Hey all,
I tried to make a battery powered (aka powered by AA type batteries) charger to charge my cell phone and it failed miserably. I can see most chargers on the market get powered by internal batteries that can not get changed out. I also read the reviews of a couple of the chargers on Amazon and they have the same problems as my home made one (they charge the phone battery to about 17 percent and nothing more and might actually remove power from my phone).
So can someone recommend a charger or tell me what you guys do?
Thanks,

I've been happy with all my Anker battery backs. You can get them big enough to charge most phones 3-4 times (or more). Or small enough for just one charge.

I agree; go get yourself an external battery. They've gotten reasonably priced. 10,000 mAh or more is ideal.

I have My Local Bar , they charge peoples Phones all the time ,

Off the Mains It takes very little time.

stop in for a snack and a Soda, Perhaps, If not a Pint

There are USB rechargeable external batteries to have charged up for when the Battery in the Phone needs a Boost


And there are hand crank chargers, too..


./.

I agree 100%. I have three Anker devices and each works wonderfully for keeping the phone charged while running RwGPS etc all day long. The biggest one will charge the phone at least 4 times and I've even used it to put some charge in my lights in a pinch.

So you guys don't worry about the fact that you can't use external batteries. I guess four charges is at least 8-10 days.
Thanks,

I used the little cord charger that came with the phone and take advantage of outlets whenever I can in places like campground bathrooms.

I could have told you that before you even tried. No way can alkalines provide enough current to charge your phone.

You should consider a dynohub or solar panel. Nice thing about a solar pale is it is cheap and the battery will continue to charge at rest.

Really depends on your phone and how much you use it. If you don't navigate with it, and keep it in airplane mode while you're riding (which I sometimes do to prevent it from running down while searching for a signal in the Middle of Nowhere) then I find I can get pretty good life out of phone. I think 8 days would be optimistic, though. Half that if I'm lucky.

I've been in situations where I had to go 3 days or so without an outlet, but it's rare. If I were to go without finding an outlet for days on end, I'd probably also worry that I wouldn't find my AAs. I don't want to carry a weeks worth of AAs even if it would work to keep my phone charged. So I charge my phone and/or my extra battery whenever possible.

I also have a set-up where I can charge my external battery off of my dynamo hub, but I really haven't put that to the test. I've also considered a solar charger for days when I'm stationary, because that's the real problem. Sitting still means not coming across an outlet anytime soon and also means more time to fiddle with my phone, so it runs down faster.

Basically I think plugging in to outlets you find along the way can be a solution, but it's not always an ideal solution. But I still think it's better than endlessly chewing through AAs.

I'd avoid the Blackweb chargers, among lots of others. It seems many manufacturers think solder is glue too, and can't be bothered with a half cent worth of epoxy per unit to properly affix the port, so after a few weeks the connection gets intermittent, then nonexistent.

"I could have told you that before you even tried. No way can alkalines provide enough current to charge your phone."
Then those bastards at Instrucables lied to me. That does explain a lot.
I guess I should add that I am only doing a 5 day tour or week long backpacking trip and turn my phone off between uses. Off to RadioShack. 10,000 mAh and up. Thanks,

Another happy Anker customer down here, they really do make great battery packs. I've been using them for about five years now. Great customer service, too. I took one pack on my first tour, two on my second tour, and I just bought a couple more for an upcoming tour. (I have lost/given away a few over the years)

Just how much are you using your phone if you are turning it off between uses? You shouldn't drain the battery down that fast. If your riding anywhere other than CT or St. Johnsbury, VT then you generally can find plug ins at McDonalds that you can use and can use the free wifi to save internet usage on you phone bill. Pretty much most of CT doesn't have plug in at McDees. I needed the plug in real bad in St Johnsbury last summer as I rode into town after dark after my headlight had ran dead on me and I knew my original plan was going to have me getting home the folowing night after dark. Ended up changing the plans and got home before sunset instead.

I carry a HALO charger for backup.
As other said, when in airplane mode I can get a couple days out of the iphone. Keep the HALO for "just in case." Then charge everything when somewhere I can plug in.

I've never used one but anyway....
One thing I have seen a LOT of on the China-direct sites is that they sell USB phone-charger packs that have a solar panel on them, and with batteries built inside. It has USB jacks to connect the phone or similar items to. To recharge it you can connect it to AC power, 12vdc/car power or just leave it in the sun. Most look about the size of a 7" tablet, and maybe an inch thick at the most.

Are you still looking for a charger that is powered by AA? If so, try this one.

https://www.amazon.com/SANYO-eneloop...anyo%2Ceneloop

I bought a couple of these, but I only use them to put power into a pair of AA batteries because my GPS uses AA batteries. I have not tried the powerbank mode to take power out of the AA batteries, but it is designed to do that too. Shipping from Japan might take 3 to 4 weeks. It uses a mini USB, not a micro USB cord so you might need to carry two cords, or an adapter.

The big white square thing in my handlebar bag is one of these chargers, I was charging AA batteries with my dynohub.

Second photo, I was trying to charge everything I could. I had them part way open in this photo so you can see one of the AA batteries in each. I was also charging two Li Ion powerbanks in this photo.

Here is my DIY setup and then the Tekkeon setup I bought. Both use regular AA batteries that can be charged. In a pinch you can buy 4 Ever ready cells. The little USB light you can buy for a buck and when not charging your phone you have a nice little IMG][/URL]reading lamp. The trick with DIY is you need a setup that puts out 15-20 VDC then just use a car charger adapter. iPhones are fussy and like to see a apple device feeding them.

I'm totally nuts about my power and I have over killed it for touring because I want comfort and to charge my gear even on cloudy days.

I had custom built aluminum 'Solar Cage' that fits on my front rack that holds my 300 watt fold out solar panel.

This charges a 52v 15 AH battery (775 usable Watts). That battery connects to a DC to DC converter that takes the voltage down to 12 volts that then connects to a cigarette style lighter. I can connect anything from my inverter to run my laptop and also have a 12v adapter to charge 6 USB devices at the same time. When I need to charge I toss out the panels at lunch time and get a good charge.

I liked the 12 volt system because almost all gas stations will have 12v USB gear. Since my battery is a LINMC it only weighs 7.7 lbs. but the panels and solar cage are 20 lbs.

I don't mind the extra weight for the extra comfort.

If you search for "bicycle dynamo usb charger" (or something like that) on eBay, you'll find a lot of options. For $20-$40 you can get a complete system including a cheap sidewall dynamo and a converter that transforms the dynamo's AC output to DC in a USB plug. I use one of these with a dynamo hub. There are also more expensive converters, such as the SineWave.

I just bought a anker 20000mah for 35 bucks thru amazon.com