AdamDZ

Whatever you were reading, stop and don't read that again. What the heck does THAT have to do with anything??? FW hasn't been used for charging iPods for few generations, only USB. And I'm not talking about older accessories. Let me repeat again:

"Anything that has car style cigarette lighter adapter should charge any iPod or iPhone assuming you have appropriate chargers"

Belkin, among others, makes makes such "appropriate charger"/ car power adapter for iPod Touch 2nd gen.:

https://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProdu...duct_Id=489423

If you get one of those for your 2nd gen iPod you can use it with anything that has a cigarette lighter socket: portable power source or solar charger.

Or a universal USB car adapter:

https://www.griffintechnology.com/pro...erduouniversal

This part at the bottom made me go "hmmm..."

"Follow instructions for usage. Do not overheat or overexpose the Amzer Solar Charger to direct or indirect sunlight and AC/ USB charge. "

I bet like many other chargers this size the 2.5h charging time refers to how long it charges a phone when its battery is full, but like Solio, it takes 10+ hours to charge the internal battery which makes it impractical. IMHO, those devices are gimmicks. If you're not gonna be using the solar panel part then get a straightforward rechargeable battery power source like this:

https://www.brunton.com/product.php?id=603

Adam

cyclist2000

AdamDZ your statement are full of baloney. not everything that charges with a car adapter will charge a second generation or later ipod touch. monster car charger and radio transmitter will not charge a 2nd or later. If you have a second gen ipod touch and used such a device it would be obvious. But really what difference does a charger matter in this situation. I am sure that the OP will carry a car in his pannier to charge is Ipod!!!.

AdamDZ

Are you even reading my posts or you just jump straight to conclusions?!? I'M TALKING ABOUT IPOD and IPHONE SPECIFIC CAR CHARGERS THAT ARE WIDELY AVAILABLE ON THE MARKET! NOT ANYTHING, NOT ANY CHARGER! They charge 1st and 2nd gen iPod Touch, other iPods and all iPhones via USB from a standard cigarette lighter socket. They can be plugged in to any power source that has a standard cigarette lighter socket.

The iPod, iPod Touch and iPhone use the same chargers and cables and all work via USB. I own 4 iPods and and iPhone including 2nd gen iPod Touch and they all use the same power accessories! I have Griffin and Belkin car adapters and they charge my iPhone and my iPod and my wife's 2nd gen iPod Touch and her old Nano, no problems, either in the car or from a portable Schummacher power source. My buddies at work own all kinds of iPhones and iPods and we freely share chargers and cables. Any iPod or iPhone will charge either from the small cube AC adapter or the older larger one. There is no difference between any iPod Touch or iPhone in terms of power accessories.

Just go to Apple's website and look at iPod power accessories: none of them specifies any difference between 1st or 2nd gen iPods, geez....

https://store.apple.com/us/browse/hom...ssories/power?

So.... all iPod/iPhone USB/power cables can be used with the above car adapters/chargers, no problems or the car charger plugs directly to the iPod/iPhone. And they will charge just fine from a solar panel as long as it has USB or cigarette lighter output.

I'm sorry, I just can't make this any clearer for you. If you still don't get it I'll give up Do some research before accusing someone of making baloney and nonsensical statements.

WTF? Are you aware that solar panels come with car lighter adapters so one can use any compatible chargers??? A.K.A. "12 V vehicle power outlet cable". Go to Brunton's site and download a manual for any of their Solaris panels, they have car lighter sockets. Therefore, no need to carry a car in your pannier. That last sentence was just beyond stupid and clearly shows that you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Hmm.... so you actually missed the whole point, interesting....

Adam

sesmith

I have an Icetech:

https://www.icetechusa.com/catalogue-...7464-spec.html

Works fine for recharging a cell phone or mp3 player. It has a built in 2500 mAh battery so it's like carrying a spare battery that can be recharged via solar or 120v. If I try run my palm centro with my gps software plotting (and communicating via bluetooth with my Freedom 2000 keychain gps), and the icetech plugged into it, it will increase the battery time from 3 hours to more like 6 or 8 but the icetech will still discharge faster than the sun charges it. So it's a handy thing to have on a trip, but don't expect it to keep everything up during constant use, and it'll never charge up a laptop.

Dellphinus

Couple tidbits/thoughts-
Search the net for "minty" (I think)- there's a do it yourself power thing that fits into an Altoid Mints can. Look in the gadgets forum here too.
There are several gadgets out there made to work off a hub or bottle generator, again, search in the gadgets forum here
There are cheap inline adapters that will allow iphones or ipods to charge off ANY USB power source- they give the apple device the "signature" it looks for from an apple compatible charger.

Abneycat

Re: My earlier post about the Brunton Solaris USB, Brunton Solo 3.4 and the iPod Touch / iPhone 2nd gen onwards:

Brunton replied to an inquiry I made about the topic. There is a small accessory available called the Scosche passport that allows these newer models to be used with older accessories. It will also allow them to be charged with devices such as the solo 3.4.

Brunton's new power supply devices that are coming out this year are all compatible with the new iPod / iPhone charging requirements right out of the box.

AndrewP

Charge your phone before you start the tour. Keep the phone turned off. Only switch on the phone when you have to make a call. Recharge when the tour is finished.

vegenaise

used a solio 3 folder thing on my last tour to charge my ipod and phone. worked fine for me. will be using it again in the future.

lite_ice

I like a AA/AAA battery charger and a slew of sanyo eneloops and a Altoid MintyBoost. You can always charge the batteries once a week. Check it out, won't power a laptop though.

kayakdiver

I just ordered one... I'll be taking it on my Southern Tier tour later this month. Should have some real life feedback to share about it.

adamrice 

As long as we're tossing around links, Voltaic makes a product that strikes me as interesting. I don't know that much about PV cells, but I get the impression there are the low-efficiency cheap ones and the high-efficiency expensive ones. This looks to use one of the latter; the product includes a battery to buffer the incoming power. It's expensive, but hey, so is a SON dyno hub.

Road Fan

I have a background in solar arrays for space use, and I can say you are correct, there is a price/performance tradeoff in PV cells. I could not tell you what grade of cell or even the technology (without some study) the Voltaic is made with. But I am impressed with the Voltaic, in that it has a battery to smooth the power delivery, and with a 15 watt rating I think it could actually provide enough power to charge devices in a decent time interval with manageable size.

Actually, their design makes a lot of sense to me.

The Sun delivers 1300 watts/m^2 at the Earth's surface in clear air.

The area of the Generator panel is .408 m*.284 m, for .116 m^2 of area. This assumes the Generator is oriented so it points directly at the Sun.

It recieves (1300*.116=) 149 watts of solar energy.

Assuming 80% of the area is electrically active, the available solar energy is (149*0.8=) 119 watts.

The efficiency of teh cell is in the range of (15/119=) 12.6%.

For a reasonable cost production-grade (lesser than space-qualified or laboratory models) solar cell this is very good efficiency and certainly within the range I'd think is feasible.

I wouldn't guess the technology, beyond that it could be silicon - the next step up in performance is gallium arsenide (GaAs), and I'd assume it's too expensive for a $500 product. There's probably not more than $50 in solar cells there.

6thElement

I like the look of that Voltaic, I wonder if it's possible to use something like that to power my Garmin 705 while I ride.

quester

Solio's web site has no such thing. Are you talking about the Roksta H1000?

crtreedude 

Just an alternate idea, there are crank radio /light / USB charger combos from places like Eastern Mountain Sports. I have no idea how much they put out, but I do have one and I really like it for the light. Just crank it a few times and I have a very nice bright light. It is very light too, since it doesn't have much in the way of batteries. You might to some searching, after all, you don't have to fully recharge the battery, just crank a bit to give you some time.

You can generate a lot of power from cranking something, as anyone who has touched an old crank phone can testify too.

kayakdiver

Well it's in my hot little hands and well... It charges my iPod touch 3rd gen. Time will tell if how well but so far this thing is slick. Seems well built, is about the size of an ipod. I'm hoping that the search is over! Thanks for the idea badger_biker.

Kyakdiver

cyclist2000

let us know well it works, What phone do you have?

EriktheFish

I've been looking at this charger by PowerFilm. It addresses what gregw is saying by charging batteries in the device first, which then charge your device (and the price is quite reasonable, $80):
https://www.amazon.com/USB-AA-Solar-P...d=P5JDK0F83OA8

waldowales

I have a Solair SP1003 I got for Christmas. I haven't taken it on the road yet, but it should work, if it holds up. Has internal batteries that can be charged from the solar panels, a car lighter socket, or USB port. It has adapters for 11 devices included, and has two USB ports for anything that can charge from a USB port. It will charge my LG cell phone twice before it needs to be recharged. Full charge from completely discharged takes at least six hours in full sun using the panels, about four with a USB or car lighter. I'm looking forward to tour testing it this summer.
It measures about 7"x5"x2" in its carrying case with all adapters, weighs about twenty ounces.
First one was DOA, emailed the company and they promptly replaced it, trusting me to mail the defective one back in the box the replacement came in. (Yes, I did.)

Road Fan

If the Amzer's battery is flat and you have decent sun, how long does it take to recharge a flatlined iPhone?

kayakdiver

RoadFan.... I wish I could tell you. I had planned on leaving next week on tour. Since I was involved in a car/bike accident almost two weeks ago I have been trying to get back on track.

I hope to have some real information coming soon. Bike has been replaced and the body is almost back. Did a 25 mile ride today and although sore.. It's the first real ride in 10 days or so.

mattbicycle

I have also thought a lot about one of these devices but am yet to take the plunge. I have two batteries for my mobile phone and two for the camera. On tour, I never use the camera's video screen, rather I use the viewfinder to take pics. I find the two phone batteries are enough. They are so small, cheap and light. If they weren't enough, I'd buy a third. Every few nights when a hotel/guesthouse is needed to have a shower, wash clothes etc, I make sure the phone and camera batteries, and MP3 player are all charged that night. If I am having lunch or dinner at a restaurant, I often ask to charge my phone if the power is very low. I've never been refused.

I'd like the flexibility and independence of a solar charger but at the moment, and with my touring habits, I think it will be a while before I buy one. Hopefully by then prices will have dropped and quality improved as technology in this area advances.

Cyclesafe

Anybody have an opinion on this?

https://www.tout-terrain.de/2/product...r.html?start=2

LeeG

now that's interesting

kayakdiver

I think this would be perfect with a rechargable pack that slipped into the steer tube... Now I have to build one I don't want a dyno hub(cost/drag) but this is simple, clean and gives me ideas. If I could just buy the usb steer tube cap and somehow... my wheels are spinning.

Just have to figure out how to charge it without removing it.... That might be the biggest hurdle..

Thread hijack.. sorry.