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[GregYohn]

Hi!

Can imagine how much energy your Freeplay Charger could deliver, if you had a vise to hold it down?

LOL!

That is what the new XO charger will do for you, except we are not allowed to buy one! 


 

You were right. I wasn't turning the crank fast enough. I tried it again a little while ago.

Oh. My. GOSH. That exercise program is a definite must for anyone who wants to go off-grid with a crank charger. LOL. Even if you alternate arms (hold charger steady/turn crank alternated with hold crank steady/turn charger) that's a lot of exertion.

Maybe I'll build my endurance by cranking the charger itself. I have the Targus charger that I posted about in a separate thread, from one of those Woot.com sales. Conveniently, it beeps and its LED light turns green when it's getting enough power. It also beeps and the LED turns yellow when there's NOT enough power, so that's good feedback.

Time to start turning the crank for a set number of minutes per day, then gradually increasing the minutes. Hey, if the St. joe's Hawk (college basketball mascot) can flap his wings nonstop for the entire length of a basketball game and not keel over, I can learn to crank a charger for extended periods of time.

I hope your arm makes a speedy recovery. You took one for the team there, for sure.

[J. Random User]

While my regular machine was busy upgrading to Hardy [hint: hook up to some mirror where it's like 4AM, say Finland], I had some time to open up this flashlight.

It's easy.  Just four screws.  They made no attempt to make this one watertight, or even water resistant, since it has a giant hole in the back to plug in a car lighter plug.

I was amazed at what I found in there.

I've ripped open various inexpensive rechargeable devices in the past, and am accustomed to seeing fat NiCad batteries, in completely unstandardized sizes, marked with some codes that you can't google, usually packaged in a cheap cardboard tube.  Not here.

The battery in this thing is a rather standard-looking Li-ion coin cell, about as big as a quarter, and a few mm thick.  That's all!

The generator is about the same size.  The four plastic gears that connect the crank to the generator are each about that size too.

Much bigger is the plain brown single-sided printed circuit board that holds all of the electronics  - a few transistors and diodes and resistors and capacitors, and all of the LEDs.  The battery is mounted on the PC board in a standard coin cell holder, and is trivially replaceable.

The biggest component in here is the car lighter socket, which is basically a hollow metal tube with a contact at one end.

I was mistaken, there _is_ a switch to tell it when to send current to the socket instead of to the internal charger.  It's a dinky microswitch, activated when you open the rear hatch.

The battery is a LIR2450 rechargeable 3.6V Li-ion cell.  Probably can get these at Frys.  A PDF I found says that it holds 100mAH, and the max charging current is 100mA.  This explains why the generator can be so tiny.  And the size of the generator explains why it takes so long to charge an XO.

The package says that it's intended to charge cellphones and the like using your cellphone/car adapter cable.  They never say that you should use it to charge a battery as big as the one in the XO...   

 

[LaPaglia]

Thanks for the info. Sounds like a good things to have in a Bug out kit as long as you aren't charging the XO. A flashlight that can be recharged is a great thing to have and with LED bulbs it should last a long time.

[GregYohn]

Hello!

I like a windup radio with LED light. Music sure beats silence!

Of course, getting your XO running with your WiFi would be better! Most routers & modems use little electricity. Get a battery capable to be used when there is no electricicity for your needs.

[fyoder]

I was thinking it would be great to get some sort of hand generator, an officially xo branded one ideally once they became available just for the cool factor, but from the testing described in this thread it sounds like for human generated power you really want to get the legs involved. 

Mike Lee posted awhile ago about the Freeplay Weza step treadle
( http://olpcnews.com/forum/index.php?topic=260.0 )

When I first read that thread I thought it was a bit pricey, but given that you might also need juice for your router/modem if you want internet (assuming no friendly neighbour with an open router), and after reading this thread, it is looking more attractive.

[GregYohn]

Hello!

I saw a Freeplay Weza selling for $215 with shipping at an online site.
http://order.store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/wg-order?unique=23951&catalog=theshorelinemarket&et=48124059&basket=b%3D5

[LaPaglia]

Something to remember, if you are without power due to a natural disaster your chances of being without your DSL/cable/dial up is pretty good. I'm not sure being able to power the router/modem is going to help. If its just your home due to technical problems then you could probably run an extension cord to the neighbors to grab some power. Your Internet would probably still be up. The only time I can see where I would need to power the modem/router is in a mountain cabin where the power went out and not the phone lines.

So radio, light and cell power would be my first concerns follower by the ability to recharge the XO to show movies. Entertainment is a good way to feel like all is not lost in a disaster situation.

[mattd]

OK, we have the Freeplay Weza for $215

Anybody want to come up with a cost analysis for a powerstation containing some/all of the following?

-deep cycle battery
-stationary bike
-small windmill
-middlin-small solar cell
-charge controller

/just throwing this out there and I love using the 'free' manpower of the web

[davewa]

The solar panel at $65 (IIRR) is probably the most cost-effective -- assuming you have pleanty of sunlight.

[LaPaglia]

OK, we have the Freeplay Weza for $215

Anybody want to come up with a cost analysis for a powerstation containing some/all of the following?

-deep cycle battery
-stationary bike
-small windmill
-middlin-small solar cell
-charge controller

/just throwing this out there and I love using the 'free' manpower of the web

what are you power needs for this station. How many volts, watts do you need to run what ever it is you want to run from this power station. I can build one that would cost less than 10 dollars except for the cost of the bike. But it would barely run a one led light. 

What would you need to run from this and what is the total power need at worst case? With that info we can answer your question.

[Gabey8]

OK, we have the Freeplay Weza for $215

Anybody want to come up with a cost analysis for a powerstation containing some/all of the following?

-deep cycle battery
-stationary bike
-small windmill
-middlin-small solar cell
-charge controller

/just throwing this out there and I love using the 'free' manpower of the web

what are you power needs for this station. How many volts, watts do you need to run what ever it is you want to run from this power station. I can build one that would cost less than 10 dollars except for the cost of the bike. But it would barely run a one led light. 

What would you need to run from this and what is the total power need at worst case? With that info we can answer your question.

My first thought  is, "What are the specs for running the XO? How about having the ability to both run AND charge it at the same time?"

There are a few tiny exercise "bikes" out there that consist JUST of the pedaling contraption... if an XO power generator could be created using those, it would be a lot easier to store and tote around than a full-sized exercise bike (or even a regular bicycle propped up on a stand to make it run while stationary).

[GregYohn]

Hi!

I used a Kill-A-Watt meter to check the amount of watts the XO used while recharging. It used 20 Watts while charging and when unplugged the XO showed 0 Watts on the meter.

http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html

[mattd]

what are you power needs for this station. How many volts, watts do you need to run what ever it is you want to run from this power station. I can build one that would cost less than 10 dollars except for the cost of the bike. But it would barely run a one led light. 

What would you need to run from this and what is the total power need at worst case? With that info we can answer your question.

It was a hypothetical question, but Gabey8 read between my lines - How to charge the XO off the grid - efficiently? Hand cranking, according to other posters, is not efficient. For a human charge, the legs HAVE to be used.

Here's what I was thinking. You'd need something that can handle several amps for a quick charge - hence the deep cycle battery coupled with the bike. Battery dead? Jump on the bike, crank out some amps into the battery for a few minutes. Or use the windmill if it's windy.

Sunny? You've got the solar cell 'trickle charging' the battery. Have all this hooked up to a charge controller so it will take a charge from whatever source is putting out power. The controller will do double duty by charging the battery properly to extend battery life.

When you want to charge your XO, hook up to the charge controller output.

Add batteries when available for greater power storage.

So, in conclusion, a mini multi-source power generator that uses whatever is free and minimizes human time. It's also somewhat modular - add batteries, solar cells, enlarge windmill when ever possible if/when resources become available or power requirements change.

That's what's been floating in my head, but I haven't had time to do the proper research so I threw it out to you guys.

This can't be an original idea, but - as noted - I haven't looked very hard for a ready-made solution.

[mattd]

Hi!

I used a Kill-A-Watt meter to check the amount of watts the XO used while recharging. It used 20 Watts while charging and when unplugged the XO showed 0 Watts on the meter.

http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html

So when you unplugged the XO from the meter, the meter read zero? No way!

Seriously though, it's good to know the power needs of a charging XO. And very interesting considering my XO wall wart says it outputs 17.04 Watts (12V x 1.42A).

[Gabey8]

Hi!

I used a Kill-A-Watt meter to check the amount of watts the XO used while recharging. It used 20 Watts while charging and when unplugged the XO showed 0 Watts on the meter.

http://www.p3international.com/products/special/P4400/P4400-CE.html

Is 20 watts what it's using when it's charging while the XO is turned off?

What does it use when it's charging and running at the same time?

What does it use when it's fully charged and running?