power film charging

[cruisertoy]

A few years ago I purchased a bunch of powerfilm stuff and have not had time to use it. I have a 15 and two 5 watt solar panels, female cig sockets, solarguard charge controller and a daisy chain for hooking the panels together. I'm prepping for a group trip down into Havasupai and would like to keep peoples camera's and stuff charged in the canyon. I also own a couple goal zero Sherpa 120 and 240 battery packs. I will get the adapter to go from the Powerfilm to the goal zero batteries. I tried to use individual and daisy chainede panels today to charge my Ipad at home but the Ipad recognized that it was plugged in but said it was "not charging". My Iphone would not charge either. I tried doing it with and without the Charge control unit. Any ideas what I'm doing wrong? I was getting 19v off the 15watt panel. The light was on on the cig adapter for the ipod. When I first bought the panels I swear I tested them charging my driod phone. any ideas?

 

[fratermus]

Apple devices are notoriously picky about charging sources.* This might explain why the android would charge but not the iDevices.

from tapatalk (Galaxy Note 2)
*not saying this is a bad thing. Apple chargers are supposed to be some of the best and most stable out there. This is probably preferable for hardware longevity.

 

[cruisertoy]

I was able to charge my nikon batteries yesterday but still nothing with the apple products. Am I going to have to filter the charge through a battery or something to get the Iphones and Ipods to charge? What other options do I have?

 

[Corbet]

Will you have a vehicle on the trip? If so just charge your Apple stuff off the cig plug. Wire one up for constant power. That is what I do for my iPhone and wife's iPad. But be aware the iPad is more picky about the type of cig charger.

 

[cruisertoy]

The Cruiser will be 13 miles away from camp. We are basically hiking to the bottom of the grand canyon. I will try a different cig. charger adapter. This was an aftermarket that works in the car but maybe its a no go with the solar panel.
My second reason for breaking out the solar panels is that when I take people out in the desert like this I always love to pull out otter pops or something frozen when we get back from a long hike. Normally we are only away from the vehicles for a day, maybe overnight. This time we are going to be gone for 3 1/2 days. My Engel 45 is hooked up to my secondary deep cycle battery but I don't think it will last that long on freeze in a cruiser in the Arizona heat. If I could use my 15 watt panel to charge the battery a little during the day I might make it. that would leave me my two 5 watt panels to take into the canyon.

 

[matt s]

My apple stuff will charge directly off the goal zero 13. But it must be full sun to work. They also trickle charge off either my 10 or 13 panel they just say they are not charging but they do slooooowly.

For your application get the guide 10 battery pack or something similar. Charges off the panels and is the size of a deck of cards. It supplies the right juice for the iPhone and the pad too.

 

[cruisertoy]

I will run accross the street to Goal Zero's headquarters and hit them up for the good neighbor discount.



edit..

Really I work right accross the street from Goal Zero. I've slid down the slide from the second story down into the loby and everything.

 

[madmax718]

while your there, can you verify something for me?

When you use the nomad 7 panel and the Guide 10 plus charger- I just need confirmation that the guide 10 can be simultaneously charged (via solar) while being discharged via USB.

One review said it does- but their instructions don't specify this function clearly.

In short, this feature means that their guide 10 plus is more than just an AA power pack- it means that it can be used as a buffer- So even on a cloudy day where the panel may only produce a fraction of the power, the AA power pack will supply the rest and "smooth out " the power delivery, which is better for charging devices.

otherwise, when a cloud blows by, the charging would be interrupted.

 

[matt s]

I swore I read in my directions that it does in fact charge even while discharging to a device. For a net loss I am sure but it takes a charge.

 

[Andy@AAV]

I swore I read in my directions that it does in fact charge even while discharging to a device. For a net loss I am sure but it takes a charge.

I have done this while at 29 Palms. Left my IPad plugged into the guide 10 USB and the Nomad 7 connected to the guide 10 during the day. Let it sit in the sun for a few hours and had both at full charge.

 

[madmax718]

well, that answers my question!! Ordering now.

 

[kevint]

One thing I'll add is that by itself the Nomad 7 doesn't REALLY charge an iPad anyway. Not at a speed that is worth the effort. For the iPhone even a cloudy day will charge. For my iPhone if it is daytime and the panel is open, it pretty much charges. A cloud passing in front of the sun won't interrupt charging.