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16 Oct 2007
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Join Date: Sep 2007
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charging camera batteries with bike
hi folks....i'm a photographer shooting digital and bound for Africa in 2008. Ideally, I'd like to hook up a system on my bike where i can charge batteries while i ride.
anybody have advice on rigging up something like this?
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16 Oct 2007
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd & Christina
hi folks....i'm a photographer shooting digital and bound for Africa in 2008. Ideally, I'd like to hook up a system on my bike where i can charge batteries while i ride.
anybody have advice on rigging up something like this?
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Its easy...
There are truck bed accessory outlets that essentially act as cigarette lighters that will allow you to plug in an inverter(convert DC to AC current, and look like a home power outlet)....see pic below...
dscn3889.jpg
With the inverter, you can plug in your camera battery...and charge away!
You can wire the outlet directly to the battery, BUT stick in a fuse along the way...you could also put in a relay that will allow the outlet to only function when the ignition key is on...
HTH
edde
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16 Oct 2007
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I have a little pentax optio S5, and I found a little charger for the battery type it uses (on ebay, where else?!), that has a 12v DC input.. so guess what I did..  It now uses a standard cigarette lighter plug, which goes into the socket I installed on the bike. It works fine when the bike is stationary, but is a bit hit and miss when the bike is moving. No invertor needed, cos the ones I saw were heavy and bulky.
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16 Oct 2007
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There are many such devices which will plug into a ciggy lighter and generate 110 or 22-240V, depending on what part of the world you come from.
A ciggy lighter is anyways a useful accessory to have as you can also use it to drive an electric pumps to inflate your tyres/power the gps. Suggest you fit a largish fuse (20A) so that your pump does not keep switching off in action, preferably in a location high enough to avoid getting splashed on.
While it can certainly be connected to a relay (coupled to the ignition), I have not done so with mine (to me: needless complexity) and have not had anybody pinch power yet
Things to check (Re: Invertor)
- Built in fuse (needless to say - carry extra)
- Auto cut off. Some will totally discharge your battery, others will stop/warn once the voltage drops to 10.5V, still enough juice to start up.
- Rating - good idea would be about double of what you would "normally use" - power for a cam/laptop is not much, you may want to factor in the small immersion heater which can make your coffee.
- Compactness?
Hope this helps!
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16 Oct 2007
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I use an ANSMANN Digicharger (Model 5025023) which takes a 12v input and will charge a range of digital camera batteries (it has a multitude of connectors so that it can take a wide range of batteries). I use it with my Nikon D50. It comes with an adaptor to let you charge AA and AAA cells - good for your other stuff. Look on the web or in magazines. No doubt others make similar devices. But have a close look at whatever you decide to buy as some of them are pretty poor plastic construction for a long rough trip. Make sure your battery is a good fit and gets well engaged with the charging terminals.
Regards.
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17 Oct 2007
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Africa is short of many things but the sun should be in plentiful supply. Try a solar panel. I've got a fold out panel with a 12v cig socket on the end made by Silva (the compass company) I have charged my phone and AAA / AA batteries with it.
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