Batter Charging Ghetto Hack

[lidarman]

For lack of a better forum.

I have been riding my bike a lot with my panasonic LX3. It takes amazing photos for it's size. I even made a special helmet and bar mount to make videos.

Unfortunately, it burns through batteries fast on video mode. I can carry extra batteries but for some multi-day self supported camp rides I am planning on doing, I don't want to load up on lots of batteries.

So I hacked this cheap solar charger. Nearly one watt in full sun. Clips to my pack.

It charges the sucker from zero to hero in six hours. It's not controlled like it should be for lithium ion batteries but since it's a slow charge rate, I can use judgment on the charge status of the battery and just swap my two batteries back and forth. I never have to really have a battery fully charged.

[Photo-John]

That's sweet, Rich! I've been wanting to invest in some solar chargers. They seem so slow, though.

Give us a link to some video samples from your LX3? Have you posted a review for it yet? You know we can use your review.

[Frog]

I know nothing on this subject but couldn't some sort of generator be attached to wheels of bike to charge a battery? I like the solar idea. Just curious..

[mtbbrian]

Leave it to you do something like that.
That's COOL!!
:thumbsup:
Brian

[SmartWombat]

I know nothing on this subject but couldn't some sort of generator be attached to wheels of bike to charge a battery? I like the solar idea. Just curious..

Why make pedalling harder, when you can get solar without effort?

[Ultra Magnus]

I've got one of these- it's kind of a novelty as I don't *NEED* to charge anything while I'm riding, but it's just cool nonetheless-
http://www.hymini.com/flash.html


Another DIY solar cahrger I've been wanting to build-
http://yosemiteoutside.com/m/Blogs/0...4B24C3AAB.html

BM