hubbike
Senior Member
- Location
- Edinburgh, Scotland
interesting stuff. but would it take forever to charge a DSLR camera battery or a laptop battery?
Using hub dynamos to charge gadgets and gizmis
- Thread starter andym
- Start date
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ChrisBailey
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Hampton Hill, UK
Andy
I'm not an expert but I think you will get exactly the same results with the pedalpower+ universal-i-cable as I got with my Kemo. I checked a couple of reviews and they show the same symptoms as with the Kemo. Just because it's got a USB attachment doesn't mean it will work with USB devices seems to be the line here. I had two separate USB devices (GPS & phone) and they both showed the same issue.
If I buy again it will have to have an adjustable voltage regulator, such as the e-werk.
I'm very keen to hear how yours goes.
Chris
middleagecyclist
Call me MAC
- Location
- Prestwich, Manchester
I have a SON hub and just took delivery of a PedalPower+ Super-i-Cable. Here is a post on my blog about using it to charge gizmos.
Cheers
Cheers
arallsopp
Post of The Year 2009 winner
- Location
- Bromley, Kent
middleagecyclist
Call me MAC
- Location
- Prestwich, Manchester
Thanks for sharing this. Now heading off to read up on Sugru!
Sugru is great. First time I've used it but very useful in the right situation.
In past discussions I've seen people have suggested that keeping a netbook battery charged might be a bit ambitious. But I guess it might depend on how sparing you were with it (eg 30 minutes a day, no wifi etc).
ChrisB
I was thinking of using the PP to simply charge AA batteries or to charge an iPod direct.
I'm not techy enough to know what the problem is when you go faster than 16mph - whether the otput voltage of the current supplied to the device (ie GPS) is greater than it should be or whether it simply stops supplying current altogether. So it may nit necessarily be a problem with the adjustability of the output voltage (although the e-werk may be better at maintaining a stable output voltage).
MAC - thanks for that. And I thought I carried a lot of gadgets!
I think I may have stumbled upon a workaround - at least for the GPS. There's an option in (IIRC) the setup menu for the device to switch itself off if the external power is disconnected. This is set by default to 'on' but presumably if you set it to 'off' the GPS would stay switched on using battery power.
ChrisBailey
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Hampton Hill, UK
Hi Andy (again)
I probably didn't describe the issue well. The GPS and phone continue to function, they're still powered on, but the power supply from the dynamo is off for maybe 30% of the time and (on the GPS) an irritating red message appears obscuring much of the screen. In rolling hills the power is on and then off every 30 seconds. As a solution it is not a total disaster, but I always assumed it would work 100% of the time, like my lumatec light does.
Please let me know your experiences with whatever device(s) you go for.
Chris
Hi chris
I thought you were talking about the option under the system menu which means that if the GPS is no longer receiving power via USB it automatically switches itself off (even if there are batteries). Unfortunately even if you disable this, you still get an annoying diaogue telling you that the power has been cut off and you have to press the enter button to get rid of it.
I thought you were talking about the option under the system menu which means that if the GPS is no longer receiving power via USB it automatically switches itself off (even if there are batteries). Unfortunately even if you disable this, you still get an annoying diaogue telling you that the power has been cut off and you have to press the enter button to get rid of it.
