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Solar charging
#1
Hello All
I m new here. My mother has a berlingo with a wheel chair access for moving my dad around but it does not get used often.
The problem is that when it is needed invariably the battery is dead!
I got one of those solar battery top up thingys! but the lighter socket in the car is off when the key is out!
it did come with a couple of crocodile clips so i could hook it to something
else in the interior!
can anyone give me an idea of where i could do this preferably somewhere
on the left side of the dash! thanks in advance!

Jeremy
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#2
Hi Jeremy. Welcome to this useful forum.
I found your post very interesting because I have a Blingo Mk.1 (M49) motorhome and I also use solar panels. Rather interestingly, the 12 volt ciggy lighter socket on my Blingo is always live, thank goodness. Looking in the Haynes manual, the ciggy lighter is as you describe - via. the ignition switch. How strange! I wonder if there is a difference among some Mk.1 variations? Have the motorhome makers (Romahome) done a more practical modification? Moving on, I also had your problem with my Civic. In this case my slightly crude cure was to run a self tapping screw down between the ignition switch live feed and the side of the connector moulding with a wire attached. There was a bolt I used for the earth close by. All of this I connected to a ''floating'' ciggy socket via. a 10 amp fuse. This set up worked fine for the 4 years I had the Civic, recently traded in for a Jimny so I have the same problem all over again The only other, and more technical, option I can think of is drilling through the bulkhead and wiring direct to the battery. You will need to be more than a bit savvy to do this option.
Looking at my vehicle (just been out in the cold) it looks easy enough to get to the connector block on the back of the ignition switch. Good luck.

Tony L
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#3
Thanks Tony. I m sure i can do that... i used soup minis up yonks ago!
to tell the truth i m not sure if it is a mk1 but i ll get my meter out and
have a poke around!
thanks again

Jeremy
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#4
Which model is it?

The Desire, with the modutop has two live 12v sockets in the overhead cupboards above the rear seats.
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#5
Hi, I have a wheelchair access Berlingo, the only thing that I can suggest is that any switch that operates extendable 'seat belt style' restaints that are solenoid operated will drain the battery if left in the unclamped mode.
Hope you can make sense of all that, if you want to have a chat - pm me and I will give you my phone number.
[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to CaptainKirk for this post:
  • fisherdish
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#6
How often are you using it for the battery to run down?

A solar charger will help keep a battery topped up but it's mainly a top up charge rather than a full charge in my experience.

I have a mk1 and the lighter socket switches off when the ignition is off.
Now an ex Berlingo owner, I have a C4
2010 (B9) Berlingo Multispace XTR HDi 112 - Kyanos Blue
Previously - 2002 (M49) Berlingo Multispace 2.0 HDi Diesel - Arctic Steel
[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to Mike for this post:
  • fisherdish
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#7
When I bought my 'P' reg diesel '600' van, the lighter socket was only 'on' with the ignition. After investigation, I discovered that the fuse that covers this has two position options; 1, only when ign on, and 2, always live... Sorted! Check your 'fusebox', the fix may be easier than you thought!
[-] The following 2 users say Thank You to marktheherald for this post:
  • fisherdish, whitebus
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#8
if of any interest to any of you guys I have a device which you plug your device into and then into cig lighter socket. The device will automatically cease power if car battery drops near 12v, so it prevents being unable to start car because of dead battery. Used it in my VW Camper to run pc, watch films etc, contact me for price if anyone interested.
Pete
2010 artic silver VTR with EXTRAS.......Confusedunny:
[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to pch for this post:
  • fisherdish
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#9
Hey, Jeremy (fisherdish). Have you spotted the very interesting post from marktheherald further up the thread? I'm off out to check my Jimny now!!!

Tony L
[-] The following 1 user says Thank You to alive23512 for this post:
  • fisherdish
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#10
Hi All
Thanks for all the replys! And thanks for the tip too CaptainKirk! i ll make sure that the rear belts are plugged in!! My mother only uses it about once a month to get my dad to the dr! other wise he runs around on his scooter! ( mostly running people over!)
I managed to find a couple of wires around the fuse box which where always live! and have spliced and hard wired the plug for the solar charge into that! and now it is happily charging away! ( hope so I go back in a week to check it! )

on a side note as i had drove the berlingo for a few days to get it charged back up. my C5 which its suspension had died! ( they want 900 quid for a new pump! and as the car was only worth 600! ) i m going out to get myself a berlingo! it may not be the prettiest car around but it seems like a great work horse!

Jeremy
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