Freeloader solar charger.

[Grooveski]

I know it's not very bushcrafty but I like tunes sometimes when I'm out and about, was wondering if anyone had tried one of these:

Only looking to keep one wee mp3 player going, fancy it for a canoe trip where I'll be probably be plodding along on my todd for a week. The player runs for 8ish hours on a charge(which I've ran dry many times) but it's strong point is that it my tunes are on micro-sd cards which are so small it's almost sci-fi.

I'll be honest - I've already bought one. First impressions were that it seemed to be taking a charge until it was caught in the mildest of smirrs and one of the panels conked out. I got it replaced easy enough saying it was dead the first time I tried it, which wasn't a lie really.
Needless to say this one will be in a poly bag, I can understand it not liking water and it's intended general home is bungied to the front seat of the boat. Not sure how plastic would affect its performance...

...and generaly curious as to whether anyone's tried one, and how they got on with it. I like the idea, it's self sufficiency, desert island jukebox sort of thing. Could get another player and take a pile of batteries but don't really want to if it can be helped.

Josh

 

[MagiKelly]

Hi Josh

I have a Powermonkey Explorer

http://www.powermonkey-explorer.com/

Feels very well made. Charges my Ipod, Phone and a whole host of other things. It also acts as a great travel charger. I looked at the freeloader but it just seemed a bit fragile looking.

I have managed to source a bigger solar panel so I can charge the Powermonkey quicker but for a short trip it probably has more than enough power.

 

[tetra_neon]

I followed a few solar charging threads on SOTP a while back - but the consensus then was the technology wasn't quite good enough still.

Has the technology come on in more recent times?

That powermonkey looks pretty good - how long does it take to charge 4xAA's for example?

 

[Grooveski]

Hmmm, they didn't have any of those when I was in Maplins, although I see they do list them. Might take this back and upgrade it to a Powermonkey. There's something real appealing about those two little words "water-resistant".
Ta John.

 

[Jared]

Hmm could do with a comparison to Bruntons's kit

http://www.brunton.com/product.php?id=603

 

[MagiKelly]

That powermonkey looks pretty good - how long does it take to charge 4xAA's for example?

I have not used it to charge AA batteries. It is designed to charge devices with batteries. it will charge the Ipod or phone at the same speed as if they were plugged into the mains on their normal charger. On a full charge the Powermonkey will fully charge both my phone and my Ipod which is probably as much power as I need on a trip.

the solar panel is small and not very powerful and will, in the summer, probably be enough to keep the Powermonkey topped up, especially if it is just for phone use. I do, however have separate 5w and 10w solar panels I could use to charge it much much quickly but these are bigger and not cheap.

I must also add that I had a small problem with my Powermonkey due to Ipod changing the way the new models charged. Powermonkey dealt with this issue with outstanding speed and efficiency and I was extremely impressed by their response. I was preproduction adaptors to do me till they had the production ones that were designed to come with the Ipod change.

I have also purchased a couple of adaptors so I can now charge my daughters DS and DS lite. When we went abroad recently it was great to be able to take just one charger that could charge all our mobile phones, my ipod and girls DSs

 

[Grooveski]

Yup, much more robust feel to it, stores more juice and looks like it'd stand a better chance of surviving scary encounters with fog. Thanks again for the pointer.
Picked one up from Cotswald Outdoors, the Freeloader got swapped for assorted Maplins goodies.

 

[JonnyP]

I bought one of these last year http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Solar-Charger...ryZ48673QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem When its working its very good but its been really badly put together and I have had it apart twice to do some re soldering. It does charge the battery's well though, (I had to buy a usb AA battery charger to go with it)..

 

[MagiKelly]

Yup, much more robust feel to it, stores more juice and looks like it'd stand a better chance of surviving scary encounters with fog. Thanks again for the pointer.
Picked one up from Cotswald Outdoors, the Freeloader got swapped for assorted Maplins goodies.

Glad you like it. Seems ideal for our uses. I'll be interested to hear how you get on with it in the long term.

 

[Bootstrap Bob]

I compared the Free loader and Powermonkey Explorer side by side and I have to say the Powermonkey feels much more robust and is water proof - a bonus if you're in a canoe.

The downside is the cost with the Powermonkey being significantly more expensive but I guess you're paying for the robustness and quality.

If you want to look at them both together and you are close by there is an Eco shop located within Yarnton garden centre on the Woodstock Road (A44) north of Oxford. They have all sorts of environmentally friendly items such as water powered calculators, low energy bulbs, solar heating, wind up radios and the full range of Ecover products.

No connection with the shop etc. etc. it's just local and great when you want a top up of your Ecover hand wash container - you just go in with your empty container and they refill it from their large containers which saves on packaging

 

[Grooveski]

Yeah, I had both in my hands briefly last night and agree that although there's a fair price difference there's also a fair quality difference. The powermonkey feels like it should cope with the outdoor life.
Then there's the power storage, it's more than twice that of the freeloader.
Straight off I can say that the wee power unit itself(without the panel) will be a regular part of my kit, messing around last night it looks like I'll maybe get three charges out of it.

If it was just about capacity then the Brunton Solo looks even better but adding one of their solar cells - while pretty effective looking - would take the cost higher than I was willing to go. ...plus I like to buy electrical gear localy just in case it's faulty and I need to replace it.

I think what I liked best about the powermonkey(apart from the words "water resistant") was the two piece arrangement. You can carry the battery unit on it's own or take the cells to keep it topped up. If it's full you can even jack the solar cell straight into your equipment and hang onto the charged reservioir for a rainy day.
Anyhow - time will tell. At the very least it'll do half the trip on it's stored energy and I'm already used to rationing my tune time.

 

[Jared]

That powermonkey looks pretty good - how long does it take to charge 4xAA's for example?

Looks like a new version, the powerchimp, is due soon. That uses rechargeable 2xAA's as the primary power storage.

http://www.powertraveller.com/acatalog/New_Powerchimp__COMING_SOON_.html