steve-in-kville 

There's 3+ forums I could post this under, but I'll start here:

I was watching either a touring video clip or a ultracycling video, and the rider had a battery pack in a frame bag or top-tube bag. This guy was able to run his headlight and charge a phone or other device and he claimed he got 36-hours of use off each charge. I searched all over the web and cannot find such thing. Perhaps I misunderstood what he was doing.... any ideas?

DXchulo

There are tons of different battery packs out there. I have one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Anker-PowerCo...MR0F578W288G11


I've used it on a 24-hour ride to power my Garmin. No problems at all there. The Garmin charges up quickly and stays on while charging. It doesn't drain much battery


Lights will be the big issue. I have a Cateye Volt 1600 that I love. It's super bright on high and gets great battery life on low. It can go 15 hours on 200 lumens, which I'm comfortable with on most roads. I've recharged it with the battery bank and it drains a lot of juice. The battery is 6800mAh. You need a big battery bank to run that plus a GPS plus rear lights.


The problem is that the battery pack itself takes a long time to charge. You really need a full night to charge it from 0 to full. That's fine if you're touring, but if you're doing some really long ultra ride and not sleeping much, you're going to run into problems.

znomit

Sounds like a Klite setup.
kLite.com.au Dynamo Lighting Systems

DXchulo

I thought he was referring to this video:

StephenH

There's an ad in the current American Randonneur magazine from www.sinewavecycles.com, but I know nothing about their products.

ThermionicScott 

I brought a 12000 mAh battery pack on PBP 2015. The embarrassing thing is that I didn't realize the difference between mini- and micro-USB connectors before departing, so it was useless the whole time.

Tourist in MSN

Not sure what you want. Do you just want a big battery(s) so you can charge up several devices several times? Or are you looking for something that will convert you pedaling energy into electricity like a dynohub powered USB charging system? Or both?

If your goal is lots of battery(s), they are out there.

wipekitty

I have wondered about using a big battery pack to run lights. Do you run the USB cable so that it's charging while running, and if so, is there a problem if it rains (or a good way to prevent such problems)? Or would it be more efficient to have two of each light (front and rear), and leave one to charge in a bag while the other is on?

unterhausen

I did the same in 2011, argh. Mostly for my phone and my camera, neither of which I could charge. Now, everything is tested on multiple short rides before I take it on a long ride.

I bought a Zendure A2 pack that should be good for a 1200k. I bought it because it can be charged while charging, but I doubt I'll need that.

steve-in-kville 

Ahh! I found the DVD that inspired this thread. It was Mike Hall's tutorial from Inspired to Ride. He had a rather large battery headlamp that had a USB port option to charge accessories. He was against dyno hubs as he was picky about wheelsets.

So I guess he charged the headlamp so he could charge other stuff as needed.

c.miller64

Things have changed over the past few years and dynamo hubs are now available to fit just about every spoke count and brake type wheel there is. In fact, I pretty sure Mike Hall was running a dynamo hub in his final race at Indy Pac.

steve-in-kville 

That was what, the 2012 TransAm? And I do remember spoke count being an issue for him.

bikenh

Anyone, like me, every think about the idea of using a very quick recharge battery that never needs to be plugged in...just recharged. I've been thinking about the idea for a while now, just haven't tried it yet. It should be easy to build and extremely cheap...just pennies...literally. I'm talking a coin battery. Multiple cells back to back and 'side by side' to increase voltage and current. All it would take is a refreshing of the vinegar/electrolyte to recharge the battery which could happen in a matter of seconds. It should be very big and it should last several days nonstop before you would have to recharge it according to what I've seen thus far on the internet. It would need 'cleaned' once a month or so.

The key secret isn't the amp storage but the constant current/voltage supply of the battery. If the battery is constant keeping itself producing electricity than you don't need big amp storage capacity, just constant production which the coin batteries are reported to keep on working for 2-3 days straights. No big battery packs, just smarter battery packs.

FlamsteadHill

Sounds like a business model, waiting to happen. Seriously, a patent may be something to look into.

BTW, I have no scientific knowledge of the system whereof you speak. But if it's what you purport, I wouldn't give too many details until you have the patent in hand.

bikenh

Anyone that has any brains knows you don't try to patent any free energy device unless you want to end up dead. You can find out all about it on youtube...that's where I came up with the idea. Just search for coin battery. It's just the simple matter of upping the voltage and current and using it for something useful rather than what everyone on youtube is using it for.