LED Pods - Battery Powered
- Thread starter Fortis Overland
- Start date
Advocate III
@Fortis Overland - let us know how the solar charger works out. I've bought three, I think, of different types and have found with all of them that solar doesn't keep them charged at all, but that I need to keep plugging them in to 110 to get them fully charged to do any good at all. Solar does just a mediocre job, at best, at keeping them topped off after that. I see one of the vendor answers for the one you bought, at least the way I read it, says the solar is only to power the little LED light in the charger.
I've been disappointed in the ones I purchased, though would love to find a good, small, charger that charges itself up primarily on solar, not 110.
The best battery packs I have, for on-the-go charging of any USB devices like phones/tablets and my direct charge 18650 batteries, and to run my LED lights like my bike headlight, have been the Talentcell 12000mAh and RAVPower 26800mAh portable chargers, but which use 110 (110 or 12v in the Talentcell) to charge up, not solar. Haven't found a good solar charger yet.
Influencer I
I'll keep you posted. I was worried about the solar in that it might not function properly, but I can still plug it in, so that's a plus. With that said, if I'm on a backpacking trip, it would be really nice to have the solar function properly. I might do a full drain on it and see how long it lasts before my trip to the Grand Canyon. The solar cell has been sitting on my dash for the last several weeks, so if the solar function works properly, in theory it should be fully charged and take awhile to dissipate.
Advocate III
Right . . .I would put mine on the dash and out together when in camp, etc and, at least with mine, found that none of them charged worth a hoot from just solar. I dismissed one right away as worthless, but had more hope for the Dizaul 5000mAh and Ruipi 24000mAh chargers below, especially the one on the right, which is a heavy little sucker.
Even in the constant sun of the borderlands of West Texas, neither of the ones below held up well to being charged only by solar. On the other hand, like you say, being able to plug them in to charge them makes them nice little carry around chargers, but the solar part ended up being more gimmicky than anything in real life continued use. At least with the ones I bought.
If I have to plug it into 110 and the solar does little to nothing, I may as well use the TalentCell and RAVPower packs I mentioned above, which have proven to be worth their weight in gold for charging/powering my USB gear on the go. That's why I'm interested on how your solar charger turns out. I geek out on testing and experimenting with this sort of thing and actually make notes as to charging times, etc.
On the other hand, the two solar lights on stands in the background below (Ready Lights from Free Spirit Recreation , @gofsr on insta), each of which have four removable LED pods on the back in addition to the large main light, are amazing and awesome. The panel is real and not just gimmicky, is very effective at charging the main light and pods, and is very efficient, too. I bought two more, and now have four. Each light can be charged by solar (at which it truly excels), 12v (3A input via typical 12v plug) while driving or parked, or 110v, and has all necessary cords and adapters. Each light also has a 1A USB port for charging/running whatever USB device you have. I really can't speak highly enough of these lights and how much they've changed the way I camp and travel.
The removable pods are in constant use each night camping and have very strong magnets as well as a 360 swivel hook, and have several settings and can be held and used as a directionl flashlight, too, so are very adaptable and multi-purpose in use. It is all I use most nights around camp and in the van and tents, the pods from these lights. Super strong magnets that stick to the side of my van, inside the doors or up in the door frames, are easily strapped to the aluminum struts on my awning, etc. I even put one up under the steel arm for my spare tire carrier to shine down on where I put my firewood. I'll have to do a little photo write up sometime on these lights and how well-worth it they are for having around camp. I use them for working on and under the van, too.
Member I
I can not say I use anything like that. My overland trailer (when I was building it) I wired everything to accommodate accessories that were of 12v in nature. The RTT has a 12v. LED light strip in it. I do have items liked flash lights, head lamps that are powered w\ AAA batteries, weather radio powered w\ AA batteries or 110 but I use rechargeable batteries & small solar charger for this purpose. My tent rack has 2 12v. filtered LED green lights & the tongue box is wired & rocker style switch & w\ 3 12v socket type outlets. I wanted to keep things real simple & standardized in 12v., gear & accessories, AAA & AA rechargeable batteries with the accessories that require these batteries. My main lighting for camp is propane lantern on a propane tree connected to a 20lb tank.
1st photo shows my tongue box & the small solar charger for AAA & AA, C & D Cell batteries. This little charger will charge 4 AAA's or AA's in 4 to 6 hrs. I keep twice the amount needed batteries for replacing while having the same amount charging.
My wife bought this cheap fan w\LED light powered by 4 D cells (piece of junk), sucked the D cell batteries dry in 4 hrs. We threw it out. Photo shown charging 2 D cells.
2nd Photo shows me charging my 12v. VMax Battery in my tongue box 100watt Renogy panel, 30 amp Renogy charge controller & charging smaller batteries w\ small solar charger (located on the fender).
1st photo shows my tongue box & the small solar charger for AAA & AA, C & D Cell batteries. This little charger will charge 4 AAA's or AA's in 4 to 6 hrs. I keep twice the amount needed batteries for replacing while having the same amount charging.
My wife bought this cheap fan w\LED light powered by 4 D cells (piece of junk), sucked the D cell batteries dry in 4 hrs. We threw it out. Photo shown charging 2 D cells.
2nd Photo shows me charging my 12v. VMax Battery in my tongue box 100watt Renogy panel, 30 amp Renogy charge controller & charging smaller batteries w\ small solar charger (located on the fender).
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Influencer I
Those lights look awesome! I have to convince myself to spend the money, but if you're having a lot of success with them I'll definitely consider it. I feel like lighting is one thing worth spending a bit extra on. I struggle with the headlamps after awhile and would love to have a single light (or dual) light up the campsite entirely
Influencer I
That's a great setup. Eventually I want to upgrade to a trailer system similar to yours and have an additional battery powering all the aux equipment. I've considered wiring my truck bed, but am trying to avoid all of the wiring, at least until I can get a topper for the back
Influencer I
I'll be testing out 2 luminoodles this weekend out at the Grand Canyon. Will post photos in this thread on their output. I also picked up two CAT led lights (magnetic, and battery powered), that can attach to my RTT rack, at Costco for $20. Might prove to be one of the best bang-for-the-buck purchases I've made. Will update with photos sometime next week.
Big thumbs up from me as well.
Saw Andrew St Pierre White review the Nitecore LR10 and thought it looked good. I snagged one along with one of their headlamps, very pleased with both. Gonna pick up a couple more of these little gems.
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Member III
Those CAT lights are bright. I wish mine came with different levels of light output.
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Influencer I
They were great when we were camping. The packaging said that there was a low and a high setting, but mine only has high for some reason. Luckily I haven't had to change the batteries yet at least
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