> From: "geoffjcarey" <>
> Subject: battery charging/HHB battery holder
>
> I am planning two fairly long trips to Bhutan and Mongolia next
> year, where access to mains electricity is likely to be very
> difficult for much of the time. I use an HHB Portadisc, which as
> many of you will know runs on eight AAA rechargeable batteries. My
> question is this: what are my options for recharging these on the
> road?
>
> Are there suitably efficient and fast solar chargers available? If
> so, can anybody recommend models? What about chargers that could
> plug into the cigarette lighter of a 4WD? Any recommendations on
> these?
There are solar chargers, but it costs a lot to get enough panel to do
the job well. And depends on having full sun, not always easy in jungles
anyway. There are folding panels for military use that are pretty rugged.
I use a small inverter and the regular HHb charger with my Portadisc a
lot. That's not fast, but does not require removing the batteries. I
also have several chargers for AA's that plug directly into the
cigarette lighter. Some of those can charge even the high cap AA's in
just a few hours. The newest one of these I have is the Maha MH-C401FS,
which uses pulse charging, and is fast. Each one of these will do 1-4
AA's at a time. Two of them could charge faster than you could use.
It's really quite easy to handle the problem if you have power from a
vehicle. I've lived as long as three months only charging from vehicle.
I have my Ranger fit up with 8 cigarette lighter sockets in the front.
Not a lot of current draw, but lots of devices.
Just sort it all out and try it before you go. Try to limit the number
of battery types all your gear takes. Nearly all mine uses AA's, though
I have a few that take 9volt, for which I also have a portable charger.
> Finally, on a related issue, have users of the HHB also come across
> what appears to me to be a rather inconvenient problem with regard
> to the plastic battery holder into which the 8 AAAs are inserted?
> That is, the weakness of the holder is such that the weight of the
> batteries pulls the two halves of the holder apart, which after time
> causes interruptions in power supply or simply an inability to use a
> particular battery pack. To remedy this, I slip small narrow pieces
> of card between the two halves of the pack, on the underside, to
> prevent the contact from being broken in the upper section of the
> joint between the two sections. While generally effective (though
> requiring a small supply of such card on each trip!), this is a
> rather inconvenient problem that causes the correct functioning of a
> hi tech device to be dependant on a very low tech and unreliable
> adaptation.
It is annoying. I've used plastic welding to put mine back together
several times, and keep my extra caddy strapped between a couple
phenolic battens to keep any bending forces away from it. Since I did
that I've had no more breakage. You can weld the holders back together
with a small soldering iron if careful.
I have thought about machining up a proper holder, just have not found
the time to design one and do it.
Walt
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