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Christopher11

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 10, 2007
642
43
Hey guys. I bought this hilarious hand crank charger, but haven't been able to get any power out of it. The LED light comes on, then goes off... but iPhone never seems to register any voltage coming in. Have you tried one that works? I think it could be useful to have one around, just in case.
 

BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,028
It doesn't output enough for the phone to register a usable charge. I'm guessing the 300 mA max output is just too little. "The max output is about 6V 300mAh."

I bought one of these back in 2018 https://www.k-tor.com/shop/generators/pocket-socket-2/ (they were $44 back then...) and this only outputs a max of 1 amp (1000 mAh) ... which you can crank on this for a long time and see no change to your phone's battery %.

If you're looking for a backup, it's much better to invest in a battery bank and a solar panel setup as anything human powered on the market is nowhere near usable (imo).


(Above links are just examples (I own them)).
 

Christopher11

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 10, 2007
642
43
It doesn't output enough for the phone to register a usable charge. I'm guessing the 300 mA max output is just too little. "The max output is about 6V 300mAh."

I bought one of these back in 2018 https://www.k-tor.com/shop/generators/pocket-socket-2/ (they were $44 back then...) and this only outputs a max of 1 amp (1000 mAh) ... which you can crank on this for a long time and see no change to your phone's battery %.

If you're looking for a backup, it's much better to invest in a battery bank and a solar panel setup as anything human powered on the market is nowhere near usable (imo).


(Above links are just examples (I own them)).
Thanks so much man, very useful info. Yeah, I mean I would happily get on a stationary bike and ride my way to a charged phone, lol. i'm not lazy. But then, that wouldn't exactly be a $6 item at Amazon, so, no way to make it feasible. Too bad. So, a battery pack, good idea, maybe I'll get one of those. At least we have vehicle charging, that's useful, but then, not if camping...
 
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BigMcGuire

Cancelled
Jan 10, 2012
9,832
14,028
Thanks so much man, very useful info. Yeah, I mean I would happily get on a stationary bike and ride my way to a charged phone, lol. i'm not lazy. But then, that wouldn't exactly be a $6 item at Amazon, so, no way to make it feasible. Too bad. So, a battery pack, good idea, maybe I'll get one of those. At least we have vehicle charging, that's useful, but then, not if camping...
Yeah, I wish there were more options. I'd gladly get them if there were available. I used to have a racing bike and I'd use a stand with a cadence and speed sensor to race people virtually on Zwift. When I was in peak shape I was doing 200-300w output for long periods of time. I really wish there was a way to capture that, lol. But all the options I saw were incredibly expensive and not comfortable/feasible to use.

So, yeah, I've resigned to having a handful of batteries for backup. I have an Anker 512 battery (256Wh), an Anker 87Wh battery, and that Anker 10,000 mAh I linked above. Between those 3 I can keep my office running for 4-5 hours if needed. (I often take the 10,000 mAh battery on work trips, road trips, etc).

My wife and I have an EV for a car now so technically we've got a massive battery in the garage and could rely on that for power if needed (to charge our cellphones, batteries, etc).

Depends on how much $ you want to throw away :D. (It's a hobby of mine (cough)).
 
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