ewerk or plug ii - opinions?

[Dusza]

"
charge my battery   unless I was going 15-16mph steady

Scott was this the Voltaic battery?

[sthig]

yep

pretty down about that.  It seemed like it was working there for a bit but on a long route the only time I really could get it to fire up and go was downhill or on a steady flat (which I'm on a singlespeed so I can only go so fast)

what I'm going to do is bring my voltaic batteries (I have two) and use them as emergency backups -t hey are very light so not much of a weight penalty and they do pack a charge.

[Dusza]

Bummer 

So it's waiting for ToutTerrain's battery or going another route.

Cheers Scott

Btw. I love the graphics on your site.

[sthig]

they have a battery!?

thanks for the props-been a labor of love

[pickupel]

My Revo has the charging port too, just no switch to isolate it from the light. I tested the output port when I first got the light and I agree with Sthig - it will charge a Garmin, just very slowly.

[Dusza]

they have a battery!?

When I was exchanging mail with TT regarding my problems, their tech rep stated that they want to release a cache battery in near future. That would work with the Plug'sw 500mA limit.
As neat as the Plug's design is, I think I'll go with the E-Werk...

Update:
Voltaic V11 tested here as well. Same results as Scott.

[pickupel]

Scott, out of interest do you have the Plug II or the Plug II +? I've been using the plus version, which has additional electronics to improve output at low speeds, and find that it charges my Garmin 800 at between 5 and 6mph.

I think they sell the additional electronics as a separate cable, so that early adopters of the original Plug II can upgrade.

[sthig]

I just bought it a few weeks ago...how can I tell and where can I get this cord?

[sthig]

Just saw... The plug ii. I got it from peter white who seemed like I was doing him a favor by calling him (not helpful and had a lot of attitude).

Looking at power monkey which one is the one that works?

Thus is getting frustrating

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[pickupel]

The Plug II + has a 'P.A.T.' cable (Power Amplification Technology) that sits inside the steerer tube. I've attached an image of the cable — it just replaces the one that comes with the standard Plug II.

I feel for you in dealing with Peter White. I had him build a set of wheels for me last year when I was living in the US — they were great, but his customer service was terrible. The wheels turned up over a month after the promised date and each time I contacted him he was irritable, acting like he was doing me a favor by building them in the first place.

If he is the US dealer for Tout Terrain / Supernova equipment then he should be able to get hold of the PAT cable for you. If not, it is available from this UK based website:

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tout-terrain-plug-pat-pat-power-cable-for-the-plug-ii-prod27694/

[pickupel]

As for the Power Monkey, I'm borrowing the 'Explorer' — it hasn't turned up yet, so I haven't been able to test it. I'll let you know if it works when it arrives.

[sthig]

Oh good...glad it wasn't just me about Peter White

If the power monkey works...I'll get it

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[woody]

I had Peter build me a set of wheels over 10 years ago and he was the same way. Must not hurt his business too much, but maybe he doesn't give 2 Sh!ts.
BTW - great build.

Woody

[Area54]

I've got the Powermonkey explorer and the extreme - I took the extreme to Alaska recently and was very happy with it - recharging gps and lights. I use the explorer as a booster battery for my exposure lights too.

The extreme has 2 output ports with different amp ratings - I found my HTC would not charge on the 'USB' output port (500mA) but would charge nicely on the high output port (1700mA IIR - I haven't got the specs in front of me)

[sthig]

and this worked with your plug ii?

[phil_rad]

I've put in a few miles on my Plug, mostly running my light (supernova e-3 triple), running my GPS (etrex) or charging my iPhone. I even ran my light and GPS at the same time on a recent commute home; I was going a constant 12 mph (single speed). The only thing that bothers me is when I go over 23-25 mph the circut protection kicks in and shuts off power to my GPS but only til I slow down. But so far so good, even in the rain.
 

[sthig]

well I have the cable coming from Peter White (I spoke to Linda so I didn't have to speak to Mr Honey Badger himself today).  Here's hoping that thing fixes my issues.

[pickupel]

So ... the guy who was going to loan me his Power Monkey can't find it. I guess I'm in the same situation as a lot of you guys now, still wandering if it will work with the Plug II. I don't want to spend the cash on a Power Monkey, only for it to not work properly. Area54, did you use your Explorer and Extreme with a Plug II? If so, what was the performance like?

I've been planning on using the Explorer as a cache battery between the Plug II and the device I'm charging, to keep the power-supply constant if / when my speed drops bellow 5 or 6mph. Does anyone know of any problems with using an Explorer for this application?

[sthig]

From the Horse's mouth (Tout Terrain)

"you are right about the PAT cable. It enables charging at lower speeds compared to the normal cable of the classic version.
We tried a Powermonkey Extreme battery and it didn’t work with the Plug. The reason is that it needs an input current which is too high for the Plug.
The Classic version of the Powermonkey works fine though."

[Area54]

Our supplier of Tout terrain here is sending me a plug 2 for evaluation, I'll put it on the Fargo, SON hub, will play around with it on the explorer and the extreme, my HTC phone, my exposure lights (Diablo, race Maxx, joystick) garmin and anything else I can find. Curious about the extreme and touts report, considering the extreme can charge off the solar panel it comes with, at low light. I'll run the multimeter on the system also to get some volt and amperage data.