SIMULTANEOUS INPUT/OUTPUT

Hello. I'm a complete dunce with regard to electronics so I thought I'd put this question to people who would know the answer.
I have a solar panel trickle charger that plugs into the dash socket in my 12v van. It puts out about 16 volts in normal daylight but I don't know how many amps. Not many, I guess!
I also have a socket doubler, allowing two devices to take current from my van battery. My question is:
Can I plug both the solar charger and, say my phone charger, in at the same time? My instinct says no but you may tell me different.
Many thanks
John

I do not know about the solar charger specifically, but I would expect that the 16 volt output is with no load. If you plug that in to charge your van battery, the voltage will be lower, about the same as your van battery. The voltage will increase slightly as the battery is charged, but nowhere near 16v. You can easily test this is you have a meter. Put the meter on the battery, then plug in your charger on a normal sunny day. I would expect you to see an increase in the battery volage, perhaps half a volt? That is just a guess. The higher the voltage increase the more current the charger is putting out actually. Even a very small increase shows that the charger is doing it's thing.

At any rate, since the battery voltage will be nowhere near 16V, you are just fine plugging in your other devices. The current to the devices will come from a combination of the battery and the solar charger.. which is what you want.

Hi John,

from what you say - in short - YES.

Just to be clear here is what I understand:

Your 'Solar Charger' normally just plugs straight into the van battery (I'm guessing through a cigarette lighter or similar socket). It gives about 16V on its terminals when unplugged.

The socket doubler is just a simple connector with no 'clever' electronic features.

The reason it is OK to add them is that a feature of Lead Acid batteries (your van) is that they will charge from a constant voltage source with its (internal) series resistance (i.e. the Photovoltaic cells). The battery and the PVs reach an equilibrium in which current flows from the PVs to the battery, probably at about 13~14V (depending on the state of the battery).

Plugging the mobile charger at the same timeis no different to plugging it in whilst any charger is charging the battery, e.g. when the engine is running.

The only potential problem is if you plug the solar charger direct to the mobile charger without the van (i.e. just sharing the socket doubler) - in which case the PVs may produce sufficient current to push the voltage of the mobile charger outside its specification - but I'd be suprised if this were the case.

Have fun,

Jeff

Thanks Edward (my middle name by the way) for your response. Looked at in the way you've explained it makes the whole thing clear. Much obliged. John

Jeff, I'm pleased that both Edward's and your opinions are the same and I'm most grateful for your resonse. Cheers, John