Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Tim wrote:Good fun isn't it. I felt the same way when my EWerk started charging my Minigorilla battery, Yeeehaaah. It was even better when it fully charged the MG from half empty, took a few hours of riding though. It all appeals to the inner (well hidden) geek.

Just for a moment there I had a vision of you on your bike towing a MGBGT sports car (soft top in British Racing Green of course),
with a lengthy set of jumper cables going from your hub to under the bonnet.
Dunno why.
Good fun indeed Tim.
Glad I shook the mothballs out of my wallet and made the queen blink having not seen daylight for so long.....
I think its going to turn out to be a great investment.

rifraf wrote:I think its going to turn out to be a great investment.

I've already had my money's worth just from the kick of mucking around hooking up batteries and gadgets and learning about it all. I have actually learnt a bit about simple electronics. Wish I had enough muscle to power an MGB, not to mention the house. Power bills, blooooody hell.
Lucky there's not much traffic around here. I spend half my time on the road making sure those little LED's are flashing, ended up in the gravel a couple of times.
You never know, all this junk might come in handy on a real tour some day. I'm hoping to do a long one some time but for one reason or another I'm restricted to short overnighters for the present. I really envy and admire all you guys doing the big tours.The journals and reports make for great reading. Oh well, one day.

Max wrote:Based on the feedback received so far, I've updated the spreadsheet and it is available here. I've added a few rows of data and also an extra column called "Proven combination". I'm starting to lose track of who's used what combination, so if you see a combination you have used and know definitely works, please let me know the row number and I'll put a great big "Y" in that column

Max

For me, Shimano dynamo powering B&M lights front and rear, plus the ewerk powering my GoPro and HTC Desire HD phone via USB no issues.

Seems to take slightly longer to charge the attached devices with the lights turned on, but still doable. Ride for a few solid hours at a reasonable speed and you're laughing.

I really have to find some time to update my blog. I'm currently settling back into work and house-hunting. So things have been hectic over the past few days to say the least considering I only got back to Oz a couple of days ago..

Thanks, elStado. So this is the working combination:

Hub dynamo + E-Werk + No cache + GoPro
Hub dynamo + E-Werk + No cache + HTC Desire HD phone

And this charges on-the-go (without an intermediary battery like the minigorilla or the e-werk cache). Please confirm and I'll update the spreadsheet

Also, have we confirmed that this combination works for on-the-go charging?

Hub dynamo + E-Werk + No cache + Garmin 800


Sorry if this has been answered before. I hope that the spreadsheet will represent a nice summary for future reference

Max

PS I'm looking forward to reading about your tour on your blog

Max

Max wrote: OK, so you're saying the "formula" for an eWerk is:

Dynamo + eWerk + eWerk cache battery = charged GPS/iPad/iPhone/netbook (with the caveat that one must remember to charge the voltage and current output before plugging the device in).

Max

Hi Max,
my "take" on the instructions is a little different.
Far as I can make out, no changing of the voltage and current output when using the cache battery. (page 13 bottom of blue box)
The manual says "Settings for cache battery 461A: 5.6 volts / 1.5 Amps"

SonDelux + E-Werk + Cache Battery (set to 5.6v/1.5a) = charged Edge 800 or LG mobile phone

Thats my experience so far.

rifraf wrote: SonDelux + E-Werk + Cache Battery (set to 5.6v/1.5a) = charged Edge 800 or LG mobile phone
Thats my experience so far.

Thanks for that, rifraf So (and I'm sorry to get into the minutiae), if your Garmin is dead, and you want to charge it whilst using it, is the formula

SonDelux + E-Werk + Cache Battery (set to 5.6v/1.5a) + Garmin

Or can we get away with

SonDelux + E-Werk + Garmin (plugged straight into the E-Werk)

Or will either way work? My question is around whether the cache battery is an absolute requirement to charge the Garmin whilst it is in use.

Max

Ewerk will charge Garmin without cache battery. But when you stop it tells you it's lost charge and then start it beeps again. On Audax rides 300km or more needs a charge most times so Ewerk fine for that, unless it's raining. Then I'd be charging up the Ewerk battery and have the caps on it so it waterproof. When stop for lunch etc I would be charging it up with the battery. Or riding and charging when it's not raining.

Awesome, thanks, Baalzamon!

Max

Max wrote:

rifraf wrote: SonDelux + E-Werk + Cache Battery (set to 5.6v/1.5a) = charged Edge 800 or LG mobile phone
Thats my experience so far.

Thanks for that, rifraf My question is around whether the cache battery is an absolute requirement to charge the Garmin whilst it is in use.

Max

Hi Max,
Your very welcome
Hopefully Baalzamons answer clears that up.
I've yet to experiment without the cache battery.
Cheers
Aidan

btw someone over on bentrideronline forums has converted a 70mm sturmey archer drum brake single sided to containing a dynamo and may be going commercial with the kit. So I could end up with an alternative for my trike

Updated spreadsheet available!

If I've missed anything, particularly in the "proven combination" or "can use device whilst charging" columns, please let me know.



Max

Max wrote:Updated spreadsheet available!

If I've missed anything, particularly in the "proven combination" or "can use device whilst charging" columns, please let me know.



Max

After a large download of a compatibility pack for my now ancient 2003 Office Pro ,
I can now see your Excel sheet.
Thank you for your huge effort Max
A great idea on your part and a fantastic resource for those who follow in our tyre prints (footsteps etc).
Cheers
Aidan

So I've dropped some cash on an E-werk, an E-werk cache, and a minigorilla. I know I can probably do what I need without the E-werk cache, but I'm keen to try a number of combinations and document the results. I've ordered it from Bike24, and expect based on rifraf's experience that it will take a couple weeks to get here.

My mum told me she wanted a solar charger for her phone and GPS. Thanks to you guys and my spreadsheet, I was able to tell her not to worry with that since she has a dyno, and there's an e-werk on the way

Max

Looks like there might be a new contender: http://www.bicycles.net.au/2012/09/ligh ... b-charger/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This only outputs 5V via USB (so it won't charge everything on the planet), but could be "one size fits most" solution. Quite cheap too, at around $68USD.

Max

Max wrote:Looks like there might be a new contender: http://www.bicycles.net.au/2012/09/ligh ... b-charger/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This only outputs 5V via USB (so it won't charge everything on the planet), but could be "one size fits most" solution. Quite cheap too, at around $68USD.

Interesting product. For me, I am thinking this might be a good option for the likes of Audax rides and at a reasonable price. The lack of battery kills it as a touring option in my context.

My concerns relate to the wiring. Number one being the lack of connectors which can be a pain in terms of SON dynamos given the size of their connectors. The other relates to the light connection. Maybe I am missing something there, but as I read the review there is only one wire to the light. Lights such as my Busch & Muller Lumotec IQ Cyo Senso Plus use two wires. This seems to raise an issue with this device or I am missing something.

Andrew

I must be missing it as well. Only one cable runs to the lights whilst my supernova gear takes 2...
I'll stick with my planned ewerk purchase again. It worked for me in the past.

Max wrote:Thanks, elStado. So this is the working combination:

Hub dynamo + E-Werk + No cache + GoPro
Hub dynamo + E-Werk + No cache + HTC Desire HD phone

And this charges on-the-go (without an intermediary battery like the minigorilla or the e-werk cache). Please confirm and I'll update the spreadsheet

Correct. I used the USB connection cable and the USB settings of 4.9V and 1A. Phone works fine while being charged, had Google maps running no problems.

Wall charger's rated output: 5V / 1A (it's a HTC branded USB adapter wall plug)

Hub dynamo + E-Werk + No cache + Samsung Galaxy Ace = !

Didn't work for us. Couldn't figure out why. Maybe needed the cache. Not sure.

Aushiker wrote:

Max wrote:Looks like there might be a new contender: http://www.bicycles.net.au/2012/09/ligh ... b-charger/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This only outputs 5V via USB (so it won't charge everything on the planet), but could be "one size fits most" solution. Quite cheap too, at around $68USD.

Interesting product. For me, I am thinking this might be a good option for the likes of Audax rides and at a reasonable price. The lack of battery kills it as a touring option in my context.

My concerns relate to the wiring. Number one being the lack of connectors which can be a pain in terms of SON dynamos given the size of their connectors. The other relates to the light connection. Maybe I am missing something there, but as I read the review there is only one wire to the light. Lights such as my Busch & Muller Lumotec IQ Cyo Senso Plus use two wires. This seems to raise an issue with this device or I am missing something.

Andrew

The second wire gets twisted to one of the other two coming out of the unit - effectively that's the earth wire.
I got connectors from Jaycar but haven't yet found a type that I'm fully happy with

KenGS wrote:The second wire gets twisted to one of the other two coming out of the unit - effectively that's the earth wire.

I am sorry but I am not following you. Currently I have two connection points on the SON 28 and I have a wire with two strands that run directly from the light to the dynamo. There is nothing going to the bike as an earth for example. So if this only has one wire going to the light I am wondering how this work if the light requires to wires connected to the dynamo.

Andrew

Aushiker wrote:I will be taking up my concerns with PedalPower+ today and will update on their response but this is now my second unit from them so not looking good.

Nick at PedalPower+ is providing a new unit for me. No further comment but on the issue. Would liked to have got his thoughts on it.

Andrew

KenGS wrote:

Aushiker wrote:

Max wrote:Looks like there might be a new contender: http://www.bicycles.net.au/2012/09/ligh ... b-charger/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This only outputs 5V via USB (so it won't charge everything on the planet), but could be "one size fits most" solution. Quite cheap too, at around $68USD.

Interesting product. For me, I am thinking this might be a good option for the likes of Audax rides and at a reasonable price. The lack of battery kills it as a touring option in my context.

My concerns relate to the wiring. Number one being the lack of connectors which can be a pain in terms of SON dynamos given the size of their connectors. The other relates to the light connection. Maybe I am missing something there, but as I read the review there is only one wire to the light. Lights such as my Busch & Muller Lumotec IQ Cyo Senso Plus use two wires. This seems to raise an issue with this device or I am missing something.

Andrew

The second wire gets twisted to one of the other two coming out of the unit - effectively that's the earth wire.
I got connectors from Jaycar but haven't yet found a type that I'm fully happy with

Oh well figure not for me. Earth wire not in use for the Son28 + supernova gear.

Sorry guys - wrong terminology. I should have said neutral wire not earth.

For those interested in the PedalPower+ Super-i-Cable it seems that Chain Reaction Cycles are now selling a rebadged version called the NC-17 iPhone Hub charger 2012 for $127.00.



Andrew

My Mini Gorilla has arrived It came fully charged and is busy topping up my workmate's phone. It was dead an hour ago and is now at 70% charged. The Mini Gorilla's battery is still full.

Now if only the e-Werk would arrive, I'd be a happy girl.

Max