Well that makes sense. Thank you for your time and your well thought out answer. I was hoping somebody might say a solar trickle charger wouldn't be strong enough to hurt anything, but I don't know squat about electricity. I swear, the more I study it the more complex and confusing it becomes. Not to mention, it can be fairly mean when handled wrong. Thanks again. ________________________________ From: David Schwarze <dschwarze@xxxxxxxxxx> To: tcb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Sun, June 5, 2011 9:55:49 PM Subject: [tcb] Re: Battery Charging With Fuel Injection David does in fact drive a fuel injected bus but it doesn't have a computer (EMP-proof, oh wow!). However, David knows enough about electronics to realize that a solar trickle charger is not going to affect any part of the FI VW's electrical system to the extent that an alternator would and therefore should be completely safe. This is assuming that the charger is regulated and will not raise the battery voltage above what the alternator would (about 14V). Keep in mind that what the manual says is by necessity painting with a very broad brush. Would I have a gas station hook up their 100-amp wall-powered quick charger to my FI bus's battery without disconnecting the cable first? No way in hell. But a solar trickle charger? Should be no problem at all. Also keep in mind that the VW engineers were a pretty smart bunch and they were not going to design a computer for an automobile that was so fragile that it can be damaged by really small variations in voltage. If that were not true you would not have 30+ year old busses running around with their original electronics. Give them some credit. Of course I am just one person with one opinion, just like Bill Gmail. And I only stated it because I was asked. :-) -David On 6/5/2011 4:47 PM, Bill Gmail wrote: Does David drive a fuel injected bus? I do and will follow the factory recommendation. No chargers for me unless the battery is disconnected per the manual. > > > > > > > >On Jun 5, 2011, at 2:42 PM, David Schwarze <dschwarze@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > > >I don't want to guarantee that a solar charger will not damage your >computer, but if it were my bus I would have absolutely no qualms >about it, even if it were a higher-power charger. I have charged >many >batteries while installed in vehicles with computers and have never >had a problem. >> >>-David >> >>On 6/5/2011 12:06 PM, kelly dosch wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> It says in my manual to >>>disconnect the battery before >>>charging or it will fry the Fuel >>>Injection computer or something. >>> >>> Does anybody know if that >>> would be >>>true even with a tiny solar >>>trickle >>>charger? >>> >>> >>> >>> >>>