My Freelander 2 is a commercial vehicle and I use it for work. I drive relatively short distances to work but have to access the vehicle many times a day. Unfortunately the key fob does not store enough charge on my journey's to work compared to it's use.
I wondered about finding a way to charge it remotely, say with one of these?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/CHOETECH-UPGRADED-...arging+mat

By the way, both my fobs had new batteries fitted a few months back.

Dont know if it would work with the FL key, but when I had my MINI that too was little used so the key never got a good charge up, I used to keep that charged up by putting in on my electric toothbrush stand occasionally which had a charging loop built into it, seemed to keep the key ok, maybe worth a go??

To get maximum energy transfer with devices like this you need a resonant circuit ie the charger and receiver RF frequencies are matched. Many years ago I did something like this using a tape head demagnetiser to create a remote charger. No idea though how the Freelander charger frequency compares with an iphone. It might work but not necessarily very quickly. It might be worth a post to LR customer services on this forum but my guess is that LR just buy in the module from an external supplier and won't be able to answer your question.

If it were me I would get an old mains transfomer wired up to the mains and leave the key on top for a few hours and see if it works. 3 x FL1 2 manual + 1 auto
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Thanks that's be worth a try.
I have a 240v to 110v powertool transformer and various other electonic gadget transformers I could try that with.
Bit of a crap system this, where the battery can not be easily replaced.

Having been laid up with a broken leg I'm experiencing the same problem with the fob battery going flat. Did this solution work? MY13 Santorini Black SD4 HSE

some one once said perching the fob on a braun electic toothbrush base charged it but I am sceptical


quote from taz "The fob will inductively charge in the dock, the key has to be thr correct way round for this to happen though, with the buttons uppermost"

http://www.freel2.com/forum/topic13900.html?highlight=key+fob At work
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I've read through every thread that came up in a search of "Key fob charging".

I've seen the toothbrush theory but it seems to be only a Philips Sonicare charging base that works. ??? I don't have one of those and they're about £70 and looks different to the pictures posted on Freel2.com https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-HX6732-45...s=sonicare

I currently (pun, ouch!) have my fob strapped to the transformer powering my laptop to see if that will induct any charge into it.  MY13 Santorini Black SD4 HSE

It won't be a transformer powering your laptop, it will be a switching power supply which won't induce any current into your phone

Of course it's a transformer. It's transforming 220v AC into 19V DC. And it's not my phone I'm charging. Thanks for your reply.  MY13 Santorini Black SD4 HSE

Hmm

I think what is meant is this, a transformer does indeed transform power from one voltage to another, but there are different ways for that to happen.

In the good old days, a "transformer" was a laminated iron core with wire wound around it, this kind of transformer generates a magnetic field around it which can be used for charging by inducing a current in any nearby coil of wire. It is because of the fact it generates a magnetic field, modern day "transformers" do not use a wire wound iron core, instead they use resistors, capacitors and transistor switching to reduce the voltage without generating any magnetic interference so cannot be used to induce current in a nearby coil.

So in short, an old fashioned "transformer" creates magnetic interference where a switch mode power supply does not, so is better for use in sensitive electronic equipment like phones, computers etc as it creates virtually no magnetic interference.

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blacktiger wrote:

Of course it's a transformer. It's transforming 220v AC into 19V DC. And it's not my phone I'm charging. Thanks for your reply.

Silly me

Does anyone know if the key fob charges with just the ignition turned on or does it actually require the engine running?

Reason being that I'm laid up with a broken leg ATM and the car has been out of action since November 16th. Neither fob will open the car now. I read on another thread that the car goes into sleep mode after a while (true or not??) and that I'll have to open it with the metal key. So I don't know if the reason it's not unlocking is the fob batteries or sleep mode.
Either way, if I can put a charge into them by leaving them in the slot with the ignition turned on rather than having to run the engine for an hour or so, it would help.
Thanks in advance.

P.S. I have the car plugged into an Optimate battery tender and its indications are all green.

This post has been edited by the site administration team-merged with existing thread  MY13 Santorini Black SD4 HSE

Yes the car will go into a deep sleep mode after 4 weeks or about 30 days, this prevents the ability to open the car with the fobs. Even unlocking and re-locking the car during this time doesn't prevent it. 
Hung like Einstein, smart as a horse.

OK thanks. So if I get in through the passenger door and start her up that should get it out of sleep mode??

I still need to (maybe) give the fobs a charge while I can't drive so I still need to know if they'll charge with just the ignition on without the engine running. MY13 Santorini Black SD4 HSE

One you get in the door with the key, the alarm will sound, so the fob needs to be working to be able to disable it. You might want to have both of them to hand. I'd be guessing it will be out of sleep mode at this point but worth starting anyway. 
Hung like Einstein, smart as a horse.