Solar chargers?

[Dobbslc]

Has anyone got one of these dash top solar chargers? If so are they any good and what wattage do you have for a twin battery surf?
I think my batteries are a little old now and with infrequent use are dying after a week or so.
Ta,

[Maverick]

Has anyone got one of these dash top solar chargers? If so are they any good and what wattage do you have for a twin battery surf?
I think my batteries are a little old now and with infrequent use are dying after a week or so.
Ta,

I had a 1.5 watt one, and it was close to useless. If your batteries are flat after a week, you either have something draining them or they are past their lifespan.

I no longer have a Surf, but my current car generally sits (unloved and alone) for over a week at a time without any issues. So I'd advise getting it checked.

[tweak'e]

I think my batteries are a little old now and with infrequent use are dying after a week or so.
Ta,

they are buggered.

i had 2 watt panel on the hiace (single battery) and that was useless.
10w with a decent controller was good for 6 months (started getting a lot of shade).
these days i have the surf in th garage so a mains powered one does the job.

edit: to add watch the rating with a lot of the small panels. a lot use open voltage. ie 18v in full sun which increase the BS wattage written on the box.
eg 2 watt panel @ 18v is 0.11 amp. reality is you get 0.11 amp @ 12.5 volt which gives 1.4 watt (in perfect weather).

[Dobbslc]

I think the batteries could be on the way out as they get used not very often and sometimes for short journeys,
I was thinking about a solar charger for just keeping them topped up a bit.
It's been an expensive year with the Surf this year with a new head fitted and 4 tyres along with running costs so will try to run the old batteries for a bit longer if I can.
Cheers

[the silver surfer]

I bought a 10w panel from fleabay and fitted a length of cable and some croc clips and that does the job fine, as the two other posters say, the 1.5-2w ones are useless.

[Karma Supra]

It's also worth mention that the once that plug into the cigar lighter are useless as when the ignition is off, that's not active...

(3rd gen and most Toyotas I've had, can't speak for 2nd gen)
I left my truck for about three weeks unstarted, and it fired up just fine.. (even with all my home made wiring) so as above, unless you have issues, you don't need one.