!2 V Hand held generator/dynamo

Hi Bob Y, i thought of a battery pack but still remained in the same position of charging. If power went down for several days, the likes of the cfa radio would last 10-12hrs on continuous use, and phone subject to use 30hrs. I did not want to continually let the vechile run just to charge up appliances hence portable generator or dynamo. Thnks for the input

Thanks Allan B, the second high output unit looks perfect for purpose. I will get my son in law to check all the specs an see if he thinks it is suitable to our needs. He lives in a bushfire prone area, and it only takes a wind to bring trees down. He lost power 3 times last week due to winds and fire activity in the area. Yes we may loose cell phone due to tower problems but at least the cfa radios are still working. He is a CFA fire volunteer, so it helps me know where he is and on what appliance, let alone activity in the area. Thanks again for your help.

.
Garry,

Although I answered the question you asked, I do think that is not the best solution for your needs.
I would use a 12v AGM deep cycle or Lithium battery which is kept on standby with a small solar panel then brought into use as needed. You could choose a battery capacity to suit your load and duty time. If it required recharging during duty then any vehicle's alternator would serve.
Adding a phone 5v power bank adds versatility although I don't know if that services the CFA radio.

As has been said, hand cranking could become onerous in an emergency situation.

I agree with Allan
A small solar panel , battery and inverter and you would be able to charge all sorts of rechargeable devices. Either fitted to your vehicle (it would be mobile then) or at home. Could even run some 12 volt lighting off a small setup.
Cheers
Shane

I got my son in law reading the thread, and he has agreed that we run a inverter off the second battery, that is independant from main battery of the vechile. We will also acquire a couple to battery packs that can be rubber banded to the phone and radio along with the necessary lead, and a 3rd battery with the inverter being charged. It has been great to get other input/views, as one can be a bit blind sided with a mental block, and there is always a better solution to be found. Thanks all

Exactly.

Garry it makes sense to think about a solution like this.

Charging a phone could take 4 - 6 hours, Especially as whatever solution you get won't have the latest 3.0 fast charge capability. I can't imagine sitting there turning a generator for several hours while panic and a lot of work is going on during a fire. Surely what is suggested here or a few quality power banks that could deliver 3 - 4 full charges each is a better solution for such emergencies. Back that up with some solar to charge the phones and batteries in case things go on for some time.

Also a Sat phone would be worth considering. I read that a lot of phone towers were burnt or disabled.

How many hours are you prepared to wind a handle to charge a radio. These generators are not going to charge them any quicker than they do on the mains.

Erecting a solar system to just have emergency power is going to require looking after. Do you have a vehicle you can remove the battery from during times of emergency? If so get a 100 W (or larger) panel and a regulator. Keep these handy. When you need the emergency power lash up your system with the donor battery. If you do most of your charging during the day a small car battery will suffice.

My vechile has a second battery that can be removed, and I do have a spare 120w solar rigid panel in the shed. Yes it does make sense to hook this in the interim. The suggestion of a inverter had totally slipped my mind. It is really good that people can suggest an alternative that one does not think about. I was trying to think of simplicity, but did not think about practicality. I do own a satphone that we keep handy in such cases should the tower goes down. The cfa radio is the most important as to get immediate reports of the situation. This gives us the chance to get all the fire sprinklers on the house and shed operational prior to ember attack. It also gives us the knowledge of what roads are impacted in case of needing to leave.

G’day again GarryR,
Another thing I’ve got is a solar panel on my shed, that I plug into (via Anderson ) my vehicles system . So keeps the fridge etc. going .I’ve got a 600watt inverter in the vehicle full time . Good for charging power tool batteries as well.
Cheers
Shane

Hi Garry

It may not be practical but I'd leave the battery in the car and then just connect the solar panel to it via Anderson plug, that way you've still got the battery in the unfortunate event that you have to leave in a terrible hurry. Battteries not in the car are probably likely to get left behind in the rush.

But from what I've seen on the TV (i.e solar not being useful due to the smoke blocking the sunlight), having a plan B (or even C, D and E) for charging various devices might be worth considering. As mentioned, Battery Banks are the obvious choice, Wind generator are another (but fairly expensive and not failsafe) but if its a common occurrence that you lose power then maybe you need to consider a generator.

And I can't find the photo but my old man one hooked a car alternator to an exercise bike to charge up batteries.

Simon

Simon

G'day Phil,
Those jumpstart packs are great for jumpstarting but drain pretty fast when used for charging items.
Friend that goes away with us has a lithium jumpstart pack but has bought deep cycle & inverter for charging Ipad laptop etc because the jumpstart pack drained really fast.
Think they are designed for short duration high power drain.

Cheers Stu

Thats an important point Stu. But the GB70 above is a fair bit bigger than the usual lithium jumpstarter and the original question was to charge a phone. You certainly won't be running a fridge off it!
I must test mine to see how how many Ah I can get out of it

Comfortably got 4Ah out of it, running a LED light bar that draws 0.75A.

Yea thats ok for a couple of phones but the CFA radios take a bit to run.
When my friend charged her IPad it ran the jumpstart pack down to 20% capacity.
I have to say I had reservations of the ability of the small jumpstart packs to start any vehicle but have used a few with great success.

Cheers Stu