Touring - charging batteries, etc.

i was just looking at a post in which, among other questions, someone was asking about how to recharge cell phone, ipod, etc. while on tour and it's not all that rare a question.

what i was wondering about is; isn't there any product out there, or any easy way to recharge off of your bike's light generator? if not, i think there's definitely a small but profitable market out there. you ought to be able to also run a gps unit mounted on your handle bars. how about having a cold brewskie at hand instead of tepid water? or watch a movie or your favorite tv program while riding?

don't we have any electrical engineers on the forum who can draw up some plans that most of us could put together with a few parts from radio shack and the hardware store in an hour or two? ;) :rolleyes: :D

There's already a couple of them on the market. Google is our friend. A small market is not a profitable market, that's why you don't see them. There is not enough current available to run things that need much power. That limits the usefulness.
But I have run across two phone chargers.

Id really like to convert a long downhill descent into some useful recharging power.
The few commerical producs seem to run of low grade generators, not the modern high-efficiency kind found on expensive custom touring bikes. I'd like to get the black box to convert the 6v 3w output into whatever you need for a cell phone. If you find a solution, please post it.
I managed to eek out the phone battery for a 2 week tour and still had plenty left, mainly by switching it off when not in use. Modern cell phons seem to be much hungrier than my old B+W screen Nokia 8310.

There are also flexible solar panels that can be used to charge cell phone / GPS battery / other gizmos. They seem to be somewhat popular among sea kayakers, for example.

I often tour solo and I usually keep the cell phone switched off. I promise to friends and relatives to keep it on every night for one hour, for example 19-20 or so. That way people know they will be able to reach me if needed. I also provide a route plan of sorts, with the disclaimer that I reserve the right to change it at any point. I refuse to follow strict schedules and routes when touring. :D

--J

if you go to the last page of this 2006 dahon catalog (large .pdf file), you will see a dc charger designed to charge phones, iPods, etc. from a dynamo hub. pretty cool - but you might need to get this specific dynamo hub.
http://www.dahon.com/dahonbrochure2006.pdf

I just ran across this (http://www.modernoutpost.com/gear/details/ig_pedal_power.html) and it looks somewhat promising.

there is a product called charge 2 go (http://www.chargetogo.com/product.htm) that allows you to charge a cell phone from a standard AA battery. I've never tried it though, so I don't know how well it works.

I've been riding the trainer and once a week I'll watch a video or listen to a book on tape. Last night was a 2 hour action / thriller movie and I thought it would be perfect to power the laptop from the bike (http://www.humboldt.edu/~ccat/pedalpower/computer/index.html)...

TV (http://www.humboldt.edu/~ccat/pedalpower/television/index.html)