Topic: Solar Gremlins

[G.B.H.]

My wife doesn't drive her Versa very much so I decided to plug a trickle charge solar panel into the cigarette lighter. Every time I do the radio turns on. No sun, no radio. Sun, radio. Plug it in at night it's fine. In the morning when the sun hits the panel the radio turns on. Anyone have thoughts on this?

[Sage Bromax]

It appears that the plug and the radio are on the same power circuit.  Which probably means that the battery is not being charged.  You will need to make sure the cigarette lighter plug is a direct connect to the battery in order to charge the battery.

[G.B.H.]

Thanks. Small car. Only one lighter that I know of. I guess I'll have to dig through my junk and find the battery clips that came with the panel. Thanks again.

[knightrider]

tony is probably right, most likely the plug is not live when the ignition is not on, you can check with a phone charger or something like that.

[G.B.H.]

I'll check with my volt meter tomorrow. Makes sense now that I think about it, I guess. My electrics knowledge is somewhere between understands the basics and dangerous to myself.