DIY Portable Power Stuffs

[smegballs]

So I'm gonna be travelling, bumming about for the next year or so.

Having a mobile power source to keep phones, lighting etc etc going would be pretty sweet.

Plenty of gimmicky high-priced premade consumery gadgets available but I decided to have a go myself.

My ideal power system would be a folding 3 segment pouch with a hard ally or plastic backing which opens out to have 3 solar panels and and integral battery pack of NiMH batteries. Going for USB connectors as the standard connector as there are plenty of appliance connectors that come with a USB connector.

So far I've ordered a small solar panel (6V 100mA) to make a mobile phone charger. If all is well I'll expand into a battery storage to take it further......


Anyway, onto tonights fun...

Found an old PC 12V pc case fan (brushless) and decided to see if it was possible to make a motor from it.... Hooked it up to a voltmeter and had a good blow..... Nada...

Slightly worried I had a quick google and found there is a control PCB inside the fans. Even the old 2 wire ones! Opened it up (lost the circlip ) and duly ripped out the PCB around the stator coil. There were 3 poles on the coils which confuzzled me for a while before checking resistance and finding the two with the highest resistance. Soldered the old power lead between the two highest resistances and put a voltmeter across.

Blow baby blow and theres now a nice AC voltage going through the wires, peaking about 6V if I go nuts on it. A few mins ago whacked a led on the old connector and it flashes nicely with a good puff or two. Gonna try and make a little stand and props to make a wind powered led light system. Obviously the current will be tiny so I think this is pretty much limited to lighting leds.....

Pics (sorry no pics of PCB carnage.. )

https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/fan1.jpg
https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/fan2.jpg

More to come when solar shizzle arrives.

[G]

Are you actually going to be away from power sockets that much? I'd have thought a small conventional charger would save weight/hassle.
Possibly some spare AAs that can then be used to keep phones going if needed.

I presume you're not actually going to be on a bike?

[pepperami]

I think Mr G, you miss the point!
Getting spare batteries would be to easy.... it`s the challenge of doing it that way? ? I think??
____________________
I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[smegballs]

Bit of both really.

Most likely going to be spending weekdays out in moors/forests etc with weekends back in civilisation. Some provision for charging my battery pack by plugging it into a usb port would be useful for when at friends/libraries/e-cafes etc etc.

[Tristan.]

What will you eat? how often will you be naked, I'm gonna come spy on you

[smegballs]

Solar Panel and nokia connector arrived today....

Here it all is

https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/the_stuff.jpg

First of all I plugged in my proper nokia charger and made sure whether it was tip positive or tip negative.

https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/tip_positive.jpg

Happy it was all tip positive I started cutting...

https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/stripcon2.jpg
.
https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/the_stuff.jpg

At work....

https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/working2.jpg

All soldered...

https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/soldered.jpg

Leccy'd up

https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/donenodiode.jpg

At this point I remembered to whack in the blocking diode to stop the battery pack in the phone discharging thru the panel. Added it up near the panel.

All done

https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/done.jpg

^^ what I get for just typing "done.jpeg"

https://cdn.bikechatforums.com/files/done_188.jpg

This feels a bit like Pats journal thread....

[Pete.]

The solar panel is good but for the light why not just carry a couple of bateries and charge them in the day with the solar panel? Or buy a cheap wind-up lamp.
____________________
a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good

[smegballs]

Yeah the wind thing was just a play with a soldering iron really and a bit off fun. Might try to set it up as a little outside led thingy with some diy props and a swivel mount.

Seen one on the net that can apparently just about trickle charge 1 NiMH AA some no real potential sadly.

[_Will_]

Why not add a cigarette lighter charging unit to the bike?
____________________
Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

[supZ]

[colin1]

[smegballs]

Won't be on a bike so the cig lighter is out. A shame really as it would have been a piece of piss to get stuff working off it.

A battey pack that can be charged of a usb is next on the list. I will probably be around pc's either mates or libraries a fair bit. So will be a pretty reliable source of power to carry about.

[Pete.]

x-box controller nicad batteries plug straight into usb for charging.
____________________
a.k.a 'Geri'

132.9mph off and walked away. Gear is good, gear is good, gear is very very good