Am I being pretty dumb here? feel free to say if so!

Just bought a brand new trickle charger for the Scoob, plugged it on, nothing, no charging light on the panel.

Turned the ignition to stage 1, charging light comes on. Instructions say I should just be able to plug it into the cigarette lighter and the light will come on and it'll do its thing.

Any ideas? Is it just foooked?

 

I don't understand how those things can charge the battery through the lighter socket because the socket is physically disconnected from the battery when the ignition is turned off!

I have a solar panel that i connect straight to the battery and just close the wire between the door glass and the door seal. Does the job!

 

Yeah im sure there must an electrician on here that might be able to educate us! surely if power can go down the wires one way, it can go the other?

It has the crocodile clips for the battery connection, but i live in south London, it'll be robbed in no time if I do that, and its a pain having to open the bonnet and disconnect it.

 

You'll need to change the wiring of the cigar lighter to an non switched feed. Though with the current weather, you're not going to put much charge in ;-)

 

That just upsets me.

I cant fiddle with the car at the moment due to illness (hence why i was buying a trickle charger!)

 

Buy the one from the AA. It connects straight to the OBD? connector under the steering column & works an absolute treat. Get them from amazon for £20 odd quid. I've left the scoob for weeks at a time (winter as well) & starts up no probs without so much as a stutter. Whereas before I'd had to jump start it.
Well worth the money.



HTH
Regards
Rick

 

Rick, you legend, nice one! Wish id asked the question before I bought this one from AMAZON Cheers bud

 

+1 do what this man said, the charger goes inside!

 

To add to this mine is now mounted on the rear shelf, simple relay and wiring auto switched the charger off when the ignition is switched on, this removes the need for disconnecting and permanent install.

 

Thats a good plan, cheers dude, normally yes I would do that, but for ease of use at the moment being a bit broken, im going with the AA one.

Thanks for all your help y'all

 

I used diodes to prevent reverse feeding and current drain when the sun isn't out. Cheap and easy

I just pull clamps off the battery and throw it in the back seat when I'm not using it at all.

 

Can anyone please confirm if my OBD2 connector on my Bugeye Impreza will be live with the ignition off? I'm in the same situation as Trinity with no means to check.

Also any electricians know if there is a limit to the wattage you can safely send through an OBD2 connection? I plan to use the Halfords 6W one (good bang for your buck) with an ODB2 to SAE adapter lead. Most I've seen for that price that come with an OBD2 lead are only 4W and more expensive.