What is the point, can anyone enlighten me?

#12

You’re welcome. Correct you cannot connect Powercore to be recharging it at the same time as take output from it. That is called pass-thru and doesn’t work on the Powercore 20100.

The 15W Anker panel should charge your iphone at close to full speed in strong sunshine, that is why it is so consistently highly reviewed and a good answer in sunny areas, wait for strong sunshine then try it. If it does then do this in sequence:

  • when you see strong sunshine, plug in your iphone til its at 85% charged. Note: iphones respond badly to variable sunshine you might have to unplug phone and replug if you have variable sun (e.g. passing cloud). So for example if you are not geeky if you did it different like be in shade, plug solar-lightning-iphone then go into sun, the iphone will lock itself to a low recharge speed from being plugged in during shade and ignore the then later sunshine, so do exactly what I say, get into strong sunshine then plug in iphone, and no standing in front of the solar panel as you plug in as you will cause shade and the iphone won’t respond well to then the output going up after you walk away.

  • once your iphone 85% charged, if you have strong sunshine, then charge your Powercore (*).

  • if you encounter mains power then use Powerport2 to recharge your iphone and Powercore.

(*) I don’t know if the Powercore 20100 and Anker Powerport Solar Lite 15W are compatible, in that the 15W panel may not output high enough voltage to be above what the Powercore needs. Also if you use bad cables then the cable can be losing a lot power so the Powercore gets insufficient to trigger it to charge. Longer cables are more likely bad than shorter cables as there is more length for a fault to appear and longer cables have higher electrical resistance. In 80% of the case I’d always say its the cable’s fault.

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#13

Brilliant! Again :slight_smile: Thank you, I’ll print this and keep it with me as a reminder. I’ll follow and hopefully all will work out. The Lightning cable I bought is the small one, I’ll maybe get another as back up. I’ll get myself a Powerport2 also. Heck, I think I prefer the days when you went for a trek and just enjoyed the peace and quiet and there was no such thing as all this paraphernalia! … now to go and take a look at a GoPro!
I hope you had a good Easter, I’d happily buy you a choc egg for all your help! :chocolate_bar:

#14

The problem with the short lightning cable is, by definition, the solar panel will only work well in strong sunshine, and a short cable will necessarily mean the phone is kept in strong sunshine also. Consider how you keep the phone cooler in shade when the panel is in strong sunshine. Think about what you are carrying which is not dark in color which can shade the phone, something white say you can place over the iphone.

As the phone gets hot, it defends itself by not ingesting as much power, so in the same situation the solar panel is working well, the iphone will respond badly.

The longer the cable more risk of a bad cable and the more need to test the cables. Short cables are less likely to have a problem. Hence say a 2-3ft good quality cable to allow shade for the phone but the panel not shaded. Use of a meter can confirm the cable is good.

The best time of day in general is in morning til noon, as then the temperatures are lower. The worst time is evening when its warmer than morning but the sun is not as strong. Solar panels get some of their energy from ultraviolet which is less as the sun is lower in sky.

#15

I did wonder about why it had to be direct sunshine and thought it was the UV that was more important.
The top (third) panel on the solar charger is a back pocket with velcro which also houses the plug in point. I was thinking of putting the phone in there and folding it under so the heat isn’t directly on it. If that’s not going to work I will def look at keeping the phone out of the direct sunlight and covering with something white to reflect the sun. I know black does absorb.
As for the cables, I’m just looking at buying the 1 metre length. The one I have is very short.

#16

What do you think, for direct iphone connection and for charging the 20100?
This:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charge-Anker-Charger-PowerPort-Galaxy/dp/B017VXARME/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1492383166&sr=8-8&keywords=anker+powerport+2

Or this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/l02/Anker-2-Port-Charger-PowerIQ-Technology-Samsung-Motorola/B016LPMFUA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1492382328&sr=8-2&keywords=anker+powerport+2

#17

Energy of a photon is proportional to its frequency, UV is higher frequency. UV is reflected more by clouds and absorbed by glass.

At altitude, your temperatures will tend to be lower, and UV is stronger, so solar and altitude are a good combination.

Of course, human skin and UV don’t get along :wink:

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#18

Ok, that is sounding good, I guess the ozone layer is thinner there too. Hopefully all going well for the solar and with the luck of some sun the next few days, it could well be worth taking it along then. I was never sure if UV was absorbed by glass. Thanks for confirming

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#19

Wow, great discussion! Thanks for enlightening all of us, @nigelhealy and @marisa.i5! :thumbsup:

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#20

Why a UK plug. Thought you going to Everest?

Nepal plug:

So looks like you’d be lighter weight to buy a EU type plug for your travels.

However, apart from the plug, yes its 2 socket 2.4A each per socket so capable of charging both Powercore 20100 and iphone together at maximum speed.

I checked Anker’s UK website, they do the international variety but its not powerful enough to both at full speed, only 1 of them at full speed.

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#21

Seconded, by far one of the more enlightened threads I’ve seen lately :thumbsup:

#22

Technically the ozone layer is well above you and so ozone is no thinner or thicker at that altitude (excluding smog). The ozone layer is

http://www.ozonelayer.noaa.gov/science/basics.htm

Everest peak is 8.9KM up.

What you have is just in general less air above you, so all radiation is stronger.

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#23

Show off…:slight_smile:

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#24

I do wish solar panels were made white rather than black so they are cooler and the pouch was not black next to black.

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#25

I’ll be taking a converter for Nepal/India or maybe a universal. But the Powerport charger will be used in other places in the world on my travels so it’ll be the UK plug fitting, and it’ll then need to be plugged into the converter. And you are prob going to tell me there’ll be a loss of juice that way, I know it :wink:

#26

A adapter is just weight and another thing to fail. You don’t have to worry about losses of an adapter, usually the bigger problem is it being lose, falling out, etc.

Be careful with the use of the word converter. Adapter is just to get around the physically different shaped pins. You do not need to convert electricity as the Powerports all are universal in the electricity they accept, only specific to the plug. Some devices (say hair driers) only work on a specific voltage/amps and they do need converters. You do not need a converter, only the plug adapter.

A good system to begin with is the US type of Powerport2 as its folding pins, so less sticky out jagged things in your pack, and then attach the country plug adapter to that.

I visit UK fairly often and I actually travel around UK with the US Powerport, a US extension cord and a UK plug adapter, the reason being USA extension cables are thinner, they end with 3 sockets, the UK adapter over the US plug is the same size as a UK plug, and I can use 3 USA chargers, all in a far denser and lighter package than if I did it all the UK way.

USA things also tend to be lower cost than UK things.

#27

I meant an adapter, I was calling it a converter! I’ll be taking one UK Adapter that is suitable for Nepal (round pins). There’s no point me buying a US adapter to take to Nepal as my electrical things are all UK fittings so I would end up with more rather than less as I’d need to adapt the us plug as well. My Canon camera battery will need to be charged up too. I’m not sure I get what you meant Nigel, I might re-read that in the morning, it’s getting past my sleep time :smiley:

#28

Great reply re the ozone Nigel. It def is getting late, I meant the air gets thinner, not the ozone and that the ozone is more intense as a result :slight_smile:

#29

A USA Powerport, with a US-UK adapter on it, or a USA-EU adapter on it, is the same size as the UK Powerport2.

I own that UK Powerport2 and the USA Powerport2.

#30

I think that would be better for you, but for me surely the single UK Powerport would be best as if I bought a US one I’d need to then convert it with an adapter in future travels to say Europe, the Far East and of course I could use the UK one here at home without having to adapt.
I think I’m doing the same as you are doing coming to the UK from the US with your one adapter. I’m doing the same in going to Nepal with one single UK adapter for usage in Nepal.

#31

Night night. Final advice is remember to put phone into airplane mode. It will spend most of its time not with a mobile signal and will crank up its output, draining its battery faster, trying to find a signal. Enable just the features you need when you need them, like just enable Wifi when you know there is Wifi, keep bluetooth off, NFC off, location off.

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