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**Todd & Christina** · #1 16 Oct 2007

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?

**MotoEdde** · #2 16 Oct 2007

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?

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

**phoenix** · #3 16 Oct 2007

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.

**a1arn** · #4 16 Oct 2007

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!

**Boxer** · #5 16 Oct 2007

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.

**Flyingdoctor** · #6 17 Oct 2007

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.