Battery charging for your gizmos

[Rosco]

OK ... So you've lashed out on an expensive piece of electronic kit, p'raphs a laptop or a DSLR camera or a DVCR.

You're off to the bush for an extended trip. How would you go about re-exciting all those stored electrons?

[dmdigital]

This is an interesting read: Charging in the Wild by Thom Hogan (http://www.bythom.com/solar.htm)

I'm still looking at a solar panel. I have a pure sine wave inverter and can charge via that, also use USB via the 12V socket in the car.

For AA/AAA I've got one of these with a 12VDC adaptor: Maha Powerex MH-C9000 WizardOne AA/AAA Battery Charger & Analyzer (http://servaas.com.au/maha-powerex-mhc9000-wizardone-battery-charger-analyzer-p-52.html)

[dmdigital]

Duplicate :?

[Tombie]

I'd always use a Dc-Dc converter for any sensitive electronics...

[Blknight.aus]

if you use a transformer powered plug pack to charge your gear (phones and the like) then with just an incandescent light plugged in with it(like on a double adaptor) then your ok with pretty much anything.

IF your using switchmode then your stuck to pure sinewaves and quality gensets or mains power

DC-DC converters are the way to go for laptops and the like...

[Redback]

I use a combination of the above ways in the poll.

We have a 300watt pure wave inverter for the Nebuliser (daughter has asthma) the nebulizer can only be run through the Pure wave inverter as it's medical equipment and also it won't run unless the car is running because of the amps it pulls.

We charge the camera and Laptop from the car via 12v chargers and via our Dick Smith 300watt mod wave inverter if the 12v chargers have been left behind, we've had no problems doing this, in fact the laptop won't charge properly through our Pure wave inverter.

We also charge the camera batteries from our 20watt solar panel, if we forget the 12v chargers.

Baz.

[abaddonxi]

Dunno about the inverter stuff, but I've just picked up something very like this-
120 Watt Notebook AC/DC Power Adapter (http://us.kensington.com/html/6368.html)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2008/08/780.jpg

It will power/charge just about anything and is tiny - mobile phone sized and slim.

It comes with mobile phone adapters and a bunch of other plugs, and you can get others from Kensington - first one free.

Love the idea of not having to carry around half a dozen different wall warts to charge all of the goodies.

Simon

[Captain_Rightfoot]

I have a jaycar pure sine wave inverter (300w) and I use it to charge everything. It's mounted to the cargo barrier in the back and I carry a powerboard and charge all our phones, cameras, laptop etc simultaneously. It's a 300w unit so it does all that easy.

Just be aware when running the power to it that these devices have the potential to draw LOTS of power if fully loaded. However I can't see you ever really doing that as you only use these things for running chargers which are pretty low draw.

[abaddonxi]

Comes with an ipod plug, too!

And a cigarette lighter plug.

Simon

[waynep]

If you're just re-charging batteries out of the equipment, then a non pure sine inverter should do.
If directly running the equipment, a pure sinewave would be recommended.

[EchiDna]

I've got a Maha just like DM td5 for AA/AAA recharging on the go :)

for specific camera/laptop/phone chargers, most (if not all) charge below 12 volts DC, thus a DC-DC convertor is your best bet - more efficient, lower cost.

I got mine from a clearance sale from a remote control car shop, it has multiple user selected output voltages and can push out up to 1, 2 or 4A DC per circuit (it has two circuits) for charging.

PS - Simon's unit looks the dog's danglies!