Charging batteries while travelling (Page 4): Ok. One more input. Just found this solar charger by guess who. Anker. Never used one but read quite a few of the reviews on Amazon. There...

Paaflyer Loc: Kansas City, MO

Ok. One more input. Just found this solar charger by guess who. Anker. Never used one but read quite a few of the reviews on Amazon. There are over 800. Most very favorable. All you need is sun. Several cited quick smart phone charges. Others used them to charge their portable batteries. Two. Models. 21 amp and 15 amp. Not cheap.

(Download)

gunflint Loc: Rocky Mountain High, Colorado

I appreciate all of the feedback and the variety of possible solutions. It was a good topic!

For now I am going with a RAVPower 32000mAh Power Bank 6A Output which will give me around 13 full recharges of my en-el15a batteries figuring in a 20% loss of power from time and in the transfer process. I will also have a charger for the camera battery with a cigarette lighter adapter. I am also getting a USB cig lighter adapter to recharge the power bank.

hobbit123 Loc: Brisbane, Australia

gunflint wrote:

For now I am going with a RAVPower 32000mAh Power Bank 6A Output which will give me around 13 full recharges of my en-el15a batteries

You might want to check the capacity of that battery before you go ahead. According to my calculations it exceeds the allowable FDA restriction of 100Wh. It doesn't mean you can't take it but you may have to request permission first.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

jeep_daddy wrote:

I use an inverter but mines 300 watts.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MS5HE39/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You don’t need or want that much. My 200w blows fuses on some hookups. 10 amp fuse = 120 watts on a 12 volt system. I’d think it would only draw what the battery charger wants (look on the label) but I didn’t find that true.

IDguy Loc: Idaho

hobbit123 wrote:

You might want to check the capacity of that battery before you go ahead. According to my calculations it exceeds the allowable FDA restriction of 100Wh. It doesn't mean you can't take it but you may have to request permission first.

FAA? (doubt he’s going to eat it)

IDguy Loc: Idaho

gary robertson wrote:

There is a simple solution to your problem. Go to Harbor Freight and purchase there lithium charger, it sell for about $75 dollars and will charge anything and comes with all the adapters etc. that you could possibly need. It has a total capacity of 450watts which will keep any camera battery charged for the rest of your life.

Watts = power, not storage capacity. Watt hours is storage capacity. I doubt it is 450 watt hours...that’s about 4 car batteries.

Maybe you could provide a link to your suggestion? Generally “chargers” need to be plugged in.

hobbit123 Loc: Brisbane, Australia

IDguy wrote:

FAA?

FDA = Federal Department Of Aviation. Same rules as FAA.

Paaflyer Loc: Kansas City, MO

The label on my Anker 26,800 says it is 48 ah. Legal on board an airplane or in checked baggage. Guessing Anker knew of the limit. Always wondered why it was 26,800. Am guessing 27000 would put one just over the limit. Would hate to get it pulled/confiscated on the way to Outer Mongolia. Ha ha. Right now am a little worried about my upcoming trip to Canada what with the cooling relations due to the dummies in DC. Hoping they don’t deteriorate any further. Of course the battery is made in China just as are my iPhone and iPad. Ha ha again.

jeep_daddy Loc: Prescott AZ

IDguy wrote:

You don’t need or want that much. My 200w blows fuses on some hookups. 10 amp fuse = 120 watts on a 12 volt system. I’d think it would only draw what the battery charger wants (look on the label) but I didn’t find that true.

I use mine to also charge my drone battery which needs a little more power to power up the charger. The inverter I have will also connect directly to the car battery which will not blow any of the vehicles fuses.

hobbit123 Loc: Brisbane, Australia

Paaflyer wrote:

The label on my Anker 26,800 says it is 48 ah. Leg... (show quote)

Well it's either 26,800 mAh or 48 AH, can't be both :-). My guess is the former which as you've surmised just gets in under the limit.

Wow you're a real "Chinaphile", battery, phone and tablet all made in China! Of course I'm joking, it's difficult to buy anything not made in China these days.

If you're taking an iPad then you might be interested in considering using (if you're not already) Google Photos. I'm not sure how it works on an iPhone but on my Android phone/Nikon D5600 with Snapbridge my photos are copied to the phone automatically soon after taking them (I'm pretty sure this happens with an iPhone too), then the Snapbridge folder on the phone is synced with Google Photos so they appear there shortly thereafter. The beauty of this arrangement is that there's a Google Photos app for the iPad (which I have also) so as soon as they are in Google Photos you can view them on the iPad screen which is much more satisfactory than viewing them on a phone screen. This assumes you have a camera with some sort of WiFi/Bluetooth connectivity to your phone. It also helps if you have an Internet connection - OK for Canada, maybe not so easy in Mongolia.

Paaflyer Loc: Kansas City, MO

hobbit123 wrote:

Well it's either 26,800 mAh or 48 AH, can't be bot... (show quote)

I use google photos. All mine are there. Nice that the phone and pad photos are saved. Now have my pc hooked up so all 6,000+ are on google. Took a while when I first set it up.

Am not an EE so don’t know formula to figure out what ah is. Just saw that was on the label on the battery.

pappyfunk

The inverter is a great option. I have one under the hood of my truck. It has clamps to attach to the battery posts when needed. I use it in remote situations when 120 volts power is needed. I agree with a previous post that knowing the voltage of the vehicle is a must.
Most vehicles are 12volt negative ground, but some much older vehicles used 6volt negative ground systems. Good luck and safe travels.