Originally Posted by
Trevtassie
I reckon the way to go is to upgrade the batteries to much bigger ones and have it portable so you can use it as a battery bank with the USB charger. I installed mine with some 18650 batteries into a piece of PVC pipe about the side of a bike pump and mount it on the down tube using SKS pump clips. I got some screw connectors from ebay for the input connection. So I can run it on the bike, then take it into the tent at night, plus charge it from an AC outlet as well as a replacement for a battery bank. At some stage I might upgrade to 26650 batteries for more capacity since I sometime run a phone and a wireless hotspot on tour.
Have you measured how much power you are consuming vs how much power you are able to put back in to the batteries (via the dynamo - as in on the go)? That is an energy consumption perspective - watt-hours, not usage or current draw at any given point in time (simple watts or amps).
I assume the 6-8w mentioned earlier was "peak", but that is only an instant value of power - not energy over time. If that, lets call it, 8 watts is at 6 volts and you are stepping that up to a 12 volt system voltage, of say, 13.6v at a 70% energy conversion rate then at 13.6 volts you would only have 5.6 watts going in to the bank at 13.6v. Over the course of a 4 hour ride, lets say, that is 22.4 watt-hours of energy - at peak production.
What I'd like to see (in numbers - if anyone has studied this) is if anyone can actually maintain charge sustainability off one of these systems. If so - for what kind of device(s)? If not - what are you doing to supplement what you can't get from the dynamo?
Originally Posted by
gauvins
I've "pivoted" to the battery bank strategy and minimal energy consumption.
What are the numbers on your "bank" in terms of voltage and capacity? How well does it hold up for your uses and same as above - are you able to sustain on the system you have or do you have to supplement the charging somehow, aside from a dynamo?