Solar battery minder in cigarette lighter

[TCollier]

Will it work on these 4th gen trucks in a lighter plug that's always hot? My truck gets parked for at least 4 weeks at a time in a parking lot. Never bothered with it before but I have a small still in the box 2.5 watt minder sitting on a shelf. If I can just plug it in, throw the solar panel on the dash and leave I'd like to use it.

 

[brulaz]

Good idea.Stored mine for ~7 weeks and the batteries were totally dead.
Needed a tow to the dealer and had them both replaced under warranty. Manual says, max of 3 weeks storage, otherwise disconnect the neg terminals.

 

[phantomusa]

I use solar charger a lot on my equipment that sits a construction sites for extended time and so far it works as long as my employee remembers to hook it up

 

[sag2]

2.5 watt isn't much but it will help. I used to keep a HF 5w on the trailer but it had no parasitic draw when off. I got a 40w panel and $15 controller now and it brings it up even if the batteries are down when I hook it up.

 

[phantomusa]

Don't need a lot of wattage to keep battery's topped off I use a harbor freight solar charger on my mack truck it's got 4 group 31 battery's and always starts even after sitting for a couple months
The key is to have good battery's to start with and I don't use the cig lighter plug in type I prefer the clamp on to battery type
Pappy

 

[TCollier]

I've been working offshore full time for 22 years. Never had a dead battery even though I have probably just jinxed myself. I don't think I've had to change out batteries more than normal either. My '06 was sold with the OEM batteries still in it after 8 years. I just thought since the minder is just sitting there and if I can simply plug it into a lighter outlet then why not? I'm not sure if there is an inline diode or something preventing a back flow of power from the outlet in these electronically controlled trucks.
Have had flat or almost flat tires a couple times. Tried nitrogen but if there's a leak, there's a leak.

 

[brulaz]

The cigarette lighter outlet may not stay connected to the battery. After awhile it may be disconnected. With my car, I had to clip the solar panel leads directly to the battery.