FS: Solar Powered & USB Chargers -2 panels added

[Obijuan Kenobe]

If you look back at the first posts in this thread...it's kinda funny. I bet you were thinking, "Gee, I thought there would be more interest."

Ha!

obi

[cottonpickers]

Obi: Yeah, following your post I took a look ! Sometimes you just need persevere!

Gladius: Its in the post
Archimes: Its in the post , but I've only sent one 18650 box. PM to explain

[gladius]

Obi: Yeah, following your post I took a look ! Sometimes you just need persevere!

Gladius: Its in the post
Archimes: Its in the post , but I've only sent one 18650 box. PM to explain

[witness]

I have the 1000ma panel and just got the foldable. I don't understand all the the usb connection (two separate white one's and a dual "black one"). Are the white one's for daisy chaining? Also does any one know if the Solarmio Pro (6V at 850ma) using triple junction technology might be better in cloudy weather?

[cottonpickers]

Witness: the two white leads with USB ports on the end are for USB charging. They each supply just over 800ma of USB charging. The black lead in the middle is for 12v charging. It has a removable 12 socket in case you don't want to carry the bulk of the cig socket. It's a standard 5.5/2.1 connector. As you know there is an apple car twin usb charger in the end of that socket giving you four usb ports in total , but you can remove this if you arent charging apple stuff.
If you have a existing 1000ma panel you can plug it into to either of the white USB sockets using the small adapter that came with the 1000ma panel. This would then give you 1800ma.

[witness]

Thanx dude!

[witness]

BTW,
I just got cottonpicker's high current charger. The built in voltmeter seems to me to be an absolute necessity when dealing with Li Ion batteries. Can anyone tell me why in God's name a respected charger like the Pila doesn't have one built in?

[Xcalibre]

HEY CP....

I just received the foldable about 20 minutes ago. Which are supposed to charge the NiMH batteries? The paper enclosed said only to charge Li-Ion batteries? I will do some testing as soon as possible and try and post some results here. Thank you VERY much for the work you have done.

X

[cottonpickers]

Xcalibre: you should have a silver charger like in the picture above, with room for two aa or aaa cells...

[Xcalibre]

Xcalibre: you should have a silver charger like in the picture above, with room for two aa or aaa cells...

Thanks CP.... I had noticed that LOL... Pretty simple.....

Okay... I have read every thread in here and don't have any idea how to determine the numbers. When I think of solar, I would determine with volts and such, but everything I read are ma???

Question is....

let's say you have a 1200mAH Nimh AA battery.... I think they are 1.2v.... How long would it take to charge two of those using the silver charger? How do you determine the math?

Is it mAH/mH = hours? So 1200/1000Ma? Or a 2400mAH would be 2400/1000mA? Something like that? And then for two you would double the result or quadruple for four?

As well with the 18560's for like a 2400mAH? How is the math determined. With lets say at leave 6 hours sun or less?

As well with Li-Ions too please... And does it change with a higher V?

Mainly, I would just like to know how to figure the math to find out how long something would have to charge...

I don't think these questions have been asked directly, so I hope I'm not repeating anything.

I would also like to purchase another 18650 Box and get like 4 extra magnets on there as well. I read somewhere about using the magnets to work with the Li-Ion charger to charge NiMH Batteries quicker?

Also, is it 1000ma per Panel? Or total?

Thanks David for everything. I"m still trying to experiment with everything LOL.....

*edit* Also, what about reading about plugging the 18650 box into the pc to charge? I may have read it wrong...please verify/explain?

X

[cottonpickers]

Xcalibre: basically, if a charger can charge at 500ma and the cell is 500mah it takes one hour to charge. The math is capacity divided by rate of charge.

The panels are just over 800ma each. The lion charger charges at 700ma , the nimh is slower (rate is written on the back) for faster nimh charging you can connect 3 cells in series and charge with the nimh lead, pm me on that if interested. This will then charge them at 700ma each, about 3 or 4 hours to charge.

Yes you can charge the 18650 box on a pc or other USB charger. Similarly you can use the USB lion charger in other USB ports. Hth

[witness]

Can one use the high current charger with the 12v apple output on the foldable or plugged into a cigarette lighter? Or to put it another way, will the high current charger work with all the foldable outputs?

[cottonpickers]

witness: Yup will work with all the ports, but likely only operate at full steam on the 2.1amp ipad socket.

[JustG]

How do I put my name on the list for a foldable?

[Xcalibre]

Xcalibre: basically, if a charger can charge at 500ma and the cell is 500mah it takes one hour to charge. The math is capacity divided by rate of charge.

The panels are just over 800ma each. The lion charger charges at 700ma , the nimh is slower (rate is written on the back) for faster nimh charging you can connect 3 cells in series and charge with the nimh lead, pm me on that if interested. This will then charge them at 700ma each, about 3 or 4 hours to charge.

Yes you can charge the 18650 box on a pc or other USB charger. Similarly you can use the USB lion charger in other USB ports. Hth

Great! Been playing with it. It's working great too! Put in another order for a box with 6 18650's and some magnets. Great product David...thank you very much...

[genesol]

Hi Cottonpickers,
Congrats on bulding such an amazing setup. I am also interested in putting my name down for one of your folders. As you are in the uk is it possible to pay in £ (sorry if this has been asked before I have not yet read through all 19 pages of this tread). Thanks in advance.

[psychbeat]

Heya- received all of my goodies& just had a quick ?

For kicks I stuck my XL panel next to my bedroom window to see how long
it might take to charge up an 18650 from ~3v

It's been there for a few days and won't go above 3.5v - I totally understand that
its not in direct sunlight.
I was just curious if it loses charge due to parasitic drain @ night if I leave it connected?

Also- there are 2 USB hubs on my panel and my 550mah mini charger
only lights up on one.
Is the other port for something else like an iPhone etc?

LOVE my peanut lighter!!

Thanks again for building such useful and fun tools.

[cottonpickers]

Genesol:justg: I'll note you down, but I'm thinking of a 4 folder panel next to double all the currents and likely only making a small number. That idea may change when I actually try to make it though!
Psychbeat:the two ports should work equally well - pm incoming. Regarding slow charging in a windowsill it should charge fine, just more slowly but it really must get sun on it (not ambient light) I charge a 4x18650 pack up like this with a much smaller than the Xl. There's no parasitic drain (panel & charger both have blocking diodes and charger uses 2 micro amps.

[yifu]

Dave, back again! I'll take a 1000mA panel + USB spider leads + 2 18650 storage box!

[cottonpickers]

Yifu: Its in the 'box

[Xcalibre]

Does anyone know of any USB lights that work well? I would like to get one for the 18650 battery box and use it. I've never used USB lights before, so figured I'd ask, since we can use the USB in the battery boxes. Any ideas? Thanks...

X

[JustG]

Well, in the meantime I'll take a Large Panel, Mini Voltmeter and USB spider lead.

Thanks!

[cottonpickers]

Xcalibre: I'm afraid I can't help you. You could look at replacing the LED in the battery box (I guess you found the 'on' button for that right?)

JustG: Its Just Gone!

[asval]

Does anyone know of any USB lights that work well? I would like to get one for the 18650 battery box and use it. I've never used USB lights before, so figured I'd ask, since we can use the USB in the battery boxes. Any ideas? Thanks...

X

maybe this one posted by norm might help

post #215

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...-Charger/page8

[Xcalibre]

Xcalibre: I'm afraid I can't help you. You could look at replacing the LED in the battery box (I guess you found the 'on' button for that right?)

Yes, I found the switch that works the light. Not that bright though. Okay... I purchased a Luna LED light from Goal Zero. It's 1 Watt with 10 LED bulbs in it and 5V. Will this work fine with the 18650 box? Since the 18650 batteries are only 3.7V. I'm hoping so, as I've already purchased it LOL.

Also, when you ship the box for 6 18650 and the magnets, could you just email me? Or private message me here. Thanks David.

The Voltameter magnets just came off. What's the best way to fix that, as I don't have a soldering gun or know how to even do it?

[Trevtrain]

Yes, I found the switch that works the light. Not that bright though. Okay... I purchased a Luna LED light from Goal Zero. It's 1 Watt with 10 LED bulbs in it and 5V. Will this work fine with the 18650 box? Since the 18650 batteries are only 3.7V. I'm hoping so, as I've already purchased it LOL.

Also, when you ship the box for 6 18650 and the magnets, could you just email me? Or private message me here. Thanks David.

Hi Xcalibre.

Any light that is designed to run or charge from from a standard USB port will work with these boxes. The 18650's may only be 3.7V but there is circuitry inside the box to boost the output to 5V or so according to USB specifications. That's the whole point of boxes like these.
I received mine yesterday (4 x 18650 model) and so far I have tested it with my phone, ipod and a couple of USB lights including a salt lamp. It works fine.

But I do agree with your comment "not that bright" about the inbuilt led. I reckon it would just about put out enough light to find the box in a dark room, but "inbuilt flashlight" - well, that's another timeless classic Chinese overstatement!

[Xcalibre]

maybe this one posted by norm might help

post #215

http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...-Charger/page8

That's a nice setup for the flashlight. Don't need a flashlight though. I may check it out another time; time for bed

Thanks,

X

[cottonpickers]

XCalibre: Should work fine - any USB device should be good. Regarding the magnet leads, I'm afraid they aren't 100% reliable whoever makes them up. Would you mind PMing me your address and I'll post you out some spare. The 6x18650 went a few days ago.

[Xcalibre]

XCalibre: Should work fine - any USB device should be good. Regarding the magnet leads, I'm afraid they aren't 100% reliable whoever makes them up. Would you mind PMing me your address and I'll post you out some spare. The 6x18650 went a few days ago.

ThX CP.... Sent an inbox to ya. Thanks for sending the box too.

[Xcalibre]

YAY...

Got my box for the 6 18650's. It's very nice. Thank you! I will be purchasing 2 or 3 more of these. Tight on money for now, but maybe in a week or so; I'll let you know.

Also, what boxes do yo have for NiMH batteries? I'm going to need like 3 of them as well. Just need to know how many in one box and how much? Thanks again.

X

*EDITED*

Can I get more panels to use with the foldable I purchased as well? If not, that's okay...just curious. Thought I could plug them into one of the usb or 12v or something to get more watts on the panel. Sorry so many questions. Just trying to get the full understanding of it all.