Charge AW 14500 using solar power?

I do quite a bit of camping and hiking and end up taking quite a few batteries with me when I go out. I would like to be able to take just 7-8 AA size batteries with me (1-2 for my D10, 4 for my PT Apex, and 2 for my GPS) and keep them charged using something like a Brunton Solarroll. I like lithiums for their weight savings and, more importantly, their ability to hold a charge in cold weather. Therefore, I would like to use AW 14500's, but I need a good, small setup to charge them. If possible, I would also like to be able to hook up an iPod and my phone to keep them topped off also. Any ideas on where to get such a setup or how to make one? Keep in mind I don't really know anything about electronics.

I think your GPS and Apex would go if you used 14500's.

14500's are not direct replacements for AA batteries they have a nominal voltage of 3.6 or 3.7 volts. Fresh off the charger they are about 4.2 volts. A brand new Energizer Lithium (which is a completely different chemistry) has a nominal voltage of 1.5 volts. The 14500's also don't share the cold weather performance advantage of the primary lithium AA's. In fact Eneloops have a lower minimum rated operating temp than the 14500's.

I see it's immediately obvious how little I know. Thanks for the correction.

How about eneloops then? They should work fine in all three gadgets, correct? How about a solar charger for those?

eneloops do make their own solar cell charger, but from hiking standards its absurdly bulky. There are commericial grade solar cell chargers out there that are designed for NiMH's such as eneloops, unfortunately since I have not used any of them I cannot recommend any in this post :sigh:

In the following post, netprince comments on his Powerfilm AA NiMH solar charger:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com ... post2755864

Although expensive, they do appear to be of very good quality:

http://www.powerfilmsolar.com ... military/index.htm

Here's the USB version that netprince mentioned in his post:

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com ... pid=52243

I like the fact that it's a fully integrated plug 'n play charger.

That is pretty huge for what I need.

http://www.powerfilmsolar.com/products/military/aafoldable/index.htm

This would be perfect if it had a USB connector my phone and iPod. This would properly charge an Eneloop, I assume?

Bones said:

In the following post, netprince comments on his Powerfilm AA NiMH solar charger:

http://www.candlepowerforums.com ... post2755864

Although expensive, they do appear to be of very good quality:

http://www.powerfilmsolar.com ... military/index.htm

Here's the USB version that netprince mentioned in his post:

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com ... pid=52243

I like the fact that it's a fully integrated plug 'n play charger.

Click to expand...

You know me so well! I didn't see your post until after my previous one. Good find, I think that USB version might be just the ticket. I'd like to still be able to charge 4 cells AND have USB, but I think that's just getting nitpicky.

Since I didn't get the usb charger on mine, I picked up a Tekkeon MP1550. Its cheap, and it can put out enough power to charge my iphone. I had a cheaper solar charger with a usb port built in, and it couldn't put out enough power to charge the iphone. The circuit would just shut down.

An added bonus of the mp1550 is that it can also charge your cells when you have power available.

Did you use eneloops with the solar charger? If so, did it cause any problems? I've never used them and have no idea if they need to use the eneloop charger only or not.

Yes, I used eneloops. Eneloops are not restricted to eneloop chargers, I dont even own an eneloop charger.

Crimson said:

I like lithiums for their weight savings and, more importantly, their ability to hold a charge in cold weather.

Click to expand...

Depending on how cold of weather you plan on being in, Energizer Lithium AA cells may be a better choice than the Eneloops as back ups. If I remember correctly Eneloops are not recommended below a certain temperature.

Maybe someone else with more knowledge than me can comment.

Bill

Just poking around Sanyo's specs I show -20C (-4F) minimum storage temp. They also talk about discharge are -10C (14F) here with discharge graphs. Actually looking that's similar to Li-ion so I was wrong about them being better...but they work in your device.

It's hard to beat the Energizer L91's if you need real cold weather performance though. They're rated to -40C (also -40F).

-4F is plenty cold for my needs. If I happened to be anywhere colder than that I would just keep the batteries in my jacket until I needed them, or maybe carry some L91's as backup.

It looks like I'll be picking up the USB/AA solar charger and 8 Eneloops pretty soon. Thanks for all your help! I'm amazed that I got such quick AND useful replies!

So you are going with the powerfilm panel/charger? If so I would be interested in hearing your impressions later once you put it through it's paces a time or too.

Those PowerFilms seem to be great, although expensive.

I have bought this and am quite happy:
http://store.altenergystore.com/Portable-Power/Sunlinq-12Watt-12V-Portable-Power-Pack/p572/

I connect my orbit charger to that and can charge virtually all batteries.

I will probably pick it up at the end of the month and I will post a review for sure.

Alex, I found the USB/AA solar charger for $75 online. Not a bad price at all, about half the price of the Sunlinq. Powerfilm's products look a lot like the Brunton Solarrolls, but are about half the price. Any idea if these things are related?

Crimson said:

...
Powerfilm's products look a lot like the Brunton Solarrolls, but are about half the price. Any idea if these things are related?

Click to expand...

Interesting question, it seems they are similar, but different.

Btw: the Brunton Solaris 12 looks very similar to the SunlinQ, but, too, seems to be different.

No sure which is the "original" and which is the "copy"...

Using this charger with the USB solar charger still nets me the ability to charge 4 AA batteries at once. Pretty slick setup. Amazon also has the 4 AA and wall charger combo for just under $11. Seems like a decent price to me.

P.S. The USB charger allows you to charge 1 cell at a time which the new Sanyo MQN06 charger can no longer do. The older MQN05 could, but apparently has been replaced now in favor of the new charger that can handle international voltages.

baterija said:

I think your GPS and Apex would go if you used 14500's.

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Not to throw a wrench into the works here, but depending on the actual GPS model, 14500's might be OK. I have two handheld Garmin GPSes--an eMap and an eTrex H. Both of them run normally using either two alkaline or NiMH AA batteries. However, both of them can also be powered by a 12V adapter cable that you plug into your car's electrical system via a cigarette lighter type adapter. I'll check later today, but I think that it is just a straight through physical adapter cable so it is passing on 12V to the GPSes. So if these GPSes are able to accept a 12V input, I am thinking they should be able to use input from 2 x 14500's as well (fully charged starting at ~8.4V). This makes sense to me unless there is some special circuitry between the battery compartment and the main GPS circuit board that can't cope with the increased voltage of 14500's vs. alkalines or NiMHs.

This speculation about the vehicle adapter cable passing on 12V to the GPSes is totally incorrect--I just tested it as I should have done before posting (see next post for info). So, please, don't attempt to use 14500's in your GPS if this original post gave you some inkling of hope that it was possible!

verbage said:

Not to throw a wrench into the works here, but depending on the actual GPS model, 14500's might be OK. I have two handheld Garmin GPSes--an eMap and an eTrex H. Both of them run normally using either two alkaline or NiMH AA batteries. However, both of them can also be powered by a 12V adapter cable that you plug into your car's electrical system via a cigarette lighter type adapter. I'll check later today, but I think that it is just a straight through physical adapter cable so it is passing on 12V to the GPSes. So if these GPSes are able to accept a 12V input, I am thinking they should be able to use input from 2 x 14500's as well (fully charged starting at ~8.4V). This makes sense to me unless there is some special circuitry between the battery compartment and the main GPS circuit board that can't cope with the increased voltage of 14500's vs. alkalines or NiMHs.

Click to expand...

I was totally incorrect above--please do not use 14500's in your GPS unit. I remembered that I had a 120VAC to 12VDC adapter in the basement, so I pulled it out, plugged in my Garmin vehicle power adapter cable, and then read the voltage off the ends of the cable as ~3.13VDC. Therefore, it is absolutely NOT a straight through physical adapter cable like I stated above--it does have some voltage conversion circuitry. And thus, if you attempt to use 14500's instead of alkalines/NiMHs with a similar Garmin GPS, you will surely fry it as baterija clearly stated at the beginning of this thread. So, sorry for previous posting speculating about this--I should have tested it first.