ewerk or plug ii - opinions?

[sthig]

sorry - OCD.

I have not tested it because I'm still getting everything together.  I have all the parts, just not everything together.  report soon

[Dusza]

Well then I hope for both of us it's working because I just ordered one myself...

[pickupel]

I know Sthig has already made his call on this one, but I thought I'd post my thoughts for those still looking at dynamo charging devices.

I have both the Plug II and an Ewerk and for me the Plug is a much better product for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the Ewerk requires a cache battery to charge an iPhone or a Garmin. Secondly, the Ewerk straps to the the toptube of the bike leaving it exposed to the elements. I used one on a 4000 mile + ride across Europe — it performed brilliantly in the cold and the rain, but as soon as the temperature rose the cache battery cooked and failed. I never had any issues with the location of the unit itself, but I would have reservations about using it for MTB applications where there is potential for it to get covered in mud and grit. The Plug II on the other hand sits neatly in the steerer tube, sheltered from the elements and does not require a cache battery to charge an iPhone or a Garmin.

It's fairly easy to wire the Plug or the Ewerk to a dynamo hub in tandem with a light as most (all?) hubs output DC rather than AC. I use the Plug II with an Exposure Revo and the Ewerk with a Supernova E3, and SON hubs powering both setups. The SON hub has two output 'tabs' — it is a case of connecting the light to one tab and the charging device to the other. That way if you want to run one device without the other, you just switch that device off — no need to mess around with the output tabs unless you remove the wheel.

The Shimano, Exposure, Supernova, and Shutter Precision hubs all use a slightly different output system, employing just one 'plug' that connects to a socket on the hub. The 'plug' however, has two input slots and it is possible to wire the light into one and the charging device into the other.

Hope that info helps anyone looking into this — I know the world of dynamo hubs and charging systems is hard to navigate and there doesn't seem to be much info out there on this kind of thing!

[Dusza]

Pickupel, can you share what devices you managed to charge with the Plug? Thanks.

[pickupel]

Hey Dusza,

I charge a Garmin 800, an iPhone 4, and a Panasonic TZ8 Camera (battery charges via a Cam Caddy USB charger). I've had no problems with any of these devices, although the camera was lost on a trip last week so I'll be replacing that soon. I'll let you know if I have any problems charging its replacement.

As far as an external battery goes, I'm thinking about using a PowerMonkey — or going without. I've charged everything I need to direct from the hub so far, but I've managed to loan a PowerMonkey battery and will be testing that during the next week or so — depending on when it gets to me. I'll post the results when I do. Hope that helps,

Ed

[Dusza]

Thanks Ed,

ToutTerrain wrote to me that people had good success with powermonkey batteries, you should be fine. Please let us know though.
Once I've checked the Voltaic V11 I'll report back.

[sthig]

just saw the price on those powermonkeys... I'm going to go broke for this race...

[the tortoise]

What do you experts think of this system?? http://www.bike2power.com/lightcharge-bicycle-hub-usb-charger.html

[sthig]

the tortoise, I own it.  It's a fail.  The company is nothing but awesome and extremely nice, but their products are just not ready for primetime yet.

[fotooutdoors]

@sthig what exactly goes wrong with the lightcharge?  Curious, mainly b/c price point is in a very different range than other options.

[sthig]

the bike to power?  3 wires, you've got to build in a ground wire.  I had a lot of trouble with it

[Pizzaz]

I have a plug II+ and its been great for charging but the think to remember is that it has some electronics to force it to only output to USB specs... If the device has a higher draw then it is unlikely to work (although lower draw is generally ok)

My experience is also that some devices are 'fussier' than others... IPhones for instance want USB spec and shut themselves off if they don't get it (both too high and too low). Garmins otoh need a min of 3.3v so will charge at voltages lower than USB spec.

Charging at lower voltage than spec can make some battery packs unhappy so the better ones usually have some mechanism to prevent this (works like iPhones).

I orininally had mine on a carbon crown fork.... Just left the steerer uncut and cut a slot to feed the cable in from the side...

[shey]

Would any one here mind showing some pictures of wiring coming from the hub and any splices used in your setups?  Looking for a good water proof quick connect.   thanks

[pickupel]

Shey,

A good guide to wiring a SON hub can be found here:

http://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/03/26/wiring-a-light-for-a-son-generator-hub/

Ed

[Area54]

Another option is the Boost USB cable that works in concert with an exposure light. This cheap cable will plug into the Smart Port on the back of your Exposure light, provide USB power. On the Revo light there is a input charge port (from your dyno hub) and the Smart Port.

[pickupel]

I think the Boost cable is a good, cheap, solution — especially given the cost of a lot of the dynamo charging devices. The only downside to it is the fact that there is no off switch on the Exposure light ¬– so in order to use the output socket to charge a device, you must also power the light. I haven’t tried this method, but I would expect charging to be glacial. It would be awesome if future versions of the light featured a switch allowing the user to isolate the output from the light and use it separately.

The only other downside to this approach is that the light would not output a steady 5V, an input that a lot of USB-powered devices require (as Pizzaz pointed out). The Plug II and the Ewerk (with cache battery) regulate the output at a steady, USB specific, 5V.

[Area54]

Yeah, it ain't perfect. I think there are good strengths though - The Revo light can act as a torch around camp as well as a cache battery for devices, for charge/usage away from bike. You can independently turn on the smart port without the light on I thought.

I wasn't impressed with my e-werk cache battery. Seems to work well enough, but just looked a little too homebuilt for my money. NiMh cells and circuitry potted in a resin block.

[pickupel]

I have the Revo light and mine definitely does not have an on-off switch to isolate the Smart Port from the light. Rob Dean was involved in the development of the Revo light, and wrote the following as a comment on an article on his blog:

"The rear port on the light that I have been using only has an ouptut voltage suitable for driving an LED, so isn't suitable for a generic USB output that will be required to output 5V, but that's not to say a little adaptor couldn't be made in the future to step the voltage up, just like they've added accessories to the battery light range in recent years. The possibilities and permetations of dynamo power and USB charging combined with a light are many and everybody's needs and preferences vary dramatically, so it'll be interesting to see how this one goes."
(LINK: http://robdeanhove.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/racing-on-dynamo-charging-my-gps-bright.html)

From his comments it looks like Exposure might add features for USB charging in the future. If they added a switch, or even a USB port on the rear of the light, it would be the perfect do-it-all bikepacking light.

As for the Ewerk battery, I'd agree that it looks homemade, but I never had any problems with the weatherproofing — the resin looks unattractive, but it works! The only issue I had was with it cooking in heat — I think B&M need to extend the operating temperature of their hardware.

[sthig]

"From his comments it looks like Exposure might add features for USB charging in the future. If they added a switch, or even a USB port on the rear of the light, it would be the perfect do-it-all bikepacking light. "

My revo has a charging port - it's not very good and you get a very little charge from it.

I tested my PlugII yesterday after finally getting it all together what works

charged my phone
charged my egde 800 if I was going 11mph or over (so that kinda sucks)
charged my light

did not
charge my battery   unless I was going 15-16mph steady
charge the light I wanted to take unless I was going 13-14mph steady

[sthig]

I had the bike2power charger before and I had trouble with it left open to the elements, malfunctioning - I think it came out of the oven a little too early.  this was a year ago, maybe they are better now? they are a super nice company