Sunforce Solar AA Battery Charger

the craftsmanship doesn’t look too good–combined with the 2 day 4AA charge-time–this is a pass for me :stuck_out_tongue:

According to the manual, it takes 14.4 - 50 hours to charge 4 batteries, depending on the amount of light. 3.6 - 12.5 hours for 1 battery.

http://www2.northerntool.com/product/200329425.htm

A review at this site says 4 batteries take about 2 full days in the sun. Guy’s in MA, if that makes a difference.

You should get a normal charger. It will cost less to charge than using artificial light.

but you use energy that you dont have to pay for!
no tax on sun yet. use the powers of magic hot orb in the sky. free endless energy source.

i bought my soldius charger for 90 bux. how the hell will this work…

“Charges 4 fully depleted AA batteries in 12–14 hours”

I wooted 3. Would be great for desert backpacking trips, if they work.

[link]http://sunforceproducts.com/prodinfo/manuals/AASolarChargerManual2.pdf[/link]

Link to manual, says about 50 hours for four batteries in low sunlight according to the chart, so if you live in Alaska during the winter you’re screwed. :wink:

(cool name)

and what types of batteries?

Nice for hurricane preparedness. Oh wait, you need sunshine to make it work. or a bright lamp.

According to the Manual… it would take 40+ hours of Continuous sunlight to charge a set of 4 2000mah batteries… I’d rather use a Hand-Crank Charger at this rate

Nice find. The battery example in the manual cites a 14-hour charge time in full sun for 4 500maH batteries. I’ve never seen NiMH batteries with capacities that low. I probably wouldn’t trust it to charge anything but NiCads.

People, this is far from useless. I’m an Electrical Engineer, trust me, these will work. They will work quite slowly. I’m guessing a day or so for 4 batteries with good sunlight, though it doesn’t give any specs so I can’t know for sure.

You don’t need these for everyday use, but for doing mission work in a third world country , these will be great.

i wooted 3. i will daisy chain them and charge my zune.

i always wanted to make one of those solar-messenger-bags that ‘popular science’ showcased…

The Manual
Even the manual doesn’t specify what formulas it supports. It does say the current meter goes up to 160 mA. So… if we have 4 completely depleted 2000 mAh NiMh batteries, it would take ~ 50 hours to fully charge. My best use for this would be to try to float charge batteries that like to self-discharge.

No, the Worst Woot Ever was the Windshield Washer Fluid Heater. That was just ridiculous, this at least has some point!

only use i could think that this would be good for is apocalyptic conditions. in whitch case it would be awesome. and for camping.

link to the user manual with approximate charging times

http://sunforceproducts.com/prodinfo/manuals/AASolarChargerManual2.pdf

too long for me. might be useful if I spent a lot of time away from a plug.

Question.

Does anyone happen to have a price someone could save using this device over a one year period. Recharging 1 time per day.

hey, i would have bought one of those. my washer fluid freezes every damn winter and it drives me nuts.

Look, let’s be honest, folks, let’s assume that this is going to take 2 days to charge a set of four batteries, therefore, for you to get anything useful, you’lre going to need multiple sets. So you’d best hit that ‘buy 3’ button, 'cause for $20, this seems like something worth the gamble.

Besides, think of it this way - Amazaon’s selling 1 for $20, you get 3 plus the shipping for that same price! Top that!