Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets
Reload this Page >

Supernova The Plug II+ Install

Search
Notices
Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets HRM, GPS, MP3, HID. Whether it's got an acronym or not, here's where you'll find discussions on all sorts of tools, toys and gadgets.

Supernova The Plug II+ Install

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 04-07-12 | 11:40 PM
  #1  
Thread Starter
Fredly
 
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 477
Likes: 0

Bikes: Surly Long Haul Trucker w/ SRAM Rival, & 36H 38's, Late 70's Santana Tandem w/ Double Diamond frame

Supernova The Plug II+ Install

I installed a Supernova The Plug II+ onto my bike tonight and I thought some others here may be helped by how to install it. The manual for it is really sparse and actually slightly wrong as the II+ is NOT the same as the II.

The II+ includes a cable that has a PAT module for power amplification which helps smartphones charge whereas the II has all the electronics in the cap.

1: On most bikes you'll need a new star nut to install the cables. The cables are routed down the tube and through the fork. I found that the size of the cable on The Plug was big enough that it would have been pinched once I had the new star nut installed so I filed it out a bit to give myself enough room to be able to move the cable when the star nut is installed.


Here's the star nut that nees to be removed:


2. Remove the star nut. I used pliers to remove the star nut. It's MUCH easier to drill it out; however if you drill it out you may lose the star nut in your tube and have to find a way to get it out:



3. Once you have the tabs on the top of the star nut pulled back you can use a bolt and a piece of wood to provide leverage for some pliers to pull out. When pulled out mine looked like this:


Here the star nut has been removed from the tube:


4: The cable on the II+ has a sealed cartridge with electronics in it that needs to go down your tube:


5: Here the cartridge is inserted into the tube. Make sure to insert it with the cable connector pointing up. This gives you the ability to vary the length of cable for the connector.:


6: Put the star nut back in with the cable going through it. If you don't have a specific tool to do it you can use a bolt through the star nut to tap with a hammer to insert it:


7: Get a wheel with a dynohub:


8: Connect the cable and install the Plug's cap. Make sure the loop for the USB cover is under the cap so you don't lose it. I have my The Plug pointing to the side so it doesn't interfere with my phone's mount:


9: Attach the cable to the dynohub. If you have lights do it IN PARALLEL. This means twisting both the wire for the light and the plug together. Do not use the connector on the light because that is normally wired in series which has too much of a voltage drop to start The Plug let alone charge a phone.

10: Spin the wheel and you should see The Plug's LED start:


Hope this helps someone...
Attached Images
File Type: jpg
IMG_1308.jpg (51.7 KB, 312 views)
File Type: jpg
IMG_1309.jpg (59.0 KB, 302 views)
File Type: jpg
IMG_1305.jpg (54.5 KB, 303 views)
File Type: jpg
IMG_1293.jpg (31.2 KB, 296 views)
File Type: jpg
IMG_1302.jpg (51.2 KB, 251 views)
File Type: jpg
IMG_1299.jpg (40.0 KB, 271 views)
File Type: jpg
IMG_1307.jpg (47.4 KB, 298 views)
File Type: jpg
IMG_1310.jpg (45.5 KB, 303 views)
File Type: jpg
IMG_1304.jpg (77.1 KB, 276 views)
File Type: jpg
IMG_1296.jpg (49.5 KB, 282 views)
File Type: jpg
IMG_1300.jpg (30.8 KB, 278 views)
iconicflux is offline  
Reply
Old 04-09-12 | 06:54 PM
  #2  
Randomhead
 
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 25,930
Likes: 4,825
From: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
That's really neat, thanks for posting this with all those pictures
unterhausen is offline  
Reply
Old 04-11-12 | 02:33 PM
  #3  
Thread Starter
Fredly
 
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 477
Likes: 0

Bikes: Surly Long Haul Trucker w/ SRAM Rival, & 36H 38's, Late 70's Santana Tandem w/ Double Diamond frame

When using it I've found that some smartphones (like my Droid RAZR) are very sensitive to fluctuations in the level of current. I went looking for a way to solve this issue with a buffer/cache battery and I believe I've found the perfect buffer battery that's A LOT cheaper than an E-Werk cache battery.

The Motorola P893 is 1800mA and small enough to fit inside bento boxes. It's tiny, light, supports charging of 2 devices concurrently, and can be recharged at the same time it's charging other devices. I'm going to try it out powering both my front hd808 and my razr. I'll report back on how it works.
iconicflux is offline  
Reply
Old 11-28-12 | 06:18 AM
  #4  
Newbie
 
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Hey there,


I was wondering if you could help me out.


I've just had the plug, E3 pro and tail light along with the supernova infinity 8 installed on my bike and was having a couple of issues.


When I have the lights running the plug lights up with no issues and the lights work great, however when i plug my iphone 4 in, the plug flashes on and off repeatedly... when i switch the light off however the plug charges my phone


Both the wires of the plug and the light are plugged into the dynamo- should the wire of the light be connected to the wire of the plug and plugs wire then connected to the dyno-hub?
rickieconcarne is offline  
Reply
Old 08-03-13 | 02:53 AM
  #5  
Newbie
 
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Hey rickieconcarne, I just purchased a similar setup (but yet to be installed)
- Supernova Infinity S dynamo hub
- E3 Triple Headlight
- The Plug II

Did you get any answers to your question? How has your setup been working for you?
kluge2 is offline  
Reply
Old 08-03-13 | 06:26 AM
  #6  
Randomhead
 
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 25,930
Likes: 4,825
From: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
surprised I didn’t see this question before. I think that there just isn't enough power to power the light and the plug while it's charging something like an iPhone. It's like when you go to the doc and say "it hurts when I do this," doc's answer is, "don't do that." Dynohubs only put out about 500mA max, and that's not enough for both things at the same time
unterhausen is offline  
Reply
Old 08-05-13 | 05:28 AM
  #7  
Thread Starter
Fredly
 
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 477
Likes: 0

Bikes: Surly Long Haul Trucker w/ SRAM Rival, & 36H 38's, Late 70's Santana Tandem w/ Double Diamond frame

Yeah so I've done some research on this and why there isn't any 1Ah setups.

The dynohub puts out a variable amount of power that is roughly 500mA. It can go up to about 600mA when you're really cruising but it's really not a huge difference. There's just not enough juice to power the iphone and the light at the same time. Infact, without a cache battery there's sometimes too many fluctuations to power an android phone. My iDevices don't seem to be as sensitive but that could be because of the specialized circuitry they added to enable iDevice charging. (Not sure what they did there.)

As for how I have them wired.. Just wire the light and The Plug in together. Don't wire them using the light's out because that has significantly less power and is meant for being used for the brakes. I can draw up the wiring if anyone's confused about it...
iconicflux is offline  
Reply
Old 12-10-25 | 08:48 AM
  #8  
Newbie
 
Joined: Dec 2025
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Good morning, came across your post and I'm getting ready to install The Plug III. A couple of things that I came across. My new star nut holes do not aligned nicely. According to SuperNova instructions, the star nut holes are to align for cable pass through. I noticed that you mentioned and see the picture of you filing one of the holes. That being said, why didn't you file the hole in the current star nut that was already in your fork and then route the plug wires and capacity through the bottom of the fork and then fish it through the star nut in the first place? After filing the holes on the star nut, where the wire ends with the white connector, was it able to pass through the holes? I also noticed the the wires on the cables are thin. I won't be surprise that the star nut(it is sharp) will cut into the wires later with vibrations. I am thinking of putting electrical tape at that area. Think I will do that. Do you experience rattling of the capacity inside the steerer tube? I think of wrapping the excess cable and capacity in the tube foam. As you have noticed, I have all these questions as I am doing a dry run currently. Lastly, was there anything that you would have done differently since installation? Thanks!
h2ooxy is offline  
Reply
Old 12-11-25 | 06:04 AM
  #9  
Senior Member
15 Anniversary
Community Builder
Active Streak: 30 Days
 
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 12,717
Likes: 2,104
From: Madison, WI

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

Originally Posted by h2ooxy
Good morning, came across your post and I'm getting ready to install The Plug III. A couple of things that I came across. My new star nut holes do not aligned nicely. According to SuperNova instructions, the star nut holes are to align for cable pass through. I noticed that you mentioned and see the picture of you filing one of the holes. That being said, why didn't you file the hole in the current star nut that was already in your fork and then route the plug wires and capacity through the bottom of the fork and then fish it through the star nut in the first place? After filing the holes on the star nut, where the wire ends with the white connector, was it able to pass through the holes? I also noticed the the wires on the cables are thin. I won't be surprise that the star nut(it is sharp) will cut into the wires later with vibrations. I am thinking of putting electrical tape at that area. Think I will do that. Do you experience rattling of the capacity inside the steerer tube? I think of wrapping the excess cable and capacity in the tube foam. As you have noticed, I have all these questions as I am doing a dry run currently. Lastly, was there anything that you would have done differently since installation? Thanks!
FYI - The last activity on this forum by the OP was in 2018. He likely gets an e-mail with your question, but it might go into a spam folder.
Tourist in MSN is offline  
Reply
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
stdlrf11
Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets
5
01-29-16 08:40 AM
EricL
Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets
12
09-15-14 09:52 AM
shurin
Electronics, Lighting, & Gadgets
0
07-13-13 04:13 PM
Zhtwn
Road Cycling
2
09-03-11 10:02 PM
Tayweezy
Singlespeed & Fixed Gear
6
05-28-11 01:39 AM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off



Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2026 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.