solar charger for Canon battery

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<drs@canby.com> wrote in message
news nggu0pj0tagbpl9224k05vltarfia9tlh@4ax.com...
> Does anyone know of a solar charger for the Canon 20D BP-511A
> battery? Or some other wilderness/safari option for a trip of several
> weeks without access to an AC source?

You could get the BG-E2 Battery Grip and take a lot of AA batteries with
you.

Tim

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"Tim S." <hjk@cox.com> wrote in message news:%8YFd.524$ru.73@fed1read07...
>
> <drs@canby.com> wrote in message
> news nggu0pj0tagbpl9224k05vltarfia9tlh@4ax.com...
>> Does anyone know of a solar charger for the Canon 20D BP-511A
>> battery? Or some other wilderness/safari option for a trip of several
>> weeks without access to an AC source?
>
> You could get the BG-E2 Battery Grip and take a lot of AA batteries with
> you.
>
> Tim
>
True, if AA batteries actually worked in that contraption. Everybody I've
heard from has had poor to zero results using anything but high amperage
NiMH batteries. I certainly have. Alkalines need not apply...

--
Skip Middleton
http://www.shadowcatcherimagery.com

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Seconded - if you will be with vehicles, just pick up a low-wattage (eg
100 watt) power inverter which will give you a standard 110V (or 240V
depending on what you want) outlet - nowadays they are cheap and
compact. They do draw a reasonable amount from the battery though, so
you should generally only use them while the vehicle is running.

Otherwise, I'm sure Canon will sell you a suitable 12V charger... and
there are plenty of 12V solar cell array systems.

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On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 14:11:43 -0800, drs@canby.com wrote:

>Does anyone know of a solar charger for the Canon 20D BP-511A
>battery? Or some other wilderness/safari option for a trip of several
>weeks without access to an AC source?

maybe take a charger and a power inverter for use with vehicles?


Drifter
"I've been here, I've been there..."

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drs wrote:
>Does anyone know of a solar charger for the Canon 20D BP-511A
>battery? Or some other wilderness/safari option for a trip of several
>weeks without access to an AC source?

Most solar chargers are impractical unless they will be at a fixed location.
There are alternative BP-511 chargers that will operate off 12VDC power (e.g.
vehicle battery). There are small, motorcycle batteries that might be
sufficient here, maybe something around 7-10 AH. Also, there are many solar
panels that will output 12VDC.

After studying all of this, you might be better off simply purchasing 6-8 cheap
BP-511 replacements.

---Bob Gross---

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<drs@canby.com> wrote in message
news nggu0pj0tagbpl9224k05vltarfia9tlh@4ax.com...
> Does anyone know of a solar charger for the Canon 20D BP-511A
> battery? Or some other wilderness/safari option for a trip of several
> weeks without access to an AC source?

Did you try googling it? First entry is this solar charger set-up for that
battery. http://store.sundancesolar.com/sochforbpwir.html

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drs@canby.com wrote:
> Does anyone know of a solar charger for the Canon 20D BP-511A
> battery? Or some other wilderness/safari option for a trip of several
> weeks without access to an AC source?

Get a Lenmar Mach 1 charger which will work off of 12V. Then buy a 12V
solar panel setup, with a female cigarette lighter socket. Maybe bring
along a 12V lead acid battery as a storage source which you could use
with the 12V charger. The Lenmar charger is $38. A 5W solar panel is
about $80 (350mA output), which would take about twelve hours of
sunlight to charge a BP511 (allowing for inefficiencies of charger). A
15 watt panel would be about $170, and it would take about four hours of
sunlight to charge it.

Don't use a power inverter and the regular AC charger.

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On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 06:11:21 GMT, "Steven M. Scharf" <
---snip----
>Don't use a power inverter and the regular AC charger.

Why not? I've done it dozens of times with no issues at all.


Drifter
"I've been here, I've been there..."

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Drifter wrote:
>
>On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 06:11:21 GMT, "Steven M. Scharf" <
>---snip----
>>Don't use a power inverter and the regular AC charger.
>
>Why not? I've done it dozens of times with no issues at all.

I've done it also, but that does not make it efficient. Steve was correct,
since a very lightly loaded inverter tends to run inefficiently, so a lot of
power is wasted. I found it works easier to use a (BP-511-type) battery charger
that runs on 12VDC.

---Bob Gross---

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I use one of those little 70 watt Vector inverters where the whole unit
plugs right into the lighter socket. $14 at Walmart. Works fine with my
Oly BLM-1 charger, laptop, AA battery charger, etc.. Doesn't even get
warm so it can't be wasting much power.

Q

Robertwgross wrote:

> I've done it also, but that does not make it efficient. Steve was correct,
> since a very lightly loaded inverter tends to run inefficiently, so a lot of
> power is wasted. I found it works easier to use a (BP-511-type) battery charger
> that runs on 12VDC.
>
> ---Bob Gross---

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Robertwgross <robertwgross@cs.com> wrote:
>
> Most solar chargers are impractical unless they will be at a fixed location.

Doubtful.

The iSun Solar Charger ($80 at Real Goods, $99 with 10-slot AA/AAA unit)
looks pretty good, and can also be used with proprietary LiON batteries.

http://www.realgoods.com/renew/shop/product.cfm?dp=1506...

The New Solar Battery Recharger at Gaiam is much less expensive ($20) but
can only recharge AA, AAA, C, and D batteries:

http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product.asp?product_id=17-0...

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In article <41ec1da6@news.meer.net>, Bill Tuthill <can@spam.co> wrote:

> Robertwgross <robertwgross@cs.com> wrote:
> >
> > Most solar chargers are impractical unless they will be at a fixed location.
>
> Doubtful.
>
> The iSun Solar Charger ($80 at Real Goods, $99 with 10-slot AA/AAA unit)
> looks pretty good, and can also be used with proprietary LiON batteries.
>
> http://www.realgoods.com/renew/shop/product.cfm?dp=1506...

It has 2.2W output. Ten 2200mAH NiMH cells need about 34W/h for a full
charge - 2 sunny days. A Canon LiIon needs about 12W/h - 1 sunny day.

> The New Solar Battery Recharger at Gaiam is much less expensive ($20) but
> can only recharge AA, AAA, C, and D batteries:
>
> http://www.gaiam.com/retail/product.asp?product_id=17-0...

Doesn't specify its output, but it is probably just as low or worse.

Human powered generators and compact gasoline generators are still the
best means for remote power. Portable fuel cell may be on the consumer
market within a couple of years. Prototypes and military versions
already exist.

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On 16 Jan 2005 03:02:43 GMT, robertwgross@cs.com (Robertwgross) wrote:

>Drifter wrote:
>>
>>On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 06:11:21 GMT, "Steven M. Scharf" <
>>---snip----
>>>Don't use a power inverter and the regular AC charger.
>>
>>Why not? I've done it dozens of times with no issues at all.
>
>I've done it also, but that does not make it efficient. Steve was correct,
>since a very lightly loaded inverter tends to run inefficiently, so a lot of
>power is wasted. I found it works easier to use a (BP-511-type) battery charger
>that runs on 12VDC.

Ah, possibly a misunderstanding. I can see how you'd want to avoid
the loss if you were using a solar charger. I was referring to using
it with an automobile.


Drifter
"I've been here, I've been there..."

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On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 19:11:11 -0800, Q <hugemothnospam@access4less.net>
wrote:

>I use one of those little 70 watt Vector inverters where the whole unit
>plugs right into the lighter socket. $14 at Walmart. Works fine with my
>Oly BLM-1 charger, laptop, AA battery charger, etc.. Doesn't even get
>warm so it can't be wasting much power.

I had misunderstood the earlier post. He was saying don't use that
type of inverter to transform DC from a solar panel to AC as it has a
fairly high loss rate. I suspect that he is correct since most
portable solar panels don't output that much in the first place.

Plugging one into an automobile is a different matter altogether but
cars are so difficult to carry in your backpack <grin>.


Drifter
"I've been here, I've been there..."