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Recommendations for Personal Solar charger

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redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/25/2011 : 08:39:59

Cell Phone charger. Solar.. Does anybody have a fav?

Ray in Atlanta, Ga.
"Lee Key" '84 Catalina 25
Standard Rig / Fin Keel

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3460 Posts

Response Posted - 05/01/2011 : 13:16:01

Ray,

I don't have one as a phone charger but I think I saw a portable solar/wind turbine charger...If I can find it on the web, I'll post the link. Not sure if it is more gimmick vs functional.

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3460 Posts

Response Posted - 05/01/2011 : 14:00:51

Here are links to some gadgets - Not sure if they work well but at least interesting to explore.

http://www.gizmag.com/hymini-portable-charger-solar-wind-power/9122/
http://www.gizmag.com/kinesis-builds-combination-windsolar-recharger-for-mobile-devices/10731/
http://store.sundancesolar.com/cephso.html
http://www.earthtechproducts.com/p7.html

Edited by - OLarryR on 05/01/2011 14:13:18

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 05/02/2011 : 09:06:04

Thanks Larry.. I'll give a report on any I buy.

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redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 05/23/2011 : 13:25:48

http://www.earthtechproducts.com/power-curve-solar-charger.html

This thing works great. Of course I've only used for a week but it really looks like a good rugged product and backup plan for cell phone power.

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3460 Posts

Response Posted - 05/23/2011 : 14:53:51

Ray,

That was pretty quick ! Sounds like a good device - The fact that it is built rugged. Hmmm! A backup device...well...I'm thinkin about it.

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 05/23/2011 : 16:15:47

Interesting that it doesn't have an iPhone tip, but maybe one of the USB cables can be connected to the iPhone cable.

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Dave5041
Former Mainsheet Editor

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USA
3758 Posts

Response Posted - 05/23/2011 : 20:40:53

It does have a standard female USB to plug the docking cable into. It would be a poor business decision to neglect that connector.

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redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 05/24/2011 : 04:31:54

You can also plug this thing into the wall ( 120 ac ) and charge up the battery, so you have one charge ( or more ) as a backup for the cell phone.

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OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3460 Posts

Response Posted - 05/24/2011 : 09:34:19

I am kind of intrigued by those solar/wind combo chargers. More from a curiousity thing than anything else. Like everything, I have to put my mind to it to developing the rationale why I need it. Probably not that hard if you do overnighters away from a dock and AC power. But when I do overnighters (and it is not that often) it usually is to another marina with AC power.

I noticed that there is a difference in the amperages of these devices. I guess the ones with more amperage charge a device faster and are also possibly capable of charging a device that requires more amperage. So, I am wondering what can some of these higher amperage small chargers capable of charging versus the smaller less capable chargers ? For example, I may have this wrong but I believe some of the units have a max of 1400 milliamps, while others have 4000 milliamps. So..what can you do with the 4000 ma unit versus the 1400 ma other than perhaps charge devices faster ?

Edited by - on

piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 05/24/2011 : 11:18:24

Ray, I have on of these [url="http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=440974&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10109&subdeptNum=10548&classNum=11274"]power domes[/url].
I plug my Iphone, GPS, fan, etc into this unit. I prefer 1 unit to have separate pieces for each item. I have a drawer at home with 20 cell phone chargers. I now have only 2 cell phones. I wish everything was universal.

Steve A

Edited by - piseas on 06/13/2011 14:15:00

redeye
Master Marine Consultant

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3476 Posts

Response Posted - 06/13/2011 : 12:41:43

http://www.earthtechproducts.com/power-curve-solar-charger.html

This thing Quit working... might be crap from china...

not sure what is wrong yet...

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Peregrine
Admiral

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830 Posts

Response Posted - 06/13/2011 : 14:21:07

I have been considering this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Solar-Charger-Built--Windshield/dp/B00449U3K0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1307999831&sr=8-1

A little cheaper but mixed reviews on Amazon.
Anyone use it?
I am also using a 6W solar charger on my two batteries and am thinking about adding a cigarette lighter socket to the house battery.

Edited by - Peregrine on 06/13/2011 14:24:02

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3460 Posts

Response Posted - 06/13/2011 : 15:02:15

Ray,
I can,t believe it stopped working so soon! I'll have to see if I can find any reviews of these small solar and/or wind chargers. May be some have reported on reliability pro/con.

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.