car is tripping out...so i drove my car to work today and i have a viper alarm system installed so i have a pager system. I also decided to try out the solar panel battery charger from harbor freight, where u plug it into the cigarette lighter and its supposed ot charge your battery as your car sits. Its now 9:40 and the car has been parked since 7:00 a.m. everything was fine. Then my alarm started going off and it paged me. i could see the car from my bosses office and i unlocked and locked it. 5 seconds later the alarm trips out again it and it says my shock sensor is going off. So im like WTF

So i go down there to check it out. and when i open the car door, my stereo system was playing, and the bass from the system was probably tripping out the shock sensor. But why the hell would my radio turn on out of no where.

Could it be from the solar panel thing...why is it that the car has to be on for cell phone chargers etc to work from the cigarette lighter. How would that get the car electronics to turn on tho?

I checked my volts on my powerFC, hopefully thats enough to start my car when lunch time rolls around, 12:00

 

try checking the radio relay.

 

wheres that relay?

 

i love wiring and soldering wires, but trouble shooting electrical i hate =\

 

do you think...since the solar panel was feeding voltage, it fed voltage to the same relay as the ac power as the battery, and that made the car think the key had been turn to ac, but instead it was just power from the panel, and so it turned on all the electrical stuff?

theres gotta be a way to wire this thing to the battery...

is there? could i just cut off the end for the cigarette plug, and put on a connector that i could hook straight to the positive just like a system would? would that work?

 

Yup, that is exactly what is happening, and your not charging your battery when the key is in the off position. You will need to tap in to the harness before the ign. switch or go directly to the battery for it to work. ( make sure the wiring you add is properly fuse protected) Why are you needing to charge you battery while your at work?

 

my car isnt driven often, and it sat at a paintshop for a week. but i sitll have to park it outside so i still need the alarm to be on. and after a week of not driving it the battery cud die. and i need a jump. This is the 2nd optima battery ive been thru. What amp fuse should i be running when i tap this straight to the battery. I think im gonna put the panel in my back hatch, and run it with a switch to the bat, so i could flick it on and off depending if im parking it in the sun or not.

 

Take a look at the fuse that built into the charger, use the same size fuse at the battery and use the same or larger wire and you'll be safe.