tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Dec 18, 2016 14:50:11 GMT 10
Just was in Aldi for something else, and they have a battery charger at the moment that does all different size batteries and not just AA and AAA. This is not for solar charging, just from mains, so different use than rest of this thread's discussion, and I know that mostly it is best to try and only need one size battery. Someone might find it useful though. $19.95.
They also have rechargeable batteries at the moment in D, C and 9V as well as a their usual AA and AAA.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Dec 18, 2016 14:58:30 GMT 10
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 5, 2017 12:59:00 GMT 10
Today, a fairly cloudy day, I have 3 different solar charging set ups testing. It is not a test for speed, just for whether they do the job, as the batteries that I have that happen to need charging are not all the same. So I have:
Goal zero 10 battery charger with 4 AA batteries in it that were completely flat. This is connected to the goal zero nomad 7 solar panel.
Portapow intelligent USB charger with 4 AAA batteries - 2 were completely flat and 2 were 3/4 flat or so - an advantage of the portapow is that you can use different levels of charge and different numbers of batteries as required. I think you can even mix up AAA and AA but I'd have to check that. It is connected to a $14 eBay solar panel - the one discussed here before.
Final charger is a little 2 battery USB charger that I've had for years, but similar to one suggested earlier in this thread. It has two AA batteries in it and is connected to another $14 ebay panel.
I know the different sizes etc if batteries will make a difference to recharging time, so it isn't a race. Just seeing what works and getting a feel for whether they work well.
I'll let you know how it goes.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 5, 2017 13:16:45 GMT 10
And there are some eneloop battery deals on Groupon now, and an extra 10% off that ends today
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mozzie101
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Post by mozzie101 on Jan 5, 2017 13:26:11 GMT 10
And there are some eneloop battery deals on Groupon now, and an extra 10% off that ends today I am off grid and use the eneloop batteries for all my battery needs. My oldest set of AA is 5 years old and still going strong. They all get charged from a 12v system I have. Cheers Mozzie101 |
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myrrph
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trying to figure out how to change my nick :P
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Post by myrrph on Jan 5, 2017 16:26:56 GMT 10
tomatoesSee if you can get the deals with 10 boxes of 4 AA or AAA. I get them at about S$90 a box and pay about S$5 for postage. very good deal. minus off some coupons and Qoo points... its about S$2 per eneloop
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 5, 2017 16:43:52 GMT 10
The deal on Groupon was
8xAAA, 12xAA, 4xconverter to C, 4xconverter to D, 2x basic charger (which I prob don't need). For about $69 incl shipping.
Not quite as good as $2 each but a good starter set considering I have lots of rechargeable batteries of other brands. Will look out for the 10 pkts deal though.
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tomatoes
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Post by tomatoes on Jan 9, 2017 22:09:03 GMT 10
Results and review of my solar charging set ups:
After bringing all three setups in from a sudden downpour a couple of days ago (only the goal zero says that it is fine if it gets an unexpected bit of rain on it - the others would be better protected in a bag), we finally had some sunshine yesterday. Put them out for just a few hours and almost all batteries are charged. I don't know which was quicker but when tested all batteries were on full except for a couple that fell out of place without me knowing.
If I was only going to have one setup I would base my decision on factors other than charging time or whether it worked.
For example, goal zero can cope with a little rain, can have a phone connected to the battery pack for charging, can daisy chain other panels easily, but is much more expensive and you have to charge 4 batteries at once.
Portapow is well priced and you can have any mix of aaa and AA batteries up to 4. With the little panel I had with it, it seemed to need more sunlight to get started. Also the cover isn't see thru, and the batteries aren't a tight fit - when I moved them around a couple came loose and I didn't notice - they were the only batteries bit fully charged.
The little 2 battery charger with the cheap panel was the cheapest set up and worked fine. It doesn't show progress of charging, which the others do, and of course you can only charge 2 at once (haven't tried an adapter yet). I have no idea if there could be problems if it was left longer, but for what I did, the charging seemed pretty quick and effective.
So the super simple and cheap set up described earlier in this thread by shinyshooter works well and is completely adequate for the job. (My two battery charger is a different brand to the one pictured but it was pretty cheap when I bought it many yrs ago. I'm guessing it would be similar.)
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shinester
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Post by shinester on Jan 10, 2017 12:52:34 GMT 10
Thanks for your report, always great getting another point of view. You have to remember that the panel might be weather proof but your phone is most likely not. I just put everything in a large zip-lock bag myself, simple and they're like $1-2 if you don't mind waiting for them from China [2-5weeks]. If it's on the back of a bag, I use a bit of tape to hold the connection 'in' have the panel slung on the bag and the radio/phone inside. Slower to charge when not properly positioned though you get 'some' charge. You should get 'some' charge even when it's raining btw, though of course at a diminished level.
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Post by perthprepper on Jan 12, 2017 8:48:01 GMT 10
My report on that ~$13 panel I got from ebay: I've been charging my garmin watch, our mobile phones, UHF radios and will also use it to charge my new bike lights (which have a USB charging port) going forward. It does my phone from near-flat in about five hours. One thing I noticed was that it doesn't charge the phone if it's turned off. Perhaps just slightly too low lower. My UHF radios use rechargeable AA batteries so I'm thinking that I could effectively use these as chargers if I was to buy other rechargeable AAs... Generally speaking rain is not an issue in Perth summers  though this year seems to have been an exception. So no need for the ziplock technique so far. |
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