Charging on tour

[Jdsk]

Following up on this post-tour (we started from home in Dundee, crossed over to the Isle of Bute and back by a different route, a very good tour ) we took the advice of power banks and opportunistic charging at formal camp sites, and that worked fine.

We also took a solar charging panel which was pretty good, though once at a certain level of lateness/cloudiness it would reach the point where it wasn't supplying enough for a phone, and that confused the phone which then claimed to lose charge. Subsequent battery re-calibration reboots when charging from the wall seemed to sort things out, though I'm not sure if the battery did actually go down or just think it did.
Once I'd discovered this "feature" I just stopped using the panel if it was cloudy once we were well in to the evening. Didn't try the panel while riding, but I think it would work fine spread across the back panniers/rack (has various anchoring eyelets). It's one of these...

That looks interesting. Did you try charging a power bank, and charge the phone from that?

Thanks for the report.

Same thought. (I now only charge the USB battery pack from the hub dynamo, and everything else from that.)

Jonathan

[pjclinch]

Following up on this post-tour (we started from home in Dundee, crossed over to the Isle of Bute and back by a different route, a very good tour ) we took the advice of power banks and opportunistic charging at formal camp sites, and that worked fine.

We also took a solar charging panel which was pretty good, though once at a certain level of lateness/cloudiness it would reach the point where it wasn't supplying enough for a phone, and that confused the phone which then claimed to lose charge. Subsequent battery re-calibration reboots when charging from the wall seemed to sort things out, though I'm not sure if the battery did actually go down or just think it did.
Once I'd discovered this "feature" I just stopped using the panel if it was cloudy once we were well in to the evening. Didn't try the panel while riding, but I think it would work fine spread across the back panniers/rack (has various anchoring eyelets). It's one of these...

That looks interesting. Did you try charging a power bank, and charge the phone from that?

Charged the phones from either a power bank or the solar panel (or a campsite outlet), and also charged the power bank from the panel. I haven't assessed whether the power bank felt it was losing charge when the panel started losing oomph yet.
Despite the niggles noted above the panel was a definite asset in keeping things charged up over a 10 day tour where it was generally more cloudy than not, with a bit of direct sun most days.

Pete.

[Psamathe]

I've been usig one of these for several years/tours https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B012VL20GW.

Works as main source of power and I use a lot of electrical devices (phone, tablet, camera, GPS, kindle) and I also carry 2 x 10,000 mAh rechargeable power cells (2 so 1 can be charging and other giving power to something else).

Completely self-sufficient but 2-3 days rain/dark cloud and things are getting tight.

Occasionally use campsite power socket.

(Actually got 2 of the solar panels because I was sent a 2nd when I raised a question about the first but only take one on tour).

Ian

[plancashire]

I use a Cinq Plug device connected to my SON dynamo. It works. The current model is better. All these dynamo-connected devices work only when the lights are off. The Plug is quite expensive. A fast charge battery pack might be more useful.

See: https://tout-terrain.de/de/die-produkte ... plug5-pure

[Jdsk]

Recent discussion of solar panels, with an experience of success:
viewtopic.php?t=159858

And a very constructive general discussion of options for charging, including estimates of energy required:
viewtopic.php?t=159957

Jonathan