Using a solar panel to charge a 6 V. electric childs car battery?

Question

I have a childs electric car, for the 4-6 year old. It runs on a 6V 4.5 Ah sealed lead acid battery. This car came from Spain and has only a 220V charging unit that cannot, of course, plug into a standard American outlet. When I got it the battery was at 5.4 V and the motor wouldn't run. I initially recharged it with my car charger that had a 6 volt setting. I disconnected it at 6.7 V and checked it on the motor and the motor ran fine, though not under the load of a child riding around. I removed it from the motor hookup and after 24 hours the battery dropped to 6.37V this morning and seems to be decreasing slowly (to 6.35 after two more hours).

Since my grandson comes every two weeks and will be using it only for at most 1-2 hours or less.

Instead of looking for any adaptor or adapting an American adaptor to the wiring, I would like to know if I can use a solar charger. It sits on the dashboard of a vehicle and plugs into the cigarette lighter outlet. It puts out 19 V. in full sun and the solar panel part is 3.5x11.5 inches.

The plan is to buy a cigarette lighter outlet, hook it to the wiring of the battery, and use the solar charger between his visits while the car sits in the patio.

1. Do I have to worry about the 19V output of the solar charger?

2. Do I have to worry about harming the battery if I just leave it plugged in during the two week interim (or more) when he is not visiting in order to keep it topped off?

3. Is there anything else I should know about this idea.

Thanks.

Answer 1

The battery is doing what good sealed lead acid batteries do; slow decline in voltage after being disconnected from the charger..  Battery sounds good.

There are several things you can do:

Use the 220v you have in your house wiring, just get the right plug adapter  by asking at a GOOD hardware or electric store.  I think things that are designed at 50 cycle work fine at 60 cycle.

BEST:Get a European to USA  adapter rated at 25 watts or More.

Buy a second identical battery for the car, hook them in series and top off their charge using the solar charge on trickle after doing the bulk charge with the 6v charger.

Using  the present 6v charger on a timer.

Buy a decent 6v smart SLA charger  on-line or at Batteries Plus,  which also might be a good resource for your situation.

Do not use the solar charger for two weeks without modification to the circuit, it could really shorten the lifetime of th battery depending on the solar's output.

Answer 2

It is a guess but the panel is so small I doubt that it could supply enough power to keep a charged battery charged. The 6v 800 ma sounds like it could work fine with the long periods between use. I would be looking for an American 6 v battery that would fit. To check the power of a battery ,U must check it under load.  

Answer 3

Sealed lead acid batteries don't last long unless you pamper them. If you leave them discharged for a few hours they begin to sulfate. Desufating a 6 volt battery is possible, but I don't know anyone in the US who sells one. Vector sold a battery charger with a desulfate function, but it was for 12 volt car batteries.

I have a 12v and 24v desulfator, bought off ebay from Malaysia. One is for my solar setup and the other is for my ebike.

There are proper replacment chargers and batteries for your childs car here: http://www.batterycountry.com/ShopSite/t...

You can make a homemade desulfator with the info at the link below

Answer 4

lets think...will a 19 volt charger hurt my 6 volt battery? YES duh

Answer 5

Without a charge controller for 6V, the solar cell will eventually ruin your battery if left on for that long.