Solar Charging a Pandora

[pavogel]

Does anyone know if the K3 Wind and Solar Mobile Charger will charge a Pandora?


http://www.kinesisindustries.com/kinesis/products


I think the K3 is a 5 volt charger. What does the Pandora battery require? And if it was a different voltage, what would happen if the Pandora was plugged into the K3?

 

[Link]

The battery will be short of a full charge on the Pandora, I might guess 50% charge on a Pandora battery. The company doesn't make a PSP type adapter, but I guess you can charge through USB but it is slower IIRC, not sure if that affects capacity, but I would think it will because the Pandora is running while its charging. Slower charge means less energy for storage.


I like the wind feature as well and the price is very reasonable for the battery capacity. This thing doesn't look like it could handle much of a beating either.


For a full charge on the Pandora I would suggest:


http://www.earthtechproducts.com/power-monkey-extreme-solar-charger.html


My shop carries the Voltaic line of products and the Spark should be released in the next few weeks:


http://www.voltaicsystems.com/spark.shtml

 

[WizardStan]

Charging via USB is probably best for this device anyway. It says it's rated for only 1A; the Pandora currently charges at 1A through AC, and while that may seem like a perfect fit, driving the charger at its maximum amperage for an extended period of time is probably not good for it, especially if there's any variation in the charging, sudden power draws and the like. The USB only charges at 500ma, lots of extra headroom. That's pretty normal for solar chargers these days: thankfully most devices have settled on USB charging as standard, so this isn't a problem.

 

[b1llygo4t]

no way that little fan could charge anything. better off with a hand crank. search the forum, others have found more durable solar solutions.

 

[pavogel]

Thanks for the reply guys. I don't want to get anything that won't work well with the Pandora.


Link, thanks for the info. The Power Monkey Extreme seems awesome. That might be the ticket. Weird that I didn't see that when looking for a device like this. I don't have an iPad, but if I did, I would want the Voltaic Spark. While the Spark may still work to charge the Pandora, it looks like it would impact the portability (at least for me). I would rather carry the pandora in a pocket than in a larger bag.


WizardStan, thanks for the advice on using the K3 via USB instead of PSP adapter. If I go the K3 route, I will heed it.


b1llygo4t, yeah, it looks like there are limits to the K3 device. Your comment about the "better off with a hand crank" made me chuckle. I have always wanted a hand crankable power. I got really excited when the OLPC XO laptop prototype designs had a hand crank. For the last decade I have been sitting at a computer for 10 hours a day eating vending machine munchies and guzzling pop. Some excersise while I work would be nice. If I had a hand crank these last 10 years I would have at least one arm like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Have you ever heard of the Potenco (potenco.com) Pull Cord Generator? I have been waiting years for those to come out