Author Topic: Dynamo Powered rechargers Various (Read 53193 times)

Frere · « **Reply #75 on:** 20 January, 2012, 11:16:14 pm »

Yes, you're right Feline, I did, but seems that will now have to pop it on every now and then when I want a location fix as to where I am, i.e. when lost

Frere

andrewc · « **Reply #76 on:** 21 January, 2012, 06:46:51 pm »

I mentioned the Softhema on the Thorn forum. A chap there had his die on him after a few days http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=3802.msg17208#msg17208

Feline · « **Reply #77 on:** 21 January, 2012, 08:23:12 pm »

Quote from: andrewc on 21 January, 2012, 06:46:51 pm

I mentioned the Softhema on the Thorn forum. A chap there had his die on him after a few days http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=3802.msg17208#msg17208

I am planning on buying one just for fun to test it out given the low cost. Because it's output is to a mini USB connector I have already bought a female mini-USB to female-USB adapter for £2 so I can connect it to my Pebble 5000wotsit battery pack. I like to keep these kinds of devices a battery pack away from my Garmin and iPhone in case of epic phailz and so they don't suffer from a constant on and off current. I will put it through it's paces a bit and let you know how it performs in the wild.
It has the advantage of being cheap enough to have one on each bike, a built in switch, and a connector that will be easy to disconnect the stuff from when it is not needed leaving nothing very unsightly on the bike.

andrewc · « **Reply #78 on:** 04 February, 2012, 04:52:16 pm »

http://oddbikes.com/ Another contender. This may be of interest to the more technically minded as the schematics & design are available for download.

Kim · « **Reply #79 on:** 04 February, 2012, 07:25:42 pm »

Quote from: andrewc on 04 February, 2012, 04:52:16 pm

http://oddbikes.com/ Another contender. This may be of interest to the more technically minded as the schematics & design are available for download.

*peers at schematic*

Looks like a sensible switching regulator, so should be reasonably efficient. Standard zener clamp over-voltage protection, though. Don't know what the heatsinking's like, but it's probably wise to avoid R17 descents and fenland tailwinds without a load.

aidan.f · « **Reply #80 on:** 04 February, 2012, 10:05:43 pm »

~Agree Kim The Overvoltage clamp is 1.5 Watt SMT... needs a pair of thyristors

Wobbly John · « **Reply #81 on:** 11 February, 2012, 08:33:33 pm »

Spotted this one on Ebay: Bike charger light USB dynamo

Andrew · « **Reply #82 on:** 14 February, 2012, 10:54:44 am »

I saw Evans are off-loading the Dahon Recharge for £30.... so I clicked 'buy'. Perhaps a decision I'll regret in time (given all that's been said about the unit) but I figured I'd give it a go anyway since there are reports of people having had no problems with it.... perhaps they don't descend at speed though?!

Anyways, are there any suggestions simple enough for idiots (I.e. me!) to follow that might preserve the life of the recharge?

PeeJay · « **Reply #83 on:** 14 February, 2012, 03:08:17 pm »

Cheers for the tip off about the cheapo reecharge at Evans. I've just made a purchase. Thought it worth a punt at that price.

Gonna try it on my commuter for a few weeks to assess reliability (there's a 40mph descent on the commute - so that should test it!)

Would also be interested if there's a DIY mod to improve it.

Kim · « **Reply #84 on:** 14 February, 2012, 03:16:56 pm »

Quote from: Andrew on 14 February, 2012, 10:54:44 am

I saw Evans are off-loading the Dahon Recharge for £30.... so I clicked 'buy'. Perhaps a decision I'll regret in time (given all that's been said about the unit) but I figured I'd give it a go anyway since there are reports of people having had no problems with it.... perhaps they don't descend at speed though?!

Anyways, are there any suggestions simple enough for idiots (I.e. me!) to follow that might preserve the life of the recharge?

Use an internally limited bottle dynamo.

Disconnect the rectifier/regulator thingy from the dynamo, or turn your lights on, whenever the battery isn't charging.

Don't ride faster than about 12mph.

Stick a couple of chunky 25V zener diodes back to back across the inputs, replace them when they fail short-circuit.

The proper solution would be the crowbar circuit discussed recently, but that's getting more complex. There's probably room inside the case for a re-engineered circuit using SMD components, though...

ETA: For 30 quid I'm tempted though, even if the regulator unit's going straight in the bin. The battery pack isn't bad.

Andrew · « **Reply #85 on:** 15 February, 2012, 08:40:31 am »

Quote from: Kim on 14 February, 2012, 03:16:56 pm

The battery pack isn't bad.

That was partially my thinking. Obviously I rather have a working gizmo bit as well but it sounds like there's fat chance of that though - 12mph? Even I ride faster than that!

Feline · « **Reply #86 on:** 15 February, 2012, 11:04:48 am »

Quote from: Andrew on 15 February, 2012, 08:40:31 am

Quote from: Kim on 14 February, 2012, 03:16:56 pm
The battery pack isn't bad.

That was partially my thinking. Obviously I rather have a working gizmo bit as well but it sounds like there's fat chance of that though - 12mph? Even I ride faster than that!

What I did isn't all that complicated really.

Buy a micro toggle switch with it's little rubber cover from Maplins.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/sub-miniature-toggle-switches-2341
http://www.maplin.co.uk/sub-miniature-toggle-switch-cover-2348
Connect the cable on the Reecharge that they intend you to connect to your dynamo hub to the switch
Connect a paired wire from the switch to 2 spade connectors piggy-backing on your dynamo hub (this allows you to leave your dyno lights permanently attached and if you ever had a wiring problem with your Reecharge you could simply disconnect it and still have light).
I don't have a terribly good understanding of which wire to connect to which terminal on the switch so I experimented by trial and error until it was right. I used the small spade connectors that came with my IQ Cyo light to connect the wires to it.
Then I wrapped the back bit of the switch in self amalgamating tape to get a pretty water tight seal, and zip tied the switch to the side of my stem where I can easily turn it on and off when riding.

This system works very well because you can use your dyno light completely as normal via it's own switch. You turn the Reecharge on and off depending on when you want it to charge. I turn it off if I am ascending anything major to limit drag

Always check that when you have it on the green charging LED is lit. This is because if it is not then there is potential for burnout. I keep the Reecharge's 'receiving current' button permanently set to on, but if the battery pack input wire gets loose then it would not be receiving the current so keeping the green light on the side of the pack somewhere you can see it or peer in a bag at it when moving is handy. At the start of a ride I make sure the charging wire and USB cable are firmly pushed into the battery pack.
With this system you can use lights alone, Reecharge charging alone, or both at the same time although this will make your dyno light a bit less bright so I only do it when I really need to. Forward planning by getting Garmin and battery pack fully charged at nightfall means you shouldn't really need to run both even when riding for days and nights solidly. I like the reassurance of knowing I can do both if I need to though.

Frere · « **Reply #87 on:** 15 February, 2012, 11:37:22 am »

Thank you Andrew, £30 isn't too bad for a punt, like Kim says. Ordered one, despite my saying will never shop at Evans again (see reviews).

Thank you Feline, reserved two sets at a Maplins store and will go over to collect later.

Should I also stock up on 25V zenor diodes whatever these are?

Frere

Andrew · « **Reply #88 on:** 16 February, 2012, 09:17:39 am »

Thanks for the tip Feline. I'll see if I can source an aesthetically pleasing and waterproof switch from somewhere around here.

The Mechanic · « **Reply #89 on:** 16 February, 2012, 10:01:57 am »

Quote from: Andrew on 14 February, 2012, 10:54:44 am

I saw Evans are off-loading the Dahon Recharge for £30.... so I clicked 'buy'. Perhaps a decision I'll regret in time (given all that's been said about the unit) but I figured I'd give it a go anyway since there are reports of people having had no problems with it.... perhaps they don't descend at speed though?!

Anyways, are there any suggestions simple enough for idiots (I.e. me!) to follow that might preserve the life of the recharge?

Is this the Biologic Recharge we are talking about?

PeeJay · « **Reply #90 on:** 16 February, 2012, 10:08:56 am »

Andrew · « **Reply #91 on:** 16 February, 2012, 11:44:59 am »

Quote from: The Mechanic on 16 February, 2012, 10:01:57 am

Is this the Biologic Recharge we are talking about?

Indeed it is. I thought it was the same as the Dahon one. Is that not correct?

Kim · « **Reply #92 on:** 16 February, 2012, 06:14:37 pm »

AIUI 'Biologic' is a Dahon brand for accessories.

Occasional references to "Ecologic ReeCharge" on this forum and elsewhere are merely errors.

Feline · « **Reply #93 on:** 16 February, 2012, 06:45:39 pm »

I'm quite tempted to order another, although I have just won an eBay auction for the German thingy so I am going to try that in conjunction with my Reecharge battery pack to see how well it works

Andrew · « **Reply #94 on:** 16 February, 2012, 07:07:41 pm »

Quote from: Feline on 16 February, 2012, 06:45:39 pm

I have just won an eBay auction for the German thingy

Jammy sod

If I had known....

If (and when?) the Dahon gizmo packs up, I'd probably make like you and buy a 'rectifier only' option like the e-werk to use with the battery. It's the battery that's the expensive bit!

Somnolent · « **Reply #95 on:** 23 February, 2012, 02:31:21 pm »

My Pedalpower SIC has been sitting around on my desk for a while whilst I think about how to install it.

Upthread is mentioned that it is rather good electrically - and I don't have the knowledge to contradict that.

First the supplied handlebar bracket - only permits one orientation on the handlebars, and looks rather flimsy, and as my bars tend towards being crowded anyway this wasn't an option. Digging around in the various boxes in the garage I came up with a cheap Decathlon bar bag http://www.decathlon.co.uk/25l-handlebar-pannier-id_5994533.html which fastens with just velcro straps. Unused because, on the bike I bought it for, it flopped around alarmingly, but on my Audax bike the cable arrangement holds it in place admirably.

So - holes made in bottom right corner for the cable coming in from the dynamo, and another just below the middle of the zip for an output to the Garmin; added an elastic band to hold the "box" et voila:

All tested and working just fine.

However the "piggyback" spade arrangement just has to go.

That is at a level of fugliness up with which I will not put - not to mention the chance of losing small parts in the grass when disconnecting it to attend to faerie visitations, or the fact that with the SIC cable wrapped around, or taped, to the fork blade, the bar bag is effectively "hard-wired" in to the bike, which is not good for cafe-stops.

What I really want is a single wire running from the Shimano "lego brick" connector on the hub, up the fork to the bag and the SIC, and then a wire back out to the light, all with some sort of 3-way quick disconnect/reconnect capability so the bag can come off easily. Doesn't need to be especially waterproof as hopefully it would be in the bag itself , and further protected by plastic bags as necessary, nor does it need any switching as the light and SIC have their own switches. Some sort of co-axial connector (like the one the SIC uses on the ouput to its various accessory ends) would be good as it would minimise the size of hole in the side of the bag, and an audax-tired mind would not have to think about connecting in any particular orientation.

Anyone got any good ideas on 3 way connectors that can be wired up by a simpleton ?

Kim · « **Reply #96 on:** 23 February, 2012, 03:05:52 pm »

My approach to this is to set it up so that the dynamo and light are hardwired, in the interests of reliability, with a connector into which the charging gubbins can be connected (or not) as desired. In my mind that minimises the amount of things to go wrong, either physically or due to tiredness and stupidity. In the event of a malfunction (or café stop), the charger can simply be disconnected, leaving the lighting system undisturbed.

What I've got on our dynamo equipped cycles is wire from the dynamo to a Tamiya connector mounted solidly at a convenient (in both wiring and luggage terms) point on the bike, with another wire running from the Tamiya connector to the light.

Dawes tourer:

Streetmachine GT:

On the Trice, the wiring splits at the dynamo, which has two sets of terminals, with the socket attached to the rack stay. If it ever gets upgraded to a SON, I'll re-do that section of the wiring:

ETA: I've used the female half of the Tamiya connector (which confusingly contains male pins) on the bike. This is because it can be mounted flush against a surface, and because the male connector contains the bit that's most likely to snap off. I've also made sure that the connector polarity is consistent between bikes, on the off-chance that it may matter at some point in future.

As mentioned in another thread, these connectors are non-waterproof. I'm working on the assumption that water may get in to the open connector, but will be able to dry out easily. There's plenty of physical separation between the conductors, so it's not an issue electrically.

Somnolent · « **Reply #97 on:** 23 February, 2012, 03:28:08 pm »

Much more sensible than my imaginings - thank you, Kim.

Andrew · « **Reply #98 on:** 23 February, 2012, 03:35:06 pm »

Thanks for that Kim, very useful.

Having now received the dahon recharge, and looking at the wires provided with a view to implementing Feline's suggestions, I had similar questions to PpPete. As I'll probably put both the rectifier gizmo and battery in my bar bag, and only wanting one wire from the dynohub (to avoid the fugliness seen above), it meant some kind of branching connector/switch arrangement on the wire to the light. I think I can live without a switch if the connectors are conveniently placed.

thing1 · « **Reply #99 on:** 23 February, 2012, 04:54:10 pm »

Quote from: PpPete on 10 January, 2012, 11:24:55 am

My current (groan) thinking is to get an ewerk from one of the German online vendors (quite a bit cheaper than UK) and a separate Li-Poly battery (the B&M ones look overpriced). Would have to be one that will both take charge from the ewerk and give it to the Garmin simultaneously. If I'm right this "should" give me minimum faffage and maximum reliability.

I've been trying to find a descent alternative to the B&M cache battery, but all the ones I tried so far fail to provide charge whilst being charged.

I even started to make a spread sheet, which tells me I should next try the Tekkeon TekCharge MP1860A. Apparently this will give at least 3x more mAh per gram and per £ than the B&M.