in praise of maplin,s 13watt solar suitcase charger,

[biff]

  hi folks,
         we bought a couple of 13wattx12volt solar suitcase chargers in maplins for under 50,pounds each in early december last.my vans have been lying idle through the winter and their batteries tend to run flat if not disconnected,the main offender is our 99 transit 150,even though it has heavy duty twin batteries it appears that this model is famous for draining the batteries because of all its electrical extras,the charger came with 3 different connections making it possible to connect to either direct to the battery or just plug into the ciggy socket.it also comes with a voltage stepdown regulator a solid little affair in itself.so i just plugged it into the ciggy socket and left it there.
                   christmas came and went and the old transit just lay there,the panel fixed up against the side passinger,s window,yesterday my son came to collect the old dear and after disconnecting the solar,up she fired after a decent good birll without any throttle,(i hate the thought of revving up on a dry engine)so ten out of ten for maplin,s solar charger,they are certainly worth the money and come very well equipped.
                                biff