Customer Reviews

Sunforce 50012 1.8-Watt Solar Battery Maintainer

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(17)

 

 

Product works well but you need to check the output at the end of the cigarette lighter plug with voltmeter. I couldn't figure out why there was no power at the cig plug. After some investigating I realized there was a fuse inside the cig plug that was blown. Even though the blue light is flashing you'll still have no power at the plug. I slid the chrome ring off the plug and it opened up exposing a blown fuse. Hope this helps.

I installed this battery maintainer on the dashboard of my motor home and plugged it into the cigarette lighter while the motor home was in long term storage. Since the rig faces the morning sun, the maintainer did an excellent job of keeping the battery up to charge. I am well pleased with this Sunforce Solar battery Maintainer and would recommend it to anyone in need of such a unit.

I purchased this solar charger for a camping trip I had planned. Out in the high deserts of Arizona, I wanting protection that my truck battery will be charged. I have a 1993 Nissan Pathfinder with a WalMart battery. We did use the truck battery too much while camping and that next morning the battery would not turn over the truck motor. Hooked up the Sunforce 1.8W solar charger and by day end the truck started right up. LIFE SAVER!!! I would recomend the product HIGHLY!!!

I purchased 5 of these hoping they'd work as a cheap alternative to the more expensive solar chargers/maintainers. That was partly true; two of the five did but the other three all died within a month. Unfortunately this company(based in Canada) doesn't offer any support or warranty, contrary to what they advertise. Very poor quality and no support.

I bought this array to trickle charge my 12V battery in my '05 Civic (I don't run the engine long enough between startups to maintain battery voltage). Attachment through the factory accessory plug was not feasible--the key must be turned to "accessory" for the plug to work, which then also powers up the radio. [Curiously, if I connected the array to the plug without the key on, I could turn on the radio, implying that the array was powering everything in the car that runs on "accessory"!] I therefore installed an always-on power socket; to do so, I installed a Bussmann BP/HHH ATM Add-A-Fuse to a unused fuse plug in my interior fuse panel, and attached to it a Radio Shack 270-1527 socket (after clipping off the battery clips).

In full sun, the array produces 70mA of current at 24V (60mA when properly attached to the battery). When attached in reverse, the array LED and diode together draw microamps of current (my ammeter could not measure that low of current).

Pros: Affordable price, good choice of connectors and clamps, compact design, long cable length, blue led indicator helps determine activity, very good shock proof packing, simple easy to understand instruction manual, light weight, environment friendly and saves electricity money.

The price of this item is reasonable and affordable. Perfect battery maintainer for the long winter months. Panels comes with its own clamps, adapters and connectors. Just to make sure, I checked the battery voltage before using this item and after using the item and the maintainer surely works great. The batteries show no sign of drainage or loss of voltage since one month. I have seen the voltage has gone up slightly indicating a good charge everyday.

Cons: One panel-wire had a loose connection (soldering). The LED light indicator turned ON sometimes and if I moved the panel-wire it went OFF. I understood it is loose soldering. If I had a solder iron, I could have easily repaired the loose connection. Since I don't, I returned the item and got another set which is fine.

Nice little battery charger that maintains you battery. The flashing blue led lets you know it working and the cigarette lighter adaptor is a big plus for being easy to use. The only thing I noticed was that the cigarette plug adaptor sometimes pops out of the socket. Not sure why but it appears it's a little long and the center contact sticks out fairly far and the side contact springs don't go in far enough to hold it in place. I have to assume this a little too long and therefore pops out and would become useless to charge the battery then and if you leave it long periods wihtout being able to see if it's still pushed in it would no longer be charging the battery. Other then that is works great. It might be that my cigarette lighter plug is on an older car but would have thought they are a standard size.

I would recommend it 100%

Here's the scoop: Before you do anything, if you plan to use the Cigarette lighter output, test that your Cigarette lighter is ACTIVE WHEN THE ENGINE IS OFF. To do this, plug a cell phone into the lighter and see if it turns on (reads "charging") when the engine is off. If your cigarette lighter is not active with the engine off, there is no point in purchasing this. If you purchase this, have a cheap voltmeter to test whether the maintainer is actually outputting a charge. The flashing blue LED light on the maintainer only tells you there is enough light hitting the panel, nothing else. I called the tech line and they told me this info about the blue light. A cheap voltmeter that tests small batteries will suffice, just connect the + and - cables to the + and - terminals on the voltmeter. Do not trust the suction cups to mount the maintainer, mine fell after I thought it was secure, just lay it on the dashboard. I chose to return the 1.8 watt maintainer and purchased the 5.0 watt maintainer. I can fit the 5 watt size on my dashboard and it is not too large to fit in my rear window. The cables on the 5.0 watt maintainer are much more heavy duty than the ones on the 1.8 watt maintainer. Forget about the 15 watt maintainers to put inside a car, it is too large and requires a charge controller. The 1.8 watt and 5.0 watt sizes do not require a charge controller. I believe something in my car is slowly eating up my car battery since it died after less than a year of use so chose to go with a more heavy-duty maintainer to offset what could be draining it. Hope this helps.

This product simply did not work. I plugged it into an "always on" auxiliary outlet in my Chrysler Town and Country. The car sat outside over the winter at my summer house with the panel exposed to the sun on the dash. The blue light was still on when I returned in April, and I checked that the panel was still producing electricity (tongue test, ouch!). However, the car battery was completely dead (no lights, nothing). I was able to start the car using jumper cables from another vehicle. After an hour of driving/charging, the battery held its charge and started the engine just fine.

I ordered 4 of the solar panels. One was not functional out of the box but has been replaced with no hassles. As far as there performance I live in W. WA and our famous cloudy skis do not stop these units. I have one for each vehicle I am not using and my generator. All now have perfectly topped off batteries and are ready to go when I am.