Powermonkey explorer

[sidpick]

Hi All

Bought a powermonkey explorer at the bike show this year, been looking for a solution to carrying lots of different chargers with me and thought this may be it, really wanted to save space and limit weight.

I was wondering if anyone out there has successfully charged (or got power to) an ipod 80gb 'classic'. If so what tip did you use?? the included tip only does 1st and 2nd generations. Tried using the usb connector too with the oem ipod lead - no joy -

For info: successes so far include:

tomtom rider 1
nokia phones (long haired generals and mine)
Iphone

If you are thinking of buying they are a useful gadget but not the all singing all dancing thing there cracked up to be. Great as a phone battery charger if your out in the cudds for a couple of days

 

[sidpick]

Just an update, some ipods just won't play with powermonkey so they need an ipod shuffle adaptor.

I called powertraveller who I must say have awsome customer service, they sent me out an adaptor FOC which works perfectly!

No affiliation but some useful gadgets on this site for travellers:

https://powertraveller.com/index.php

 

[SeanC]

Same happened to me.

Ipod 80Gb would not charge. Contacted Power Monkey Customer Service and they put one in the post - to Kenya!

Didn't arrive after a few weeks so contacted them again and offered to buy one this time - They said no and put another one in the post. Their Customer Service is great.

And the new tip even charges the ipod!!

Sean

 

[muppix]

Have either of you fine gentlemen figured out a way to charge the powermonkey off the bike? Ideally I'd like to keep mine under the seat and on charge all the time, so that if my mobile runs out I can just retrieve said leccy primate and recharge on the fly.

Long term I'm looking at making a charging cable that goes into the top-box, but this would be quite a good interim solution.

Pip-pip!

Mup.

 

[SeanC]

Muppix

No, not me sorry. I found I had enough power in the ipod to last until the next lunch/campsite/longish stop. Then I wacked it on the Powermonkey which usually kept it going until final overnight charge.

Have you had any success with the solar charger? That might work en route as it were.

Sean

 

[NorthernBoy]

Have either of you fine gentlemen figured out a way to charge the powermonkey off the bike? Ideally I'd like to keep mine under the seat and on charge all the time, so that if my mobile runs out I can just retrieve said leccy primate and recharge on the fly.

Long term I'm looking at making a charging cable that goes into the top-box, but this would be quite a good interim solution.

Pip-pip!

Mup.

You should have got an accessory in the pack that lets you charge the powermonkey from a USB port. If so, then what you need to do is to have a powered SB slot under the seat, and the way to do that is to wire in a cigarette lighter socket and then stick a motormonkey into it, transforming it into a switched USB output. You can then charge your powermonkey, and also directly charge your iPod, phone, or whatever, directly.

As an alternative to a motormonkey (which is a neat solution, as the adaptor is small enough to fit right down into the lighter socket, you can get one of these;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/KMS-DIRECT-...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1242319432&sr=8-10

Which does the same job, but takes up a bit more space.

For the lighter socket, I use a maplins "marine" type one, which is pretty robust, and comes with a waterproof cap in case you wantto close it when not in use.

 

[Berin]

Or get the little solar panel thingy and put it somewhere sunny on your bike

 

[NorthernBoy]

Or get the little solar panel thingy and put it somewhere sunny on your bike

I think that the solar chargers are not really there yet. The panels currently used are just not yet efficient enough to actually be relied on. I have a Solio, which has about the same area and type of solar cells as the powermonkey solar thingy, and you need about eight hours of Saharan glare to even think of getting a charge into your phone. Even sticking it to a Southern window up here in Northern Europe just does not generate enough juice to get your daily charge.