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Charging batteries in the African bush

Csacwp

By Csacwp
in Leica M10

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mhicks
mhicks

When I know things will get a bit tight, power-wise, I usually just bring this  

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jaapv

jaapv

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Just use the battery charging facility at the places where you are staying. As all tour operators are used to guests with photographic gear, battery charging  will be a first priority.  Safari vehicles in quite a few venues even have on-board three-pin 240 outlets nowadays.

Furthermore every little village has a cell-phone recharging business, usually a little stall at the local market. If all else fails, there will be 12V in your vehicle. Take a charger with a 12V lead and fit Crocodile clamps. Take two chargers in any case; they can fail.

Do note that Sub-Saharan Africa uses different there-pin plugs from the UK. Get an adapter at the airport, although they are widely provided. It is possible to plug in a standard Euro-plug using a toothpick to depress the earth contact.

On a different note - save (a lot of) money by buying a Sim-card for your cell-phone on arrival. Top-up cards are available all over.

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mikemgb

mikemgb

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Solar panels typically put out 14-18 volts. You would need a solar panel, charge controller and a 12v battery, you could then attach your battery charger to the 12v battery. This wouldn't be something you could transport easily but if you were going to be in one place for a while it could work for you.

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tonyniev

tonyniev

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I would use the 12 volt cable that came with the Leica battery charger, you may have to splice it to or buy another cable will fit the output of this 12 volt solar panel like this 

https://www.amazon.com/ALLPOWERS-Maintainer-Cigarette-Automobile-Motorcycle/dp/B07212337M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1519239157&sr=8-3&keywords=solar+12+volt+charger" 

https://www.amazon.com/ALLPOWERS-Maintainer-Cigarette-Automobile-Motorcycle/dp/B07212337M/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1519239157&sr=8-3&keywords=solar+12+volt+charger

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mikemgb

mikemgb

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The issue with panels like this is that their output is entirely dependent on the intensity of light hitting them, in the evening they may only put out 5v, during the day in full sun they will put out 18v or more. It would be very unwise to connect a 12v charger directly to it, this is why a charge controller and 12 battery is necessary to give a controlled voltage for the charger.

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tonyniev

tonyniev

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The issue with panels like this is that their output is entirely dependent on the intensity of light hitting them, in the evening they may only put out 5v, during the day in full sun they will put out 18v or more. It would be very unwise to connect a 12v charger directly to it, this is why a charge controller and 12 battery is necessary to give a controlled voltage for the charger.

 yes, but carrying a heavy battery is not the way, although a battery can provide stored energy, I have not done much search just simple amazon search

1. use a regualtor https://www.amazon.com/ALLPOWERS-Charger-Controller-Intelligent-Regulator/dp/B01MU0WMGT/ref=pd_bxgy_86_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01MU0WMGT&pd_rd_r=WDJD6ZQA4YA4AFMQHFZS&pd_rd_w=DE4Sg&pd_rd_wg=c5Lhm&psc=1&refRID=WDJD6ZQA4YA4AFMQHFZS

2. buy one with an inverter so you cahrge using ac power to your battery charger, https://www.amazon.com/ALLPOWERS-Charger-Controller-Intelligent-Regulator/dp/B01MU0WMGT/ref=pd_bxgy_86_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01MU0WMGT&pd_rd_r=WDJD6ZQA4YA4AFMQHFZS&pd_rd_w=DE4Sg&pd_rd_wg=c5Lhm&psc=1&refRID=WDJD6ZQA4YA4AFMQHFZS

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mikemgb

mikemgb

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I have that charge controller, it will burn up unless it is attached to a battery. I currently have 2 small solar systems, one that powers my garage, one designed to provide me with power when camping. Both require a battery, the portable solar panels I am familiar with are designed only to charge a battery, you then source your power from that battery.

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pico

pico

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So what battery options exist that connect to a car spark plug charger like the one Leica includes?

 

Supplemental batteries are so many all you need is to Google.

 

Oh! You will have a car. Don't know what you got with your Leica, but mine included a cigar lighter plug for the charger. If your car is like so many today you can easily bypass the relay that disables the cig plug when the ignition is off and still retain the stock fuse. Ask how. If you are really lucky you might have a modest AC circuit. I do. All is possible.

 

The cost to bypass the relay on mine cost 2¢ US. Time - less than five minutes.

Edited by pico
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mikemgb

mikemgb

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Some things to consider when looking at solar power, are you going to use it only to power your battery charger or would you use it to provide some light? How often would you be charging batteries and what season will you be going? Will it be sunny all the time or will there be rain?

 

All these factors need to be taken into account when building the system. My portable system has a 35amp/hour battery that will supply my charging and lighting needs of a three day camping trip, but I only have a 50w solar panel on it that will then take 5 days to recharge the battery, for my purposes that is fine. If all you do is charge a battery a couple of times per week and the weather is sunny 12 hours per day then a small easily portable system will work, but if you need more battery capacity and faster cycle times you will need larger panels and battery.

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jaapv

jaapv

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I was thinking about aid work, not safaris, so there would be no tour operator. I’ve never had an issue on Safari, but some remote villages have no electricity and access to a vehicle isn’t guaranteed.

But you will have communications then, and that gear needs power as well.

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RonM

RonM

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So what battery options exist that connect to a car spark plug charger like the one Leica includes?

So what battery options exist that connect to a car spark plug charger like the one Leica includes?

I do not understand. If you have access to a car, then the "cigar lighter " socket will work with the Leica charger. Any solar system will require a battery, since the solar panels do not supply steady 12 vdc by themselves, but must be connected to a battety. If this is a 12v battery, then that would be what charges the Leica battery. You would have to figure what capacity battery would be needed to fully recharge the Leica battery. This will not be a very small lightweight systdm which is what i think you were hoping for. Can you check with someone who has done this2 in the area you will be in?

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LocalHero1953

LocalHero1953

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I do not understand. If you have access to a car, then the "cigar lighter " socket will work with the Leica charger. Any solar system will require a battery, since the solar panels do not supply steady 12 vdc by themselves, but must be connected to a battety. If this is a 12v battery, then that would be what charges the Leica battery. You would have to figure what capacity battery would be needed to fully recharge the Leica battery. This will not be a very small lightweight systdm which is what i think you were hoping for. Can you check with someone who has done this2 in the area you will be in?

I have only once tried to charge devices from a 12V cigar lighter socket in a car - an SUV in Iceland where we were travelling and camping most of the time. It was a near total failure - the charge rate was so slow it barely made a difference. It could keep a phone alive, but where a 240v supply would charge a phone or camera battery in a couple of hours, it seemed to take much of the day from the 12v socket to get a partial charge. Fortunately we found that we could connect to a 220v supply at most camp sites, so it was not as big a problem as it might have been. 

 

Clearly others here have charged up satisfactorily from a vehicle 12v supply, but I suspect there are differences between vehicles that make it an uncertain option. If I had to rely on it next time, I would make sure I could connect direct to the 12v battery terminals overnight.

Edited by LocalHero1953
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Paul J

Paul J

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I have been on 10 day shoots in remote locations and there is always somewhere to charge at some point.

 

For these sort of shoots I have a Godox LP-800 if I need more power and mains. They also have swappable batteries.

 

If you just need USB then a Hyperjuice 222 battery is smaller.

 

Solar panel is an option but usually USB. I'm sure there are other options though, the is what the military use.

 

I also have about 15 batteries for some cameras. If you know you are going to have a chance to charge at some point definitely buy more than one charger or you are otherwise up all night swapping batteries over. 

 

There may be smaller better options but these have worked for me.

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