Battery with solar charger

[gordonv]

My knowledge is too limited with regards to placing a solar charger (solar cell) onto my battery to keep it charged.

I have a 1 watt solar charger, which I place on my car during the summer, to keep the battery charged while I'm out riding my bike. Car batteries are cheap, so I don't really care what happens, but I wish to place the charger on the MC battery during the winter. There is no limiter or anything else that I know of on the chaarger.

How does the charger work, does it only supply the amount of power to the battery to keep it charged, or does it always supply a current to it, and may toast the battery from over charging?

[Bone]

You could type the name and model number into a search. Many manufactures have owners handbooks and specs on their products. They know the chargers capabilities.

[giff]

Forget about the solar charger. If the charger is putting out 12volts then a 1 watt charger is only producing .083 amps. A decent battery will sit for many weeks or even months and still be able to crank your bike with gusto. It's overkill to add the solar charger especially in warm weather. Instead of hassling with the charger, just ride the bike! By just riding the bike for a few minutes every couple of weeks you'll put bach more juice then  a dozen solar cells.
                                                                                  giff

[gordonv]

I drive the car during the winter because of the weather, and the bike during the summer because of the weather. So for approx 6 month a year, each vehicle is not insured so I can't drive it (insurance is $1300/year each vehcile), and is sitting on a charger.

The car gets the summer sun, and has done nicely with the solar charger the last 2 years. The bike gets parked in the garage and plugged into a charger about 1 week every month. I've pulled my bike battery and have it inside my townhouse in the spare bathroom on a charger (can you say hassel?). I was thinking of moving it to my parents garage and place it in the window with the solar charger, not having to worry about looking after it during the winter.

Like you mentioned, a trickle of .083 A would most likely keep it maintained, and at that low of an A not likely to cause over charging. I've forgotten most of my electronic class.

Sounds like I have nothing to worry about.

[Baloo]

I have a 2 amps automatic charger that cuts off when the battery gets full. During the winter, I take the battery off the bike, as the bike is stored in a non heated garage. Every month or so, I hook the charger to the battery and give it a charge until it is full. No problem so far...

[Bobbo]

Like you mentioned, a trickle of .083 A would most likely keep it maintained, and at that low of an A not likely to cause over charging. I've forgotten most of my electronic class.

Sounds like I have nothing to worry about.

The 83 milliamp charge current would not be a problem unless the charging voltage goes over 13.4 volts.  Lead acid batteries self-limit charging current in the float phase since the internal impedance increases with the charge level.  A simple test of the charging voltage with the battery fully charged would let you know.