Better to have a gun, and not need it...

[Biosylum]

Posting a warm link to solar battery charger, mainly to see who is thinking along these lines. If the world, or it's economies collapse, what tech do wee need? If there isn't an electrical grid, what do you do?

myurl

 

[hytek369]

um... ok

 

[imported_Skold]

Hmm...I may just bite on one of these...maybe not a Hot Deal but a good head's up.

 

[Budarow]

I like the concept, but if it takes 5 hours of sunlight to charge four (4) 800mA batteries, how long would it take to charge 4 2300mA batteries? 14-15 hours? I guess I'd have to fly to Alaska during their summer months to have enough hours of sunlight to fully charge my batteries

 

[freakflag]

Originally posted by: Budarow
I like the concept, but if it takes 5 hours of sunlight to charge four (4) 800mA batteries, how long would it take to charge 4 2300mA batteries? 14-15 hours? I guess I'd have to fly to Alaska during their summer months to have enough hours of sunlight to fully charge my batteries

Here's the thing...if we assume for a moment that you live through the nuclear winter and sunlight does again appear...and you can get your hands on a 2 x AA powered LED flashlight that has a runtime over 4 hours ( like this cheap Costco 2 pack ), AND, that you're not staying up all night fighting off ravening hoards of demented radiation-mutated cannibals...you should have enough stored power to get you through 2 days (or nights...whatever) leaving plenty of recharge time. Worry not! You can now face the apocolypse safe in the knowledge that you won't walk into a mutant trap everytime you take a midnight leak.

 

[manno]

Originally posted by: freakflag

Originally posted by: Budarow
I like the concept, but if it takes 5 hours of sunlight to charge four (4) 800mA batteries, how long would it take to charge 4 2300mA batteries? 14-15 hours? I guess I'd have to fly to Alaska during their summer months to have enough hours of sunlight to fully charge my batteries

Here's the thing...if we assume for a moment that you live through the nuclear winter and sunlight does again appear...and you can get your hands on a 2 x AA powered LED flashlight that has a runtime over 4 hours ( like this cheap Costco 2 pack ), AND, that you're not staying up all night fighting off ravening hoards of demented radiation-mutated cannibals...you should have enough stored power to get you through 2 days (or nights...whatever) leaving plenty of recharge time. Worry not! You can now face the apocolypse safe in the knowledge that you won't walk into a mutant trap everytime you take a midnight leak.

ahh that reminds me of good old Fallout

 

[Tegeril]

That sounds like one hell of a d20 modern campaign!

/hehe

 

[superHARD]

Originally posted by: freakflag

Originally posted by: Budarow
I like the concept, but if it takes 5 hours of sunlight to charge four (4) 800mA batteries, how long would it take to charge 4 2300mA batteries? 14-15 hours? I guess I'd have to fly to Alaska during their summer months to have enough hours of sunlight to fully charge my batteries

Here's the thing...if we assume for a moment that you live through the nuclear winter and sunlight does again appear...and you can get your hands on a 2 x AA powered LED flashlight that has a runtime over 4 hours ( like this cheap Costco 2 pack ), AND, that you're not staying up all night fighting off ravening hoards of demented radiation-mutated cannibals...you should have enough stored power to get you through 2 days (or nights...whatever) leaving plenty of recharge time. Worry not! You can now face the apocolypse safe in the knowledge that you won't walk into a mutant trap everytime you take a midnight leak.

ROFL

 

[kalipoo2000]

thanks

 

[Hacp]

Great for the people in lost

 

[SnakeEater]

Originally posted by: freakflag


Here's the thing...if we assume for a moment that you live through the nuclear winter and sunlight does again appear...and you can get your hands on a 2 x AA powered LED flashlight that has a runtime over 4 hours ( like this cheap Costco 2 pack ), AND, that you're not staying up all night fighting off ravening hoards of demented radiation-mutated cannibals...you should have enough stored power to get you through 2 days (or nights...whatever) leaving plenty of recharge time. Worry not! You can now face the apocolypse safe in the knowledge that you won't walk into a mutant trap everytime you take a midnight leak.

Even if you just use that light sparingly, it is just the kind of thing the well-prepared survivalist with sniping skills will utilize to spot you, aim on you, and grease your sorry butt. Then he'll have your light, your batteries, and all the rest of your gear.

Not so hot a deal.

Yurgis

 

[takeru]

if you were trapped on an island like in LOST, you would be god with this thing. but then the doc would just confiscate it from you "for the greater good" anyway.

 

[Kerouactivist]

thats freaking awesome....

So tempting....

 

[RossMAN]

Eh I live in Oregon where we have 2 seasons.

 

[samsl]

Originally posted by: takeru
if you were trapped on an island like in LOST, you would be god with this thing. but then the doc would just confiscate it from you "for the greater good" anyway.

dude, the fat dude would love this. he wouldn't have had to stop listening to his cd player.

 

[Moffat Cafe]

Better to have a gun and not need it, because it will be there when one wants a quick, painless suicide.

 

[Tegeril]

This thread delivers.

 

[PrayForDeath]

Originally posted by: Budarow
I like the concept, but if it takes 5 hours of sunlight to charge four (4) 800mA batteries, how long would it take to charge 4 2300mA batteries? 14-15 hours? I guess I'd have to fly to Alaska during their summer months to have enough hours of sunlight to fully charge my batteries

"If you require faster charging or use high capacity batteries, look at our high speed solar battery chargers."

Those "high speed" chargers are very expensive, though.

 

[TFM]

Originally posted by: manno

Originally posted by: freakflag

Originally posted by: Budarow
I like the concept, but if it takes 5 hours of sunlight to charge four (4) 800mA batteries, how long would it take to charge 4 2300mA batteries? 14-15 hours? I guess I'd have to fly to Alaska during their summer months to have enough hours of sunlight to fully charge my batteries

Here's the thing...if we assume for a moment that you live through the nuclear winter and sunlight does again appear...and you can get your hands on a 2 x AA powered LED flashlight that has a runtime over 4 hours ( like this cheap Costco 2 pack ), AND, that you're not staying up all night fighting off ravening hoards of demented radiation-mutated cannibals...you should have enough stored power to get you through 2 days (or nights...whatever) leaving plenty of recharge time. Worry not! You can now face the apocolypse safe in the knowledge that you won't walk into a mutant trap everytime you take a midnight leak.

ahh that reminds me of good old Fallout

That's exactly what i was thinking as i was reading it! Fallout ROCKED!

 

[mindless1]

This does not have enough output current to be very useful.

if you're really concerned about some emergency situation, better to either budget a heck of a lot more for decent solor cells or at worst a hand-crank generator. It is far more effective to have a crank generator to recharge some SLA cells then derive whatever lower voltage you need for other purposes than fiddle with such a cheap small charger.

From the looks of this product, it may generate up to 7V, 100mA or so in the absolute best conditions possible. most people don't get that much sun in 5 hours. Suppose you can sustain 6V, 80 mA, that would be more realistic. Battery charging isn't 100% efficient either, not even close. Suppose it takes about 12 hours of good sunlight to recharge 4 x 800mA AAA cells. Was it even worth the bother?

Two of these panels would be a bettery bang for the buck. Wire them in parallel to charge the 4 cells in series and you may just get a set of AA cells charged the same day.