Hi Guys.
I have a u.k. 2004 voyager
I have been having trouble of late with the battery going flat, the problem is that I don't use the car very often.
I have purchased a solar powered battery maintainer which sits on the dashboard and puts a trickle charge into the battery via the cigarette lighter socket.
The query I've got is deciding which socket to put the plug into as it needs to be live without the keys being in the ignition.
Can anyone give me some information.
Thanks in anticipation.
kingpin

 

I've a 2003 Voyager and the accessory socket with the black snap off cap, at base of centre console, left side (uk passenger side), is live all time. See picture, bottom left hand, black cap.

 

Quinteq has done much work on this one, and so have I. You use the left-hand cigar lighter socket to feed current to the battery all the time. The right-hand one is switched off when key is removed.
The problem here will be two-fold.
1) I't's very likely your battery has become 'crystal-sulphated' which reduces it's a/h capacity considerably. When I measured mine a while ago, and it had gone down to 20a/h when it said 70 on the case. If you don't fix this, the battery will never be satisfactory unless you adopt the strategy below. Or replace it with a known-good one. See my postings on this one. There are a few...

2) Solar charging WILL work in a british winter, but you need a biggish (and expensive) solar panel of at least 30watt or more. In winter diffused daylight, it's output will be less than a fifth of rated. And then there is the night... You only get the rated wattage when in direct sunlight at right-angles to the panel. Even as small as 10watt will work in summer sunny conditions. If you adopt this approach, be careful not to allow the panel any shading due to trees etc. as this will ruin its capacity, i.e. it must be evenly illuminated all the time.
3) If you can, it's cheaper and electrically better to keep the battery on float-charge of 13.8volt., 24/7. If you do this with a crystal-sulphated battery, it will gradually get back its a/h capacity, but it will take a few months as the sulphation of this kind is a near insulator. No need to worry about damaging the battery or any gassing -- this is so slight, and the means of recombining the H2 and the O back to water is already built into the battery. Of course, if you live in a flat etc., you can't get mains electricity to the car.
4) If the above be the case, it's a very good idea to have a fully charged battery ready and willing, plus a pair of jump leads if you get the dreaded "heavy-click" as the starter solenoid refuses to engage. At work, or parked a long time, don't leave the second battery connected. Be very careful about polarity when connecting another battery as it's quite capable of setting things on fire.

I've just designed a simple and cheap 13.8volt float charger using a regulated 15volt el cheapo switch-mode power unit that I bought second-hand in Leeds market for a quid. Anyone can make one of these, no soldering, except the cigar lighter plug, unless you can find one with some leads already on it. I'll be posting a "how-to-do" on this website in due course with pictures. On this device, the 13.8volt is not dependant on the current draw by the battery.

Leedsman.

Interesting further addition:--

On a completely rejuvenated battery kept on float-charge of 13.8volt in my workshop as a spare, the battery current draw was 5m/A. That's 0.005amp! This shows that there need be no worries about gassing etc. (the water component of the dilute acid being electrolyzed to O2 and H2). This could be a means of assessing when the battery is in fact fully rejuvenated, i.e. de-sulphated.

 

Thank you leedsman and goggs for your info.
quietman

 

The socket on the left side (passenger side) is controlled by a two position fuse. If the fuse is in position one the power is switched by the ignition. In position two (default) the power is un-switched.

Edit: Page 71 of the handbook for my 2007 says:

If desired, all of the power outlets can be
converted by your authorized dealer to provide
power with the ignition switch in the OFF
position.

(but it is simply by removing fuse F6 from one position and inserting it into the next position)

 

Thank you AlanC.
I will have to check to make sure the power outlet is is live without the key.
quietman