Two of these would be great in the Boat, when anchored up without landpower available
Price dropped in the last few hours!
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  #23  
Old 17th April 2020, 11:14 AM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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There might be another thread more recent/relevant, but I decided to buy a solar "battery maintainer" a couple of weeks ago.

Based on a recommendation on another forum I went for one that "looks" very similar to the Aldi one that started this discussion, but it's branded "AA" (Product code AA4185) and has an OBD connector. No specific output mentioned though there is a larger model advertised as 4.8W; I didn't go for that.

I tested it at over 21V and 0.15A output in good sun (about 3W); same inside the car behind a standard-tint windscreen. It seems to be maintaining the battery at an adequate voltage (I've been monitoring it roughly every other day); I started it today for the first time since purchase and it turned over briskly.

I'm not too worried about the battery running down, other than it doesn't do it any good. Charging it up again and entering radio codes etc. isn't a big issue for a D2 fortunately being rather old-school in that regard. Our much newer Volvo on the other hand with twin batteries, stop-start etc. would probably be a right royal PITA if it went flat.
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2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!

Last edited by HPsauce; 17th April 2020 at 11:19 AM.
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  #24  
Old 22nd April 2020, 10:41 AM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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In the end I bought the larger 4.8W one as well and it arrived today.
Tested at about double the amps of the smaller one so I've fitted it to the S8.
The smaller one is now on the Volvo, though that should get occasional use.
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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  #25  
Old 22nd April 2020, 12:42 PM
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Johnmed Johnmed is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HPsauce View Post
In the end I bought the larger 4.8W one as well and it arrived today.
Tested at about double the amps of the smaller one so I've fitted it to the S8.
The smaller one is now on the Volvo, though that should get occasional use.
I tried the Aldi one, it’s of no use.

Do you have a link to the 4.8W panel HP?
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  #26  
Old 22nd April 2020, 01:36 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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I just searched for AA 4.8W solar charger on eBay and chose what looked to be the best price/feedback. There weren't many...

This is the one I bought: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AA-4-8W-X...y/184168474667
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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  #27  
Old 22nd April 2020, 09:38 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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I've been monitoring the battery voltage with the smaller "charger" panel attached and it was fairly stable. The battery, despite being not that old isn't in great condition due to lots of really short journeys over last winter; it dropped low enough to not even start a couple of times and even lost the radio code once relatively recently.

However with the new 4.8W panel attached today for about 10 sunny hours the battery voltage at the end of the day was higher than I've seen it for some time (except immediately after having a drive) so I'm feeling positive.

I can't recall the exact battery capacity, but it will presumably be of the order of 100Ah. If the solar panel can deliver even half of its advertised rate that's about 0.2A, 2Ah over the day. Not masses, but way more than enough to cover the remote locking receiver and anything else running when locked. Maybe even enough to freshen the battery up a bit?
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!

Last edited by HPsauce; 22nd April 2020 at 09:43 PM.
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  #28  
Old 30th April 2020, 03:40 PM
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johnny_quattro johnny_quattro is offline
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Default Same or different?

Thanks for posting about the 4.8W panel, which interested me as mine is a 2.4W panel with an optional OBD-II connector. The link posted only seemed to show a panel that mentioned crocodile clips but no mention of the OBD-II connector.

I did some hunting around and found this one, which is about £8 cheaper and clearly states that it has the OBD-II connector:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AA-4-8W-1....c100010.m2109

Would you be able to confirm that this one is the same as your one?
Many thanks in advance, Mr Sauce.

Cheers,
Johnny G
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  #29  
Old 30th April 2020, 04:50 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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That does indeed look the same, and is cheaper.
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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  #30  
Old 2nd May 2020, 06:06 PM
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johnny_quattro johnny_quattro is offline
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Cheers for the confirmation. Just a quick note - after having left my car for 3 1/2 weeks, it started on the button although a quick multimeter reading beforehand showed 11.8V. As a result of the above, I will be looking to upgrade from my lowly 2.4W panel to the lofty heights of a 4.8W panel.

Stay safe everyone and keep washing those hands. I cannot wait to wash my car again.
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2000 D2 A8L quattro 4.2 in Audi silver (my ex-girlfriend)
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