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Charging the SL battery whilst backpacking - is there a solution?


sewing_machine

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Hi there

 

I hope that someone can help as I am quite desperate to find a way of charging my 2 SL batteries on the move as I have a 2 week backpacking trip coming up with no access to electricity at all. I was hoping to use something like the Zendure A5, but this may be a wholly ridiculous expectation!

 

Any help would be really welcome, otherwise it'll be the insane cost of a few SL batteries!

 

Thanks

 

Pete

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Pete, 

 

I assume that from time to time you would have access to vehicles. In which case the easiest option would be a small inverter. The SL charger states 100V = 18VA or 240V = 26VA. Ring make a tiny 75W inverter http://www.ringautomotive.com/uk/products/Cars/In-car+Power/Compact+Inverters/REINV75 As it is Ring, you know the quality will be reasonable. You could go with a solar panel with lithium battery plus inverter but that is going to be quite large and cumbersome. For the Ring, I would also buy a 12V socket with crocodile clips on the end of short flying leads, to attach directly to 12V batteries. 

 

When I was in Myanmar earlier this year, lots of tiny cottages in remote villages, without mains power electricity, had numerous solar panels charging 12V car batteries. This not only provided lighting, mostly with low current LED bulbs, but was also powering TV's and satellite dishes via an inverter and charging their mobile phones. I am guessing that this is happening all round the world now.

 

I was talking via our translator/guide to the village elder about it and the changes that have happened in the last two years or so. I suggested that it would be of considerable benefit if the owners of the solar panels used a rag to wipe off the thick accumulation of dust on them, which must have been reducing their output by at least 50%. His face lit up and said that nobody had ever told them that before. When we went back to the same village in the evening, all the solar panels were gleaming  :) . 

 

Wilson

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I don't have an SL but this works for the Leica M and S.  Both those chargers have an imput for a 12v dc car charger.

 

Anker made a battery called the Anker Pro 15000mAh and other capacities, it had output of 12V and provided a cord that fit perfectly the chargers for Leica M and S.

 

The batteries are no longer made but Anker may have an equivalent.  

 

You will not save weight but will pay a fraction of Leica battery cost.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Anker-Generation-AK-79AN7905-BA-Technology-Smartphones/product-reviews/B005NGKR54  

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Thank you for your suggestions, gratefully received... the bad news is that I have no access to a car for 2 weeks either, the only thing I can use for charging is what I carry...

 

The SL charger is annoying in that it doesn't came with a car charger, it is mains lead only.  I think I'm stuck!

 

Pete

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Pete, 

 

Surely even in the most remote parts of the world other than the northern ice cap or the top of one of the higher Himalayas, there are 12V batteries to be found. Apparently even the remoter Amazon tribes sometimes now carry mobile phones and need the means to charge them. The Ring Inverter plus SL charger will do everything the older M chargers would do, i.e. enable you to charge the SL battery from any 12V source. I have found people are very accommodating when you ask if you can have a charge, as I did when using the M chargers, where I cut the 12V power plug off the end of the lead and fitted crocodile clips. I did the same for my wife when she was cycling round Nepal and she always managed to charge up her V-Lux 20 batteries overnight, from 12V batteries sitting round in the villages in which she stayed. Some of them had home made charging stations with truck dynamos powered by a water wheel. 

 

Wilson

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Hi all,

 

I live in scandinavia and mostly hike unsupported in remote mountain areas. Usually there is no 12v alternative, no cars, no settlements/villages, just vast and unpopulated areas. So I also hope that someone knows a workable solution to this problem.

 

...my solution right now is to have 6 batteries, that takets me through one week of "slow shooting" :).

 

//Johan

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I found this solar charger which will provide the necessary means to charge the camera, but they do not list an adapter for any Leica camera. This solution is nice as its foldable and light.

 

http://www.voltaicsystems.com/arc20w-kit

 

The manual does not say the camera can be charged through the usb connector or did I miss that.

 

MJ

Edited by Jenningsmca
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Just finished a 8 day hike in the remote Atlas where i had to be completely self sufficient. I used SL 3 batteries, and a precharged Lifepower A2 coupled with a foldable Xtorm SolarBooster 24 Watt Panel AP175 (was sold as a kit solution via solarpowersupply.nl). Topped up via solar power whenever i could, the lifepower A2 has a reasonable capacity and a built-in (and silent) inverter. Worked great.

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I found this solar charger which will provide the necessary means to charge the camera, but they do not list an adapter for any Leica camera. This solution is nice as its foldable and light.

 

http://www.voltaicsystems.com/arc20w-kit

 

Just need a usb charger.

 

MJ

 

 

I might be mistaken, but in the absence of an inverter there is no AC output and hence no way to plug in the charger for SL batteries. 

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I might be mistaken, but in the absence of an inverter there is no AC output and hence no way to plug in the charger for SL batteries.

 

I was looking to see if the camera could be charged through the usb port, did not find an answer as of yet. Edited by Jenningsmca
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I was looking to see if the camera could be charged through the usb port, did not find an answer as of yet.

 

 

Just like you I also could not find the answer after a lot of digging (though not directly via Leica), that is why i settled on a compact solar-panel - battery - inverter combo.

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I don't have an SL but this works for the Leica M and S.  Both those chargers have an imput for a 12v dc car charger.

 

Anker made a battery called the Anker Pro 15000mAh and other capacities, it had output of 12V and provided a cord that fit perfectly the chargers for Leica M and S.

 

The batteries are no longer made but Anker may have an equivalent.  

 

You will not save weight but will pay a fraction of Leica battery cost.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Anker-Generation-AK-79AN7905-BA-Technology-Smartphones/product-reviews/B005NGKR54  

 

 

Your link wasn't working but this seems to be the replacement,

 

https://www.amazon.com/Anker-16000mAh-Portable-External-Technology/dp/B00D5VAYRU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1470058687&sr=8-1&keywords=Anker+Pro+15000mAh

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charging in camera: 

I asked specifically about this the last time a tech rep was at the local dealer. The SL does not support in camera charging, so USB backup batteries, etc, are of no use. 

 

My solution is geared to the fact that I'm never entirely without mains or inverted AC power for more than a week: I have three batteries, which will cover my needs for up to about 2000 exposures on average. Ideally, two chargers would put me back in business in an hour and some when shooting a lot ... but I'm not shooting heavily enough just at the present to ever exhaust more than one battery at a time. 

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Camera batteries cannot be charged through USB, their rated voltage is too high.

 

If you can find a suitable power source with a 12V outlet you might want to consider this: https://www.amazon.com/DigiPower-TC-U450-Universal-Battery-Charger/dp/B009JXZS8S/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1470061359&sr=8-3&keywords=universal+camera+battery+charger

 

I have been using this charger for travelling for a few weeks now, it charges both my C-Lux and D-Lux batteries with no issues. The USB outlet is also useful.

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I see no way to connect the SL batteries to that device, Mike. 

 

It's universal, looking at an image of an SL battery it should connect. The two contacts in the charger are adjustable, you slide them to contact the + & - contacts on the battery. The charger is smart enough it doesn't matter which way round the battery is, it will change polarity to suit the battery and also adjust voltage to suit the battery.

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I am not sure sunlight would be strong enough in the north of Sweden to use with any manageable size of solar panel. The solar panels in Myanmar to provide enough output to charge the 12V battery that they were using as the source for the inverter were around 120cm x 60cm. Also the sunlight in Myanmar is far stronger than it would be in the north of Sweden. I am guessing that the only easy answer is a whole lot of SL batteries. 

 

Wilson

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Interesting. I can't visualize how the battery is held in position, but if it works... eh? Useful.  :)

 

The end with the rubber pad in the top slides to hold the battery, the rubber pad is actually a lock button.

 

I probably wouldn't use this to charge my Leica batteries all the time but when traveling it is invaluable, one charger will cover both my cameras, and I can charge in a car without the need for a separate inverter.

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The end with the rubber pad in the top slides to hold the battery, the rubber pad is actually a lock button.

 

I probably wouldn't use this to charge my Leica batteries all the time but when traveling it is invaluable, one charger will cover both my cameras, and I can charge in a car without the need for a separate inverter.

 

 

Thanks! 

 

Further research shows there's also this one from Hähnel: the UniPal Plus. 

https://www.amazon.com/Hahnel-Unipal-Universal-Battery-Charger/dp/B009LM3V5E

 

Pricier but it seems a bit nicer design. 

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