Charging mobile devices on tour

[DaveyDave]

Hi All,
I am looking at how I can charge my mobile phone whilst touring. I've found a couple of items, which seem to have very mixed reviews. I wondered whether anyone on this forum had experience which either of these in UK-like weather conditions (ie. unguaranteed sunlight).

PowerMonkey Explorer:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Powermonkey-Exp ... 758&sr=1-1

And, the Freeloader Solar Charger
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Freeloader-SC80 ... B000ODRNDA

I guess another option might be to have some form of AA battery to USB converter to use AA batteries to charge your phone??.

Any ideas?.

Ta,
Dave

[Nutsey]

I'm also interested in this. New fangled internet phones only have a few days life in them, and i'm just not flinstone enough to use paper maps to know where i am. My girlfriend is already mad at me about leaving her to "play with my bike" away from her for more than 2 days, so she must phoned frequently to be informed that i'm alive, and to tell me the must-know celeb gossip etc

[rbrian]

I think the best solution is charging off a hub dynamo. There are commercial products which should work well, like the dahon reecharge for around £100. This has been discussed recently, I can't remember who it was, maybe here, maybe on another forum, built one with bits from Maplin for about £5.

[ConRAD]

... dahon reecharge for around £100 .....

I' not so sure that dahon is already available
However, in the meantime, I've adopted the below solution ... perhaps someone might be interested !!!

SYSTEM COMPOSITION:

• Hub Dynamo: SON20R
• Headlight: SON Edelux (nominal 2.4W)
• Taillight: B&M D-Toplight XS-Plus (nominal 0.6W)
• Converter: B&M E-Werk
• GPS: Garmin 60CSx (nominal 0.5W)
• Rims: 28"

Everything tested and working at the same time, WITH NO BATTERIES, at... slightly over 14 km/h

[sbseven]

It may depend how long you're going to be away from an electricity socket...

If you're not going to have access to electricity for more than a week, I agree that the dynamo charging option is a good option. Another couple of commerical products are the PedalPower+ Universal Cable and the Busch & Muller E-Werk. A DIY option can be found here: http://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic ... #msg118648

You may get a solar option to work in a sunny climate, but as you've already read, you'll probably get mixed results elsewhere.

If you're only away from an electricity socket for a few days then a high capacity Lithum Ion battery is a good bet. Something like the 6400mAh U2O iWalk will charge a phone several times over.

Or just use a cheap and simple AA cell emergency phone charger if it's just for the odd phone top-up.

Shaun

[Cunobelin]

I use a "MIni Gorilla" from the Power Monkey stable.

This with a four way hub eliminates all my other chargers (and the mains pack for the Netbook).

[go4it]

You can pick up a FreeLoader at Halfords for a Tenner! Just got one , not got around to using Yet

[frank9755]

I use the Power Monkey.

It works pretty well. The solar charging is more aspirational than practical in my view. I try to plug it in when I am in a cafe, or even in the shower block in a campsite. If you can get half an hour it seems to give it a big boost.

Main advantage is that I don't have to carry other chargers.

[ConRAD]

I think the best solution is charging off a hub dynamo. There are commercial products which should work well, like the dahon reecharge for around £100. This has been discussed recently, I can't remember who it was, maybe here, maybe on another forum, built one with bits from Maplin for about £5.

Most hub dynamos are not voltage limited, that's meaning you might have as much as 50Vac !!!
Item K18231A Power Supply sold by Maplin is rated as Input voltage 28Vac max.

[matt2matt2002]

Isn't there a wind up something?

I have a wind up radio and a few turns gets it going for 15+ mins.
I would have thought that some bright spark would have invented a hand held wind up charger.

Any thoughts?

[DaveyDave]

Anyone one tried one of these?.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thumbs-Up-Emerg ... 933&sr=1-4

[ConRAD]

.... isn't there a wind up something?

... you're right, it's plenty of Cranking Dynamo Emergency Charger today

[rbrian]

I think the best solution is charging off a hub dynamo. There are commercial products which should work well, like the dahon reecharge for around £100. This has been discussed recently, I can't remember who it was, maybe here, maybe on another forum, built one with bits from Maplin for about £5.

Most hub dynamos are not voltage limited, that's meaning you might have as much as 50Vac !!!
Item K18231A Power Supply sold by Maplin is rated as Input voltage 28Vac max.

Indeed. That's why the dahon reecharge (I haven't looked into any others as yet) uses the dynamo to charge a battery, which then charges your gadget at a steady 5v. I'm not an electrical engineer, and my eyes glazed when the discussion I've alluded to got technical, but I'm pretty sure someone said they'd done it. What better evidence can you get than misremembered hearsay?

[ConRAD]

... but I'm pretty sure someone said they'd done it. What better evidence can you get than misremembered hearsay?

.. I didn't want to doubt about what you said, I just wanted to warn that sometimes certain on-line devices might not be totally suitable.
That's it.

[gbnz]

And, the Freeloader Solar Charger

The Freeloader is useful as USB chargeable battery. As a solar charger it's dire (I used it for twelve months, six months in bright blue, sub tropical skies)