# Car battery not charging?

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083>\
**Category:** The Garage\
**Created:** [July 3, 2013, 8:44am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083 "2013-07-03T08:44:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Sonny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@Sonny](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Sonny)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 8:44am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/1 "2013-07-03T08:44:54Z")

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Hello… I remade a flatbed truck into real survival transport (spikes, steel platings, all that stuff), but one thing bugs me - it has one V6 motor, 7 gas tanks, one large electric motor, 10 solar panels, 10 storage batteries. Gasoline motor works ok, but batteries never seem to charge up, no matter how sunny the weather is. Is it because I have too much batteries, or is it a bug? Also, how can you switch from V6 to el. motor (leaving the other one turned off) ?

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**Author:** ![darth\_servo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@darth\_servo](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/darth_servo)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 1:23pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/2 "2013-07-03T13:23:03Z")

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> [@Sonny](#):
>
> Hello… I remade a flatbed truck into real survival transport (spikes, steel platings, all that stuff), but one thing bugs me - it has one V6 motor, 7 gas tanks, one large electric motor, 10 solar panels, 10 storage batteries. Gasoline motor works ok, but batteries never seem to charge up, no matter how sunny the weather is. Is it because I have too much batteries, or is it a bug? Also, how can you switch from V6 to el. motor (leaving the other one turned off) ?

There may be bugs with the Solar Panels. Make sure that they are installed on a vehicle tile that does NOT have a roof and is marked as “Out” on the vehicle info screen.

Also, there’s no way to switch between motors as far as I know (but I could be wrong). I do know that if you have a gas engine and footpedals installed on the same vehicle, the foot pedals will become active if the gas engine dies…

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**Author:** ![i2amroy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/i2amroy/32/909_2.png) [@i2amroy](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/i2amroy)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:18pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/3 "2013-07-03T17:18:24Z")

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> [@darth\_servo](#):
>
> Also, there’s no way to switch between motors as far as I know (but I could be wrong). I do know that if you have a gas engine and footpedals installed on the same vehicle, the foot pedals will become active if the gas engine dies…

All engines run simultaneously at all times (there might be a small exception with actual engines vs. foot petals, but I don’t believe so).

Another note is that while not having a roof will often solve your solar panel woes, sometimes it doesn’t. We sorta know what’s causing the bug, but nobody has actually gotten around to figuring out exactly how to fix it yet.

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**Author:** ![Sonny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@Sonny](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Sonny)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/4 "2013-07-03T17:55:03Z")

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Just checked, all panels are on outside, no roof. _sigh_ Well, here goes my idea of having eco-friendly steel plated bus. But hey, there are still foot cranks. (Takes me damn long time to accelerate 5,5 tonne truck with V6, 2km/h per turn, foot cranks are out of question :D)

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**Author:** ![darth\_servo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@darth\_servo](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/darth_servo)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/5 "2013-07-03T18:58:43Z")

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> [@Sonny](#):
>
> Just checked, all panels are on outside, no roof. _sigh_ Well, here goes my idea of having eco-friendly steel plated bus. But hey, there are still foot cranks. (Takes me damn long time to accelerate 5,5 tonne truck with V6, 2km/h per turn, foot cranks are out of question :D)

Not sure if the mass you can power with foot pedals is dependent on your Strength, but I find that around 2200kg the vehicle becomes immobile…

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**Author:** ![pingpong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4bbf92/32.png) [@pingpong](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/pingpong)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 1:07am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/6 "2013-07-06T01:07:39Z")

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> [@darth\_servo](#):
>
> [quote=“Sonny, post:4, topic:2083”]Just checked, all panels are on outside, no roof. _sigh_ Well, here goes my idea of having eco-friendly steel plated bus. But hey, there are still foot cranks. (Takes me damn long time to accelerate 5,5 tonne truck with V6, 2km/h per turn, foot cranks are out of question :D)

Not sure if the mass you can power with foot pedals is dependent on your Strength, but I find that around 2200kg the vehicle becomes immobile…[/quote]

Not sure if they fixed it, but I saw someone drew an image where they had multiple pedals on a bike and they got more power from it.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/1X/21b5d044e8473b25d0bf905d60477e25f6fbe0cf.png) [@system](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 2:24am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/7 "2013-07-06T02:24:02Z")

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Yep, more pedals= more power.

Also, flintstoning a semi with a trailer. Only in cataclysm.

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**Author:** ![Sonny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@Sonny](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Sonny)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2013, 10:40am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/8 "2013-07-06T10:40:04Z")

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Meheh, foot cranks for the win, seems more wheels you have, faster you accelerate (up to some point)… It’s not a bus now. It’s a bus with wheels all around, promptly named Centipede. I’ll have to take a lookie on this 🙂

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**Author:** ![pingpong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4bbf92/32.png) [@pingpong](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/pingpong)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/9 "2013-07-07T05:21:18Z")

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I think I have noticed something, the car only seems to charge when you’re on it. I’m guessing there’s some line of code which shouldn’t be part of the ‘is on a car’ code or ‘get the cars details and display’ code, which is causing the issue. On the car I can get like 10%/30 minutes with 4 batteries 4 panels, even when holding the controls. I have not tested power generation while driving.

Edit: Odd, it seems to have charged when I was sleeping too, or during the morning. I left the car door open. Maybe there’s something if the controls are in darkness too? Multiple bugs?

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**Author:** ![Sonny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@Sonny](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Sonny)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/10 "2013-07-07T14:51:29Z")

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Strange… I was a troglobite at one point (really affected by sunlight), so I spent a lot of time in the truck, sleeping (even through the day), and still had to recharge it with batteries just for cooking at RV kitchen unit. Even tried removing all panels and batteries, putting just one of each there, removing el. motor, putting it back, still nothing.

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**Author:** ![pingpong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4bbf92/32.png) [@pingpong](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/pingpong)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/11 "2013-07-07T15:05:46Z")

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> [@Sonny](#):
>
> Strange… I was a troglobite at one point (really affected by sunlight), so I spent a lot of time in the truck, sleeping (even through the day), and still had to recharge it with batteries just for cooking at RV kitchen unit. Even tried removing all panels and batteries, putting just one of each there, removing el. motor, putting it back, still nothing.

Were the controls in darkness/“in”?

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**Author:** ![Sonny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@Sonny](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Sonny)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/12 "2013-07-07T16:12:42Z")

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Yeah, they were in, under the roof, of course… I’m not against cabrio’s, but that makes driving in (acid) rain quite… unpleasant 🙂

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**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/13 "2013-07-07T20:07:32Z")

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Huh. Why wouldn’t Solar Panels go on top of the roof/actually BE the roof? If I installed solar panels on a roofed tile, that’d be what I’d expect I was doing.

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**Author:** ![Sonny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@Sonny](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Sonny)\
**Post date:** [July 7, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/14 "2013-07-07T20:25:32Z")

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Well, I had them all outside, since only insides can be roofed (and have to be, unless you plan on taking a shower), and still nada. Even tried to take gas motor out and leave it all to electric motor, but eh, nothing. Seems RNG god hated my heavily plated 7,5 tonne heavy 16 wheeled monstrosity with plow on the front. Well… Not that it mattered that much, with 14 gas tanks.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/cataclysmdda/original/1X/21b5d044e8473b25d0bf905d60477e25f6fbe0cf.png) [@system](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/system)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/15 "2013-07-08T01:17:07Z")

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You running the gas engine?

The game is running both engines while your gas engine is running your electric one is going spudda spudda (out of fuel).

So add more panels or a fusion reactor. You obviously can’t sustain the engine with the current setup.

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**Author:** ![Sonny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@Sonny](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Sonny)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/16 "2013-07-08T03:09:55Z")

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I was running both engines, but even after prolonged periods of vehicle standing still, my batteries never charged up even for bloody cooking, let alone driving. Don’t tell me that 10 solar panels aren’t enough to charge the batteries just a bit, after standing on one spot whole day, even with guy inside.

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**Author:** ![grisamentum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/65b543/32.png) [@grisamentum](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/grisamentum)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/17 "2013-07-09T20:20:58Z")

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I’ve had solar panels that would charge before, but the problem is that apparently even in “sunny” weather the 10 panels + batteries I had weren’t generating a net gain while driving a car made of nothing but solar panels and a chassis.

the silly thing here is that solar panels should charge even when it’s cloudy, just at like 33% speed or something.

the wiki says that panels charge “slowly” on clear, but there’s no reason they should charge any slower when it’s “clear” rather than “sunny.”

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**Author:** ![Sonny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58f4c7/32.png) [@Sonny](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Sonny)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/18 "2013-07-09T20:47:45Z")

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Eheh, imagine my poor hungry and ultra light sensitive guy, who sweats his skin off in steel plated bus in 38 points Celsium (that was really ugly), and can’t even make a bloody tea, because solar panels aren’t charging 😃 Maybe they’ll charge near nuclear explosion, if this wasn’t enough.

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**Author:** ![pingpong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4bbf92/32.png) [@pingpong](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/pingpong)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/19 "2013-07-09T23:53:29Z")

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I don’t know what to tell you guys, I have literally never encountered this bug, on any version.

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**Author:** ![Flare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c0e974/32.png) [@Flare](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Flare)\
**Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 12:55am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083/20 "2013-07-10T00:55:25Z")

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Well then this thread isn’t for you :P, unless you’re up to the challenge of proving there’s no bug and everyone is doing it wrong like the last half dozen guys.

Edit: Just reread my post, sounded much more harsh than I intended, so I added a smiley.

[Next page](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/car-battery-not-charging/2083.md?page=2)