Hi,

I have a 2000 XJ8-L Vanden Plas and looking to use a solar battery maintainer through any of the 12v outlets in the car.

All I know is that they are both wired to the same 25a fuse in the boot relay.

Is there anything I can do to have it so they are on even when the ignition is off? My research points me to an infamous unused connected hanging off to the side of the battery?

Any help would help!!!

 

Your best choice is to wire direct to the battery. Solar panels deliver so little
amperage, you don't want to waste any.

 

Hm yes the solar panels did come with croc hook ups in addition to the 12v plug. Just a pain in the butt to have to access the boot every time its to be driven to unplug it vs just pulling the 12v plug out from the driver seat.

So there is nothing I can do, rewiring included, to the 12v outlets? Is there a way to wire those direct to battery the same way the radio and antenna are respectively?

 

In my X305 there are two accessory power sockets, one in the trunk next to the battery, and one in the driver kick panel. In the X308, as I understand, the front socket is in/near the glovebox. The sockets are Faston Series 250 3-way connectors (+batt, +ign, gnd) but there was a lighter socket offered in the accessory catalog, apparently.

The constant battery lead goes through a 10A fuse, so you are somewhat limited in the rate of charge you can put through it. 120W nominally, I suppose.

I use my front accessory socket for a dashcam using switched and constant power (for parking mode), and the trunk socket for my battery maintainer (through the constant power lead, obvs).

 

Thanks for the pic! I will do some snooping around. I know its possible to put a battery maintainer on at the end of the day but i'm just trying to see what is the simplest way that isn't invasive to the driving experience!

Thanks all!

 

I also suggest you connect directly to the battery...:

Start with an added inline blade fuse holder and put a blade fuse in the range of 10A in there.
So now that you have your 12VDC power supply, connect a cable of sufficient diameter (something in the range of a standard home speaker cable), and lead it to where you want it - apparently you want it somewhere in the cabin. Solder-connect a connector of your choice - and the opposing connector will be part of your solar-system...

Wasn't that the obvious solution? Does it really need someone with a Master's in Electrical engineering to come up with that...

 

Are you bragging...or complaining?

 

Can't I just redirect the cig lighters from the trunk relay, direct to the battery via that vacated connector off to the side via a blade fuse?

 

@ Randy: Neither. I am just saying, if you want to get a connector with 12VDC at a location of your choice, you have to connect it via a cable to a fuse next to the battery... No need to play musical chairs with other connectors or relays...

 

@vwong688: I understand where you are coming from wanting to have an external recharge option.
Also, wanting to use solar to do this is commendable.
The thing, I am not too convinced about, is this "solar battery maintainer".

I can show you, what I did to solve the same issue a long time ago:


My X308 battery plus goes to this box. Note the red cable with the inline-blade-fuse-box. This is where I got my battery +


Note the black/white cable: This is where I got my battery -


Those cables come out at a top corner of the carpet in the boot (trunk). They end in a connector. The opposing connector is on my CTEK battery charger (15A charger, but 7A will do).

The thing is: This CTEK battery chargers are very good. They do intelligent charging of the battery to make sure the battery lasts as long as possible. I am not convinced that a solar "battery maintainer" is able to offer the same high level of controlled intelligent charging, and if not, this would be decremental to the battery life... And at the end of the day, I am charging my battery with SOLAR anyway, because the house has solar panels, and I only connect the two CTEK chargers when the sun shines...

Obviously, if you don't like to have the connector in the boot, you can root the cable to where you want to have it.

And I hope that my incentive of installing this cable is obvious: It is quite annoying to take the boot-bottom-panels out every time I desire to charge the battery...

So far I added this connector on two cars, but I will add it to every of my Jags with a battery under the carpet in the boot.

 

Yea i was looking at ctek chargers, but where i keep my jag here in sunny california, there is not outlet ready nearby. Maybe at a later step I can remedy that.

anyway you could provide me with a shopping list of what I need to accomplish the setup that you have in your jag?

i know about the blade fuse with the intermediate 10a fuse, but what do i get to connect that to the open battery aux. and also to the ctek charger

 

I used one 2-pin connector, speaker cable, 2 lugs for the cable ends, one inline fuse holder and a 10A blade fuse (plus solder 60/40 and soldering iron and shrink tube):


I added extra cable splice-offs off the crocodile clamps and one end of that connector goes to the end of the cables. Note that you have to ensure that the crocodile clamps are fixated when you use the connector end instead to ensure that those to not touch (fire danger!) I always clamp them onto the fat outgoing cable of the charger. This is my 15A CTEK charger. And I have to correct myself: my other CTEK has just 5A, not 7A, so 5A is still just OK for Jaguar batteries, but 7A would be better.


I took a picture for you of the box inside where I connected one cable with a lug.


These are the fuse holders (on Aliexpress). I went for the holders for the bigger blades (Medium), and you have to select the cable size of that holder: 12, 14 or 16 AWG: The bigger that number, the smaller the x-section. 16 AWD is about 1.3mm diameter and good for up to 13A or even 20A. (12 AWG about 2mm and 14 AWG about 1.6mm diameter). Maybe go with 16 AWG


Most two pin connectors would probably do. Those here come in a lot of 20 pieces (Aliexpress), but you can also find smaller quantities. As you can see, the connectors come in the shape of a puzzle (see box in background). I used those connectors.



And I bought the cable (speaker cable) in a local hardware shop. These are 30m 16GA cable, about 1.3mm diameter, good for about 13A.

And obviously a matching 10A blade fuse for that holder. Note that there a different dimensional sizes, so buy the right size...

 

Revisiting this with a new approach.

I recently created a jumper wire with spade connectors and jumped the accessories relay in a Honda Odyssey to have it bypass the ignition. Works like a charm and now i can use my solar trickle charger from the accessories socket.

Can I also achieve this with the ACC relay in the jaguar's trunk? The relay pin out is different, i am trying to find out how to place the jumper wire.

Picture of the work I did in the Odyssey.

 

No need, the accessory socket provides fused constant power, fused switched power, and ground.

 

The cigar lighters in the Jag are getting power from the Auxiliary Positive Relay, not from the Accessory relay which is for the accesory connector (you should be able to find this connector somewhere near the trunk fuse box).

If you jump the Auxiliary Positive Relay, you will provide, in addition to the cigar lighters, permanent power to:
1. Reverse parking aid (additional drain to your battery when parked)
2. Radio (you would have to always switch it on and off manually)
3. Cellular Phone and Navigation System (may not be present in your car)

If you have (can find) the phone connector (24-pin) which would be under the console box, its brown/red wire should have permanent +12V which you can use to make a connection inside the console box for the solar panel.

 

Or...it could be as easy as acquiring a solar panel which fits appropriately in the back shelf.
The cables could then be routed to the battery without issue, If battery maintaining is the
sole purpose, it would seem the best way to go with no fussing about when it is time to go.

 

If you want to go for rewiring in order to have permanent 12V on the cigar lighters, the diagram below shows what you would need to do.