dwightonabike

We're planning a 2 month tour late this winter / early spring.

We want to bring a cell phone for each of us, and a mini computer, and possibly a gps unit.

We're considering our charging options. I've seen dynamo hubs that advertise being able to charge phones, solar panels, and a device that claims to capture wind power for charging.

Then of course, there's the "look for an unused outlet" method.

Has anyone had success touring while charging their items on the go? What did you use? I'm thinking the phones will be easier to charge than the mini.

Thanks!

LeeG

I have no experience on the topic but I'm pretty sure your 6v 3.5watt generator isn't sufficient to charge lap top batteries. I'd go for the lightest/smallest laptop and carry a spare battery and charger. You can ride with the slight drag a hub generator will have while charging small AA batteries (not sure what cell phones require) but you can do the same in much less time with a wall charger.

dwightonabike

Thanks.

I'm concerned about the time when wall outlets are not available - we're not planning on staying at developed camp sites, and we don't want to be forced to wait around to charge when we find an outlet, or to be on a constant quest for such an outlet.

We do have the lightest, smallest of laptops - a netbook

moleman76

REI sells this tent stuff-sack with charger panels built in; strap it on top of your rear rack, and plug the cell phones in while you ride, or charge AA's and use a plug-in unit to move the juice over to the netbook.
This assumes you'll be touring in sunshine.
There are other, smaller, chargers that you could lash down to your bags on your rear rack.
No, I haven't tried it, but there's no reason this wouldn't work for at least the phones and cameras.
The "electronics" forum may have more knowledgeable users.

imi

I'm planning on buying this 15 min battery charger for AA and AAA batteries... Anyone have any experience of it?

https://www.rei.com/product/766557

truman

I'm awaiting delivery of one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Civilian-Lab-T...d=EZ4LOEP85I99

It'll operate and charge charge a dead cellie, smartphone or a GPS from the on-board AA's, plus it'll condition and recharge additiaonal AA's for my for my camera and light, plus it'll outlet a USB cable that that can charge electronics at the same time it's replenshing the AA's from a wall plug. I'm planning for it to keep me juiced for 3 or so camping days between hotel stays.

I doubt it would do much for a netbook, but I have no basis for that opinion.

Climer

Just tossing out a couple thoughts on the off-chance they may be useful for you. It's possible you may want to also carry an adapter for plugging into a vehicle's cigarette lighter, in case you want to grab a charge from a friendly fellow camper who's there in a car. Myself, I really enjoy public libraries, and have plotted out strings of them along my future tour so I can use the free wireless access most of them provide, charge up things that need charging, do some reading, etc. (although you already mentioned you don't want to necessarily do that). The other person's suggestion about carrying an extra battery is a good idea, also I believe some Netbooks have options to plug in extra high-capacity batteries so see if that option is available for your Netbook.

BigAura

I met a guy that was using a solar charger panel that he had on top of his trailer. He was just using it to charge an iPhone. He explained to me that unfortunately the amount of light required was virtually impossible to obtain while riding. He said he was going to ship it home. It seems the panels only work well when pointed directly at full sunlight.

I'm currently (pun intended) using a supplemental external Li-On battery for my iPhone. The charged battery plus the internal battery is about 3x a normal charge. "Free" outlets can be found at some picnic areas where you could stop for lunch. Connivence and grocery stores have outlets on outside walls, I buy something and eat it outside by the outlet. Public libraries will usually let you use an outlet.

Erick L

The Plug allows charging USB devices with a dynahub. Don't know if it's enough for a netbook and I doubt it's cheap.

pasopia

Dahon has something similar coming out too, not sure about the details.

https://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/...nto-usb-power/

twodeadpoets

I've tried two different solar chargers. The really small ones that are the size of a small paperback novel don't work for crap while the larger Brenton brands that fold out do work but I've had no success with them working while riding. They work great in the direct sunlight while sitting on a picnic bench and the manufacturers say they work in indirect sunlight but in my experience they don't charge very well or not at all without direct sunlight and keeping stationary. If you're camping a lot these might come in handy but in many of the campgrounds I've stayed at, they had an electrical outlet and I abandoned the solar panel for a quick fix from plugging in.

I've not had any experience with wind generators so can't speak from experience on those, but I suspect they might create some wind drag. I sail and the units I see on sailboats usually get folded away when the boat is moving.

Dynamo generators on the other hand look very promising and though someone pointed out that 3watts isn't enough to juice up a laptop, from what I've heard from friends it does fine for mobile phones and will (albeit slowly) juice up a netbook.

ocho

Solar charger. They make all sorts of portable units that roll up quite small and can charge a laptop. you will have to charge one unit at a time. I've used a solar charger for years now in remote camps while fishing and hunting. Charges my cell phone, batteries for my camera and GPS and NOAA radio, etc.

I will point out that they are not cheap. Expect to pay for a unit that will provide the power you need.

I should mention the one used is Brunton solar roll 14 about $350 I think...Google for the best deals. Its over 50" long so its not going to work while on a bike. This is going to require some time hanging out somewhere and few hours of sun to work.

BigBlueToe

I have a phone and mp3 player that need charging. I carried the wall chargers and found available plugs. It wasn't too hard. Whenever I stopped in a restaurant (which was usually a couple times a day) I'd look for a table by an outlet. I'd ask if I could sit there, and ask if I could plug in my chargers. The answer was always yes with no unpleasantness. It was awfully easy. A couple of times I didn't charge when I should and ended up in a campsite with worries about low batteries. There are usually outlets in bathrooms, but I'd have to sit around and guard my devices. Once, in a state park, I found a full-service campsite that was unoccupied. I plugged my charger into the outlet on the post, and sat at the picnic table and read my book for an hour or so while they charged. Another time I was at a forest service camp for a two-day stay and the bathrooms had no power. I thought I was out of luck until I found a picnic area canopy that had power. I brought over a cup of coffee and my book, and sat and read while my stuff charged.

A couple of times I've stopped into libraries to check my email and charged there.

The restaurant method is the best, because I'm there anyway and the chairs or booths are comfortable. Sitting at a picnic table isn't nearly as nice. I'm debating whether to try a solar charger. It would be nice not to have to worry about finding a plug, but those things look heavy. (Does anyone know?) Of course, if I could leave my wall chargers at home I'd save some weight - maybe enough to make it worthwhile.

If you have to carry the chargers, it's really not that hard to find a place to plug them in.

dwightonabike

Thanks for the responses.

I'm worried that solar chargers will not work that well on the back of the bike. We'll be heading from San Diego to NC, so we should have lots of sun for the first half of our trip. I'd hate to spend that much, only to find out it's not going to do the trick.

I'm on a pretty tight budget - going to be preparing most of our own meals and camping away from established campgrounds. I will not be able to afford restaurants every day, much less twice a day. We will hit up the libraries when we get the opportunity, but don't want to have to alter our plan to find one. And I don't relish sitting on the concrete out in front of a grocery store, I'd much rather find a picturesque spot along the road.

The responses from those that have tried the solar chargers are especially useful. We would dependent on sun position and weather for charging. A hub dynamo would at least be consistent.

For the long distances of touring, does the 1-2% extra drag become significant?

Thanks for all the help!

Bekologist

Don't use the mini much without power to it, plug things in when stopped and you'll be fine. in todays' powered generation, there's plugs EVERYWHERE.

unless you are going 3rd world, stopping at an internet cafe/starbucks, and the every so often should suffice. use big blue toe's methods.

unrelated to this thread, a couple of days ago at work on bike stuff I was reading at the Bausch and Muller homesite about their hub USB interface. it's pretty cool if you had an extra thousand to throw at getting some power for lights and whatnot on the bike.

The Bausch and Muller USB system is called the E-WERK. additionally, B&M makes a 12V, 6W bottle dynamo. this would be sufficient to trickle charge even a car battery, wouldn't it?


I'm not much of a techie, but the E parameters of the E-work are:

2.8 to 13.8 volt adjustable, up to 16W, AMP adjustable to 1.5 amps.

seems low on the amperage but im not keen on electrical flow enough to understand the limitations of those numbers.

anyone with an idea of what that E-WERK could charge effectively?