Author Topic: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various  (Read 52133 times)

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #150 on: 16 May, 2012, 08:47:10 pm »
10 pages into this thread and some people are still determined to re-invent the wheel ...

Guilty as charged.

Biggsy

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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #151 on: 17 May, 2012, 09:04:04 am »
I know it is very much a quick and dirty solution, and only cheap if you don't fry your Garmin in the process.  I'm rigorous about only ever letting NiMhs within a half mile of that piece of bodgery.

You could with your bodge use use three alkaline or lithium AAs + a dummy cell.  That is if 5.4V isn't smoke-inducing.  (Lithium AAs are 1.8V to begin with; alkalines up to 1.7V).
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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #152 on: 20 May, 2012, 04:03:16 pm »
This appears to be new.  A headlight with a USB charger built in.



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Kim

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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #153 on: 20 May, 2012, 04:37:20 pm »
Ooh, interesting.  Looks like it could be good optically.  Looks like there's a window to the LED for side visibility too.

This makes a lot of sense, as a light with sensors and standlight and whatnot will include most of the electronics needed for a charger already.

Mechanical construction looks a bit interesting, but Axa presumably know what they're doing.

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #154 on: 20 May, 2012, 05:48:55 pm »
That does look good* although I can't (fully) understand the different beam drawings.
Does the shape of it change as the speed increases and more power is available ?
Clever if so.

*ETA; now that I've thought about it for more than a nano second, it's a brilliant idea and, if the light is half-way decent, at 60EUR it's the bargain of the century.
I'm really having to resist becoming an early adoptor since I already have two dyno lights. If this one approached either an E3 or a Philips in light output................

I shall mostly be sitting on my hands for the rest of the evening.


LittleWheelsandBig

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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #155 on: 20 May, 2012, 06:54:10 pm »
I'd guess that additional LEDs fire up as speed increases, changing the shape and intensity of the beam. This light has been rumoured for a while.
Wheel meet again, don't know where, don't know when...

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #156 on: 20 May, 2012, 08:57:29 pm »
*Goes shopping*

Chris S

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #157 on: 20 May, 2012, 08:59:51 pm »
For Sale. One e-werk. Hardly used...  ::-)

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #158 on: 20 May, 2012, 10:48:31 pm »
http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=4121.0

One of the chaps on the Thorn forum has got one to play with, but hasn't been able to use it extensively yet.
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Aushiker

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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #159 on: 21 May, 2012, 01:36:47 am »
This appears to be new.  A headlight with a USB charger built in.

Thanks for sharing. It looks interesting.  However it appears it can only charge not run say a Garmin Edge 800 or is simply a matter of translation that has me confused?

Regards
Andrew

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #160 on: 21 May, 2012, 09:38:34 am »
This appears to be new.  A headlight with a USB charger built in.

Thanks for sharing. It looks interesting.  However it appears it can only charge not run say a Garmin Edge 800 or is simply a matter of translation that has me confused?

Regards
Andrew

Will run a Garmin Edge via a buffer battery tho, presumably??

Looks like a buffer may be required to run GPS etc when it's dark as it looks like you switch between light and USB charge. So presumably no USB charge when the light is on.

Very interested though. May pull the trigger on this. Anyone know if it will run a rear light?

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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #161 on: 21 May, 2012, 10:51:47 am »
Anyone know if it will run a rear light?
From the spec, it appears so.
I'll let you know when it gets here.

However it appears it can only charge not run say a Garmin Edge 800 or is simply a matter of translation that has me confused?
I'd say that was a translation issue. What's the difference between 'charge' and 'run'? I think it depends on the nature of your cable- you have to use a charge only cable rather than a data cable.

I plan to use it to charge cache batteries, and then using the cache batteries to charge our devices. We'll want it to run 2 phones and a garmin (although we have etrex which take AAs) for audax.

Auntie Helen

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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #162 on: 21 May, 2012, 10:55:52 am »
I have looked at the German:

Quote
Wird das Fahrlicht bei Tag nicht benötigt, bietet der NANO Plus Scheinwerfer über den USB-Port die Möglichkeit Handys, Navigationsgeräte und iPods zu laden. Der USB-Anschluss befindet sich im Halter des NANO Plus Scheinwerfers und wird durch eine Abdeckkappe vor Verschmutzung geschützt.

Der Ladevorgang ist bei Geschwindigkeiten ab etwa 10 km/h möglich.
Besondere Einstellungen am Scheinwerfer oder an den zu ladenden Geräten müssen nicht vorgenommen werden. Einfach anschließen und aufladen.
An Auntie Helen reading suggestst that it charges ("laden" used for charging) and looking at my enormous dictionary, 'laden' is always about filling up (loading a ship) or charging rather than running. Mind you, if it talks about charging a phone (Handy) it must assume you are also running the phone at the same time...
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Kim

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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #163 on: 21 May, 2012, 01:34:22 pm »
Linguistic confusion aside, like any other dynamo charger it will make some power available (how much will depend on speed and regulator efficiency) and it's up to the device you plug in to decide what to do with it.  Some gadgets (smartphones especially) don't do well if powered by an intermittent or current-limited source - waking up the CPU because there's power available, but not putting a net charge into the battery isn't unknown.  Others will charge just fine.  It's all a bit suck-it-and-see.  A cache battery should solve not-enough-instantaneous-current issues, thobut.

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #164 on: 23 May, 2012, 09:15:01 am »
The Axa has arrived today. Seems pretty solidly made. No dire warnings re:USB charging, just advising that it's not watertight. Seems fair.
Yes it can run a rear light.

More reviews as we discover.

Chris S

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #165 on: 23 May, 2012, 11:18:22 am »
Does this imply that you can't/shouldn't charge off it when it's wet?

Are there ways of making a non-waterproof USB port, waterproof?

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #166 on: 23 May, 2012, 04:38:33 pm »
The Axa has arrived today. Seems pretty solidly made. No dire warnings re:USB charging, just advising that it's not watertight. Seems fair.
Yes it can run a rear light.

More reviews as we discover.

mine too, so I fitted it and tried it out...

it works.  At everything > walking pace, my iphone had the little charging symbol.  My GPS was working fine on 'external power' (it already had full battery, so not sure if it was charging or just running) and even my knackered ipod was showing signs of charging.

It feels quite solidly made with a good bracket, the switch feels a little bit flimsy and I dont know how waterproof it'll be, but time will tell!



Kim

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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #167 on: 24 May, 2012, 11:55:22 pm »
Has this one been posted before?

http://www.ridermount.com/latest_product_detail.asp?id=1

Looks like a spoke dynamo with integrated LED light / USB charger.  Killer features being that it's trivial to fit/remove and that it has a disengagable clutch...

Aushiker

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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #168 on: 25 May, 2012, 01:03:08 am »
Has this one been posted before?

http://www.ridermount.com/latest_product_detail.asp?id=1

Looks like a spoke dynamo with integrated LED light / USB charger.  Killer features being that it's trivial to fit/remove and that it has a disengagable clutch...
I am not sure I understand why a "disengagable clutch" is a killer feature. Care to explain? I cannot tell with my SON dynamo if it is engaged or not for example.

The aspect that puts me off this is simply the paucity of information on the website.

Andrew

Kim

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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #169 on: 25 May, 2012, 01:39:12 am »
I agree, the frictional losses of an unloaded (a SON or Shimano is permanently engaged, with associated eddy current losses - a hub dynamo with disengagable magnets was discussed in some thread I can't find a while ago) hub dynamo are lost in the noise.  But I also believe that the losses from carrying another 5kg of whatever on your bike are lost in the noise, so I accept that opinions differ greatly on such matters.

It's also fair to say that the idle losses of a spoke dynamo are going to be somewhat higher, on account of the gearbox, so the clutch becomes more useful.


It does smell a bit like vapourwear, though...

Andrew

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #170 on: 25 May, 2012, 06:37:38 am »
Strikes me as a curious device. Not sure about those lights either.

The whole thing looks to me like one of those 'flatters to deceive, sod all use in practice' gadgets you might see in a Sunday supplement mags. Like a motorised tie rail or somesuch.

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #171 on: 25 May, 2012, 09:10:10 am »
Strikes me as a curious device. Not sure about those lights either.

The whole thing looks to me like one of those 'flatters to deceive, sod all use in practice' gadgets you might see in a Sunday supplement mags. Like a motorised tie rail or somesuch.

Quoted as 80 Lux for the front so likely to be "bright enough", but overall I'd want to see lots of +ve recommendations on these pages before I bought one.

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #172 on: 25 May, 2012, 09:16:06 am »
There used to be a spoke dynamo that garnered good reviews from Chris Juden.  Bit prone to breaking the 'whisker' that engaged with the spokes, so that might be a reason to want to disengage.

A 'be seen' light combined with a charger?  Not bad, really. Although if it really outputs 5V then I can see issues with 'fussy' devices after the power has travelled up a metre of cable and voltage has dropped off a bit.
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Kim

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Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #173 on: 25 May, 2012, 02:19:31 pm »
Although if it really outputs 5V then I can see issues with 'fussy' devices after the power has travelled up a metre of cable and voltage has dropped off a bit.

If the cable meets the USB standards, this shouldn't be a problem.  It's entirely normal to have a metre or two of cable between a USB port and a device, after all.

Re: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various
« Reply #174 on: 25 May, 2012, 02:25:50 pm »
'fussy' USB devices don't cope well with longer cables, for this reason.
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