Comments on: How To Keep Your Batteries Charged While Traveling – City Edition

By: cuba destination

cuba destination — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:12:37 +0000

Anybody used Solar cells to charge batteries?

Besides, they say there are two voltages in Cuba – 110 and 220 .
Happily, most of the chargers eat both.

By: Mike Brown

Mike Brown — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:43:19 +0000

You need a converter that will take the 240V and 50Hz from standard European outlets and ’stop it down’ to 120V and 60Hz.

One small correction and a note. First, the correction – none of the travel converters does anything with the frequency of the power. 50Hz remains 50Hz. Unless you’re running a clock or something else with a synchronous motor, it doesn’t matter. If you do bring a plug-in alarm clock to Europe, you’re going to be getting up late, because the clock’s going to be running slow…

Second, if you go to your usual electronics shop you’ll find two main kinds of converters. They’re usually marked 50W and 500W or something of the sort – “W” stands for Watts, which is a measure of the power you can run through them. It may seem odd, but the higher-power converter is usually cheaper, which may lead you to pick it up as a “bargain”. Beware! The 50W converter is what you want – it’s a transformer, and it will convert 240V to 120V all the time, no matter what. The 500W converter is just a resistor, and those converters are intended for things like hair dryers which (a) pull pretty close to 500W in use (that’s about 5 amps of current at 120V), and (b) don’t really care a lot if the voltage varies. If you don’t draw the full power through the resistor, the voltage will be higher than 120V – maybe MUCH higher. If the voltage is right at 120V for your hair dryer at 5Amps, it’s going to be very close to twice that if you just pull the measly 0.15Amp marked on the charger.

By: Bill Bride

Bill Bride — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:49:13 +0000

What a great gift idea. I was stuck for something to give my son-in-law who travels a great deal. Not bad for myself as well. Thanks.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:55:17 +0000

I do a lot of travelling (70+ countries to date) including many weeks away from reliable power sources. And indeed if there is power then usually you’ve got no time to take advantage of it. The simplest answer I’ve found is to take lots of batteries.

You charge them when you can (eg car inverters) but the best thing is to take a small power board so you can charge multiple things at once. Htere are plenty of cheap chinese made powerboards all around the developed and developing world.

By: Diane

Diane — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:45:41 +0000

Thanks a mil for the informative lesson on electrical outlets, plugs, converters and adapters. It was always a mystery for me, but not anymore!

By: Wedding in Bali

Wedding in Bali — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:25:39 +0000

thanks for the tips

By: Angelo

Angelo — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:53:50 +0000

How about charging from a small solar cell on your backpack? Could I just attach a mains power plug to the solar panel and then connect the standard charger to that? Oh a blocking diode would help as well.

By: Louise

Louise — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:56:14 +0000

I am traveling to Tanzania and Uganda in March and will look forward to your advice on powering up in countries where power is limited.

By: Jason Collin Photography

Jason Collin Photography — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:45:48 +0000

I can second bringing along a power strip, or what I do, a kind of multi-faced plug that allows several AC-adapters to plug-in and does not take up a lot of space in your bag.

By: Will

Will — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:24:47 +0000

Having a power strip is especially helpful when on a cruise as there are never enough power outlets if there is more than one photographer in the cabin. Also, I almost always have a car when on vacation and I carry a power converter that fits into the cigarette lighter. You only have to have the normal plugs you use at home and you can charge batteries while driving.