Vanagon EuroVan
Previous messageNext messagePrevious in topicNext in topicPrevious by same authorNext by same authorPrevious page (January 2003, week 1)Back to main VANAGON pageJoin or leave VANAGON (or change settings)ReplyPost a new messageSearchProportional fontNon-proportional font
Date:         Thu, 2 Jan 2003 16:24:21 -0500
Reply-To:     David Brodbeck <gull@CYBERSPACE.ORG>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Brodbeck <gull@CYBERSPACE.ORG>
Subject:      Re: Solar panels are GONE!!!
Comments: To: Isaac Taylor <itaylor@ATTBI.COM>
In-Reply-To:  <0fa301c2b2a2$8f5ba830$6401020a@garibaldi>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Thu, 2 Jan 2003, Isaac Taylor wrote:

> Make of this what you will, but when I was working at Boston Volkswagen > last summer and these solar panels started coming in (they work great, by > the way -- I gave out a few to friends and family) there are very clear > instructions from VW in every new car to not leave the solar panels > plugged into the cigarette lighter once the vehicle is running, at risk of > electrical hazard and potential fire. I guess the theory is that if the > car is on, or if your cigarette lighter in an older car is wired to > provide power even when the ignition is off, that rather than charging the > battery, the current flow reverses and heads into the solar panel.

It must be related to the higher voltage when the car is running. The cigarette lighter providing power even when the ignition is off can't be the issue -- if the cigarette lighter is disconnected when the car's off, the panel won't charge the battery!

_ _ __ _ _ _| | | | David M. Brodbeck (N8SRE) Ypsilanti, MI / _` | | | | | | +----------------------------------------------------- | (_| | |_| | | | @ cyberspace.org \__, |\__,_|_|_| "To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the |___/ pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be."


Back to: Top of message | Previous page | Main VANAGON page

Please note - During the past 17 years of operation, several gigabytes of Vanagon mail messages have been archived. Searching the entire collection will take up to five minutes to complete. Please be patient!


Return to the archives @ gerry.vanagon.com


The vanagon mailing list archives are copyright (c) 1994-2011, and may not be reproduced without the express written permission of the list administrators. Posting messages to this mailing list grants a license to the mailing list administrators to reproduce the message in a compilation, either printed or electronic. All compilations will be not-for-profit, with any excess proceeds going to the Vanagon mailing list.

Any profits from list compilations go exclusively towards the management and operation of the Vanagon mailing list and vanagon mailing list web site.