Author Topic: Bike mounted USB Charger  (Read 82726 times)

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #125 on: 26 January, 2011, 02:58:24 pm »
I have a three position toggle switch from Maplin which is on1 / off / on2.   I also have the 'condom for it.

All I need now is a nice little box to mount it in and to be able to mount the switch on or near the bars.   

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #126 on: 26 January, 2011, 03:00:07 pm »
I have a three position toggle switch from Maplin which is on1 / off / on2.   I also have the 'condom for it.

All I need now is a nice little box to mount it in and to be able to mount the switch on or near the bars.   

We have awesome ideas so far from Kim of one of those little plastic cyclinders that 35mm film came in, and andygate's idea of kinder surprise egg inner plastic thingy!

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #127 on: 26 January, 2011, 03:02:22 pm »
Hmm. 35mm cannisters.   I used to have some of them...


Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #128 on: 26 January, 2011, 03:11:56 pm »
I'm actually having great trouble finding 4.8mm piggy back spade connectors. I've decided to wire up my Cyo direct from the hub since it has it's own switch anyway and I really don't want to have any problems with it during the long rides. This means I want to piggy back the wire that will run up to my switch straight from the dyno hub. Try as I might no one seems to stock piggy back spades in this medium size that they need to be to fit the Schmidt hub. I would have liked to have the option of separating the 2 wires at the hub without having to rewire anything, but unless I find some I may have to just connect both wires to one spade.

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #129 on: 26 January, 2011, 03:16:15 pm »
I'll take a switch with a nice rubber hat, any day.  That looks easily fumbled, sworn, and connected while full of rainwater.

Nope

They only connect one way round (the 'male' plug bits are U shaped). The wires and connectors are entirely separate - you can pour water over them and you won't get a short.  Oh, and they won't retain water, it runs through them. These connectors are used with 35A currents in dirty conditions.

Trust me, I used these connectors on a home-made light for 18months, riding in the most horrendous weather. Never let me down.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Kim

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Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #130 on: 26 January, 2011, 03:43:05 pm »
+1 to this.  The only issue I've had with them was forgetting to disconnect the cable *before* removing the pannier.  And it was sturdy enough that nothing got broken.

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #131 on: 27 January, 2011, 12:54:30 am »
I'm actually having great trouble finding 4.8mm piggy back spade connectors.

Where else?

andygates

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Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #132 on: 27 January, 2011, 08:03:38 am »
Hm, I may be convinced...
It takes blood and guts to be this cool but I'm still just a cliché.
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Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #133 on: 28 January, 2011, 09:09:11 am »
As an alternative to the more or less extinct film cartridges, I've now got a supply of a very similar dimensioned container, although a little smaller.  My glucometer test strips come in a little plastic pot, which is very similar to the film cartridge pots except they're white (so get grubbier easier), and the lid is on a little hinge instead of entirely loose.

I would have thought Feline must have access to similar sorts of things through her work. Wouldn't some pill containers also be suitable?
Actually, it is rocket science.
 

Panoramix

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Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #134 on: 28 January, 2011, 11:13:42 am »
Would it not be be possible to mount a switch on a handlebar plug so that the elctric bit is inside the handlebars? There is always the risk of a bit of humidity inside the handlebar but protecting the contacts with shrinking stuff would work. The only negative is that it would lengthen the cable run but oversize it a bit and electrical losses will be minimal.
Chief cat entertainer.

border-rider

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #135 on: 28 January, 2011, 11:22:01 am »
You need a fairly robust switch to do that (you knock it all the time, believe me) and a very rigid bar-end plug. But yes, it's possible.

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #136 on: 28 January, 2011, 11:50:29 am »
You could, but unless you are a fair weather rider, your electrical contacts and switch *will* be subject to damp.

That's why I suggested the Tamiya plugs. These don't need to be protected from the weather. You can use them in the rain with 35A flowing and they'll be ok.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

frankly frankie

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Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #137 on: 28 January, 2011, 12:22:19 pm »
+1 (or is it +2 or +3 by now) for those connectors illustrated above.

Neat they are not, but they really are foolproof, locking, weather-resistant* and the best thing for the job, IME.

* as in, water passes straight through, which is a very good 2nd-best to being sealed to IPX-whatever.
when you're dead you're done, so let the good times roll

Panoramix

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    • Some routes
Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #138 on: 28 January, 2011, 12:31:26 pm »
You could, but unless you are a fair weather rider, your electrical contacts and switch *will* be subject to damp.

That's why I suggested the Tamiya plugs. These don't need to be protected from the weather. You can use them in the rain with 35A flowing and they'll be ok.

I am sure that the Tamiya plugs work but electrical contact spray + silicone works also. This is one way of wiring navigation lights which are exposed to seawater spray.
Chief cat entertainer.

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #139 on: 28 January, 2011, 12:39:27 pm »
Maybe.

My experience of electrical connections on boats is that they are a freaking nightmare (remember that I lived on a boat for years). If I were rewiring my nav lights now, sod the 'marine' connectors and 'watertight' boxes, I'd use Tamiya connectors.

The design means that even when wet, the wires and connectors are kept separate. Water will just pass straight through. You can even extract the male and female contacts completely from the plastic surround for cleaning.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Panoramix

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    • Some routes
Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #140 on: 28 January, 2011, 12:52:28 pm »
My experience of electrical connections on boats is that they are a freaking nightmare

Oh yes, I think that the best option is to leave water come out as quickly as it entered and make sure that the water can't create a short.

I'd use Tamiya connectors.

The design means that even when wet, the wires and connectors are kept separate. Water will just pass straight through. You can even extract the male and female contacts completely from the plastic surround for cleaning.

That may be worth trying, what I like about silicone is that even when the bow goes through a wave there shouldn't be a short circuit but may with the Tamyia one the distance is too great to be a concern.
Chief cat entertainer.

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #141 on: 28 January, 2011, 12:54:16 pm »
I've had some success using rubber self-amalgamating tape - if it's applied to clean surfaces it seals well.

Over time, the damp just seems to get in anyway, so I prefer connections I can take apart and clean.
<i>Marmite slave</i>

Kim

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Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #142 on: 28 January, 2011, 04:17:05 pm »
If I were rewiring my nav lights now, sod the 'marine' connectors and 'watertight' boxes, I'd use Tamiya connectors.

I'm a land-lubber with no experience of such things, but I was under the impression that crimped connectors were preferred over solder in a corrosive environment.  Of course there may be a crimp version of the Tamiya connector (or at least some similar modular connector) available.

frankly frankie

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Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #143 on: 28 January, 2011, 04:41:37 pm »
<pedant> Rain water and sea water are two very different things, electrically. </pedant>

Rain water isn't worth worrying about, in the short term (it won't create a short-circuit).  Longer term of course it does lead to corrosion, which is why the next best thing to waterproofing a light is to drill a drain hole in the bottom.
when you're dead you're done, so let the good times roll

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #144 on: 28 January, 2011, 04:45:12 pm »
All the tamiya connectors I've used could be crimped.

solder is frowned on in marine environments because it creates a hard spot that is prone to breaking under vibration and flex. Damp in the bit of wire adjacent to the solder also encourages corrosion. OTOH, I've had great success creating soldered rings for screw-on battery connections; forming the bare wire into a ring and running solder into it.  Solder + heatshrink + wiring box is a good way to join wires. Permanent and safer than proprietary junction box.

A lot of marine electric wiring components are overpriced rubbish (lighting, pumps). The marine electronics are often very good.


<i>Marmite slave</i>

Panoramix

  • .--. .- -. --- .-. .- -- .. -..-
  • Suus cuique crepitus bene olet
    • Some routes
Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #145 on: 28 January, 2011, 05:02:12 pm »
Over time, the damp just seems to get in anyway, so I prefer connections I can take apart and clean.

The elctrical connection spray is effectively a water repellent, so it should mitigate this.
Chief cat entertainer.

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #146 on: 01 April, 2011, 02:53:46 pm »
In readiness for some longer upcoming rides, I have got my Dahon Reecharge set up strapped to my headset spacer area with a hand-fettled switch made from a Maplin sub-micro switch wearing a waterproof condom-like cover (and the back of it all sealed up with self amalgamating tape).

I decided to take Kim's advice and keep the wiring for the lighting completely separate from the Reecharge wiring just in case a fault was to develop in either. I'm using piggy back spade connectors at the Schmidt hub end for the IQ Cyo light, and then plain spades for the Reecharge wire attached to them.

The Reecharge wire comes up the inside of the fork and at the level of my light bracket I fitted spade connecters in line just in case I ever want or need to detach the whole thing. The cable goes through my Maplin switch before the Dahon current regulator gadget so I can turn it off either at night when the light is running (this has it's own senso switch) or when the Reecharge battery is full. It also needs to be off if the Reecharge isn't there because the regulator thing can be apparently damaged if it is getting current but has nowhere to send it.

The whole set up is working a treat and a nearly-flat Garmin Edge 705 can be fully charged whilst being used in about 2 hours riding time. I haven't yet used it to charge up my iPhone to see how long that takes.


I have however discovered something annoying that I think is related to where I have the Reecharge mounted, when it is 'on' in either receiving charge or giving charge modes it seems to interfere with my wireless Cateye signal and also the wireless signal from my Garmin cad sensor. Both of these sometimes give a correct reading, but sometimes give no reading at all. When I had the Reecharge set up on my other bike I had it located inside a bar bag, and I didn't notice any problems like this. However I did have the problem of not being able to tell if I had the thing turned on or not because it was inside the bag. My new set up is much better for being able to see it's working by looking at the red and green light and you can turn the output off and on while on the move. Having the Reecharge easy to use is probably currently more important to me than having an always working Cad sensor so I will probably leave it where it is for now while I think of possible solutions. I have a nice little carbon bar extender thingy I could try sticking the Cateye on to see if being a few inches further forward than the Reecharge solves it. Thought I would describe the problem here though just for information for anyone else thinking of setting up something like this!

Kim

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Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #147 on: 01 April, 2011, 03:58:51 pm »
I have however discovered something annoying that I think is related to where I have the Reecharge mounted, when it is 'on' in either receiving charge or giving charge modes it seems to interfere with my wireless Cateye signal and also the wireless signal from my Garmin cad sensor.

Good point.  Wireless sensors and LED dynamo lights (and indeed some of the battery ones) are generally considered to be a bad idea, as they tend to be rather sloppy about noise emissions.  Stands to reason that the Reecharge, which undoubtedly also contains a switching regulator, is going to cause similar problems.  I suspect just having more wiring around to radiate is an issue.

The textbook solution is to stick to computers with wired sensors, but that isn't going to help for a Garmin, so I suppose you're left having to play with moving things around.  I hate these sort of intermittent problems, and it's why I generally try to avoid wireless things whenever possible (and I have a house full of cat5 cable to prove it).   :-\
 



Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #148 on: 01 April, 2011, 04:05:28 pm »
In readiness for some longer upcoming rides, I have got my Dahon Reecharge set up strapped to my headset spacer area with a hand-fettled switch made from a Maplin sub-micro switch wearing a waterproof condom-like cover (and the back of it all sealed up with self amalgamating tape).

I'd be interested in any photos of your Reecharge setup on your bike...

I'm still deciding between the Reecharge and the eWerk...
"Yes please" said Squirrel "biscuits are our favourite things."

Re: Bike mounted USB Charger
« Reply #149 on: 01 April, 2011, 04:29:23 pm »
I generally try to avoid wireless things whenever possible (and I have a house full of cat5 cable to prove it).   :-\

You are me! When we moved into this house, our stuff was in storage. I told my wife and kids that we wouldn't have our stuff (including furniture) until the day after we got the house, because I wanted to run cat 5 everywhere without the hassle of moving furniture  :)

I'd be interested in any photos of your Reecharge setup on your bike...

I'm still deciding between the Reecharge and the eWerk...

Same here. I know I've described the Reecharge as fugly, but the eWerk isn't that much better (and much more expensive).