ChoeTech 14W USB Foldable Solar Charger

[cipherdias]

Well DPD delivered it a few hours ago so I am now un boxing it to take a look.

As you can see from the pictures there isnt a lot in the box, you get the folding panel, couple of mini 'biners, small instruction book.

So basically you unfold it so that the panels are visible then connect a charging cable to the Voltage Controller and then connect the device you want to charge to the cable et voila as if by magic your device charges

The lettering on the Voltage Controller lights up when you are charging and it looks like the brighter the sun the more letters light up.

Havent been able to test it charging properly yet as I live in Wales and currently it's raining for 40 days and 40 nights AGAIN!!

The next sunny day we get I am going to hang it off the back of my walking rucksack and see how it gets on.

It looks sturdy and well constructed and can supposedly be used in light rain.

Cost me £27 on Amazon with free next day shipping via PRIME

Part 2 to follow when I test it.

 

[MrEd]

very interested to hear how it works out, i use a solar AA battery charger for my head torch but thats its

 

[TeeDee]

Following

 

[Bishop]

One thing you can easily test for is Current Backflow. Connect a fully charged cellphone to the panel and leave overnight in the dark. If the charger circuit has been designed correctly then you should wake to a phone that has lost only a small amount of charge as expected. On the flipside if the electronics have been skimped on then your phone will be flatter than a pancake and you know in future to unplug it at sundown.

Secondly, and you are going to hate me for mentioning this...
but unless the laws of physics have been amended then Five volts at Two point four amps is Twelve Watts, not Fourteen.
Could be a translation error but shady marketing is probably more likely. Mention it to the seller and see if they offer some discount.

 

[MrEd]

One thing you can easily test for is Current Backflow. Connect a fully charged cellphone to the panel and leave overnight in the dark. If the charger circuit has been designed correctly then you should wake to a phone that has lost only a small amount of charge as expected. On the flipside if the electronics have been skimped on then your phone will be flatter than a pancake and you know in future to unplug it at sundown.

Secondly, and you are going to hate me for mentioning this...
but unless the laws of physics have been amended then Five volts at Two point four amps is Twelve Watts, not Fourteen.
Could be a translation error but shady marketing is probably more likely. Mention it to the seller and see if they offer some discount.

If it does that, it would be a simple job to wire in a diode I would have thought

 

[Broch]

If it does that, it would be a simple job to wire in a diode I would have thought

You'd lose at least half a volt depending on the diode though; but I suspect it will not drain. One of the many things the people in Shenzhen are good at is electronics - as long as we're prepared to pay for their quality stuff (as opposed to the trash) it's excellent.

As far as the 12 vs 14 Watts - it's quite common to quote the wattage of the solar panel before any conversion losses so the panel may well be 14 Watts with and output to the 5v line at a peak of 2.4A; although I agree it does say 'output'. There'll be far more variation in the light than the 2 watts

 

[cipherdias]

One thing you can easily test for is Current Backflow. Connect a fully charged cellphone to the panel and leave overnight in the dark. If the charger circuit has been designed correctly then you should wake to a phone that has lost only a small amount of charge as expected. On the flipside if the electronics have been skimped on then your phone will be flatter than a pancake and you know in future to unplug it at sundown.

Secondly, and you are going to hate me for mentioning this...
but unless the laws of physics have been amended then Five volts at Two point four amps is Twelve Watts, not Fourteen.
Could be a translation error but shady marketing is probably more likely. Mention it to the seller and see if they offer some discount.

That's handy to know and I will certainly test that.

 

[cipherdias]

Another typically Welsh day again here so no sun but lots of rain (maybe I should of got a charger that works off rain?!).

Once we get some decent sunshine I will test it and see how it performs.

 

[Bishop]

Fingers crossed it works as hoped for. I've got a small '7 watt' panel and that will keep my old cell phone charged but only in blistering sunlight. So I am eagerly waiting to see how this charger performs.

 

[cipherdias]

Fingers crossed it works as hoped for. I've got a small '7 watt' panel and that will keep my old cell phone charged but only in blistering sunlight. So I am eagerly waiting to see how this charger performs.

Currently Iam eagerly awaiting some sunshine so I can test it

 

[C_Claycomb]

Hi cipherdias/ciperdias,

The mods are curious. Why did you create another, almost identical user profile to post to your thread? Usually people do this after they forget their details having not used them in years, but you have posted from both today. Please let us know which one you want to keep since you are permitted only one profile.

All the best

Chris

 

[cipherdias]

Hi cipherdias/ciperdias,

The mods are curious. Why did you create another, almost identical user profile to post to your thread? Usually people do this after they forget their details having not used them in years, but you have posted from both today. Please let us know which one you want to keep since you are permitted only one profile.

All the best

Chris

That's odd as I havent created another profile...

 

[cipherdias]

That's odd as I havent created another profile...

I guess keep the one with the most posts. Dont know how that has happened. I did forget my password and got a password reset but didnt do anything with my username..

 

[C_Claycomb]

Hmmm...most odd. I have passed on to Admin to merge accounts and look into how you ended up with a second from a password reset.

Cheers

Chris

 

[Tony]

Sorted, just the user cipherdias now.

 

[cipherdias]

Hmmm...most odd. I have passed on to Admin to merge accounts and look into how you ended up with a second from a password reset.

Cheers

Chris

Thanks Chris

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[cipherdias]

Sorted, just the user cipherdias now.

Cheers Tony

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