Hi Mick
Could you fill out a few details on your charging set up please.
Does it charge a power bank and then you charge items?
I've heard it can be tricky directly charging items/ phones?
Thanks
Matt
I have used both the Sinewave Revolution and the Cycle2Charge V3 for charging. Sinewave puts out less current than the Cycle2Charge, but the Cycle2Charge does not start charging until you are at about 6.5 or 7 miles per hour. But at that slow speed, only minimal power would come out of the Sinewave. Where this slow speed does become an issue is if you are trying to charge something that does not like the on and off cycles when in hilly terrain.
I wrote up a long post on how I wired up my randonneuring (or audax for UK) bike, that is at this link at a different forum (it is not a Thorn bike). There is not a lot of discussion of the charging, but it has a few photos, and I answered questions there:
https://www.bikeforums.net/electronics-lighting-gadgets/1228845-wiring-up-dyno-powered-lighting-system-usb-charger.htmlThat said, if I am using my S&S bike, I only use the USB charger with the hub, no lights. That really simplifies wiring.
With the Sinewave, I charged up a power bank and used that to charge other devices. I tried to find a powerbank that offers pass through capability, can be charged and discharged at the same time. That way I could charge things and at the same time be charging up the powerbank that is charging them. That was how I charged my GPS while on a tour. Some other items like camera batteries and phone, I could do the same thing. I usually charged up my taillight batteries (AAA NiMH rechargeable) in the campsite from the powerbank. I charged taillight batteries once a week on average.
Or to summarize, I only charged things from the power bank, but usually was also charging the powerbank from the hub. There is one exception, below.
More on my electronics here, but this was written before I bought the Cycle2Charge.
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=13696.0One more thing I found with the cycle2charge, when charging the pass through pwer bank and at the same time charging the GPS, the GPS would get unhappy whenever I went over or under the speed where power from teh Cycle2charge would cut out. I never had this problem with teh Sinewave.
I usually directly charged my GPS from the Cycle2charge if I did not anticipate much slow speed riding, or if I anticipated slower speeds that would cause the Cycle2Charge to frequently stop charging, then I just charged GPS from the powerbank but was not charging the powerbank at that same time.
I do not use a cycling GPS, it is very possible that cycling GPS units may work better for charging, they typically have a Li Ion battery. My GPS uses AA batteries and I can charge NiMH rechargeable AA batteries in the unit with a USB cable, which is what I usually do on a bike tour.
If I had brought spare AA batteries with me, I might have just swapped the batteries and charged up the other pair in the charger that I already had for the AAA batteries. That is a possible fix for my dilemma.
More on the Cycle2Charge here:
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=12890.msg110427