Question for all you electronic geeks. I think I have the answer but I am looking for some confirmation or other ideas I am not thinking off. Say I have a GPS that has a 8.4v DC battery. Or a 9V DSLR Battery that I will want to charge where no electrical power is present and no large batteries can be carried (in the bush). I thought of those great handy portable phone chargers that use USB to connect. Like this one: Amazon.com: RAVPower PORTABLE CHARGER Element 10400mAh Power Bank CHARGER External Battery CHARGER Pack (Dual USB Outputs, Ultra Compact Design), for iPhone 5, 5S, 5C, 4S, 4, iPad Air, 4, 3, 2, Mini 2 (Apple adapters not included); Samsung Galaxy S4, The problem is those only can be connected via USB which means it is limited to 5V and 500mAh. Now I know enough about DC current that if you throw power at it under voltage it will charge a little bit and very slowly but I don't feel confident this will work like I need it to. So the next thing I found was the same type of portable charger that has DC outputs and are adjustable in 5v (usb), 9v (dc output cable), 12v (dc output cable). Such like this one: Amazon.com: EZOPower Black 3 -Port Ultra High-capacity Portable External Rechargable Backup Battery Pack -10000mAh (2A/2A) for iPhone, iPod, iPad, MP3 Players, Tablet, GPS, DV Recorders, Mobile Phone, Android Phone, Cell Phone, Blackberry, HTC, Samsu They say you can charge laptops and other larger devices with it. The problem I have is my gps doesn't have a round dc type plug. But I can get a cigerette lighter plug to charge it. So here is my plan: Buy one of these Take the DC cord circled here and cut one end. Then splice it to the cigarette lighter plug above (making sure to keep polarity correct). Then I have a female cagarette lighter plug and can charge any device that has a cigarette lighter adaptor for. I see no reason why this will not work. Just have to select the correct voltage on the charger. Thoughts comments suggestions?
I can't tell you much beside I have a RavPower Element and it was one of the better purchases I made. I dropped mine on concrete and it shattered part of it and the USB wouldn't stay in and they replaced it no questions asked. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Yeah I have the Rav power USB portable charger linked above and it is great. But we are not charging phones here.
Easiest may be a vehicle option with or without an inverter, viable if you will be near or have a vehicle accessible. Another option would be a solar, maybe with an inverter or microinverter, these range from portable on up, but most of the smallest portable stuff is geared to USB connected as you scale up it becomes less portable, which may not be a problem if you have a cabin.
No car. No vehicle. Like I said, way out in the bush. Say 5 miles from anything. Don't want to count on solar. Need something more reliable.
Make that 10 miles. It's way out in the bush and solar is out. The question is, will what Brad described in the original post work? I'm still an idiot, Bradley.
So if you need to charge something but have no access to any sort of electricity wouldn't solar be your only option? BTW I am terrible at stuff like this.
Check goalzero.com or rei, they may have some gear that meets your needs. Short of a power source (solar, microhydro) cells (really these are capacitors/batteries) or generator?
It is a ~10 day trip and only 5 or so charges will be needed. The 15,000 mAh power supply should be plenty ample for that. They make bigger ones but the theory is the same. I think we have the solution. I'm want people to confirm or say it ain't going to work. I think it will and will work good.
No. I want to know if what Brad posted will work. We have 90% of what we want to charge covered, but may need a cig lighter plug in for one item. FTR, Brad and I discussed this quite a bit today. Well, I told him what I was looking for and he got me the answers. This is the one question that he wanted to be sure of and knew how to ask it better than me, hence why he started the thread.
My wife used this on a 7 day hike in Bhutan. She said it worked well. Brunton Sync Portable Power Pack - OhGizmo!
Sorry i misunderstood. It might work, but stuff happens...A 5 day trip that turn into 8, a short, etc. Give it a good test drive to make sure it will meet your needs before getting off the beaten path.
That would work great for charging cell phones or other small devices. That is only 5v or equivalent to a USB cord. The batteries we are charging are 8.4v or larger. USB or micro USB cannot supply enough current to do it efficiently.
She charged her tablet with one like that. I don't know if they have different models that's all I know I'm dumber then Dan when it comes to this stuff but added my .02
Let me put it another way. The chargers we are talking about are big enough to charge a laptop or other battery powered devices. Here is a 30,000 mAh power supply that could go a looooooooooooong way for what we want to do. I think Dan talked about taking a blender along or something to make margaritas Amazon.com: OXA 30000mAh Metal Box S4 Ultrathin and High Capacity External Battery Pack Power Bank Charger with Multi-Voltages (5V 12V 16V 19V) for iPhone 5 5S 5C 4 4S, Samsung Galaxy S4 S3 S2 Note3 Note2, Google Nexus 5 7 10, Nokia Lumia 1520 N8; iP
