http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?action=post;topic=7185.0;num_replies=8Hi Granville; welcome to the Thorn Cycling Forums!
Thanks so much for relating your experience with the Tout Terrain The Plug 2+. In no way questioning or undermining your experience, mine has been almost completely opposite many of your points. I'm inclined to agree with Andy (ajbenie) you may have an electrical short-circuit that accounts for unloaded drag, and perhaps some of the difference in charging might be due to that same short or perhaps the AA battery chargers used or the capacity of the batteries being charged.
• I have found no discernible difference in my timed wheel coast-down tests from a given speed with The Plug 2+ connected or disconnected. The only drain I've found when not under load is the green indicator LED, which draws very little current. Given I could find no discernible increase in drag in my tests, I've been pleased with my switchless, continuously wired installation.
• I find I get full charging power under load (two drained-flat 2400mAh Eneloop XX rechargeable batteries) at about 7.51mph. I say "about" because the speed at which full charging occurs depends on the batteries' state of depletion (variable load) with my charger (a Sanyo Eneloop USB charger for AA/AAA batteries, which uses a different pulse-charging algorithm than many other chargers). When I have tried 2900mAh batteries, then I found the TTTP2+ indicated a charging overload. I found even with the green LED indicating overload, the TTTP2+ would actually charge and in time the light would go on solid once the batteries gained >~10% charge in my Eneloop USB charger. In other words, though the charger appeared to be cutting out (indicating a demand overload), charging was still taking place. The same has held true for my Panasonic electric shaver, which shows an overload if connected when the batteries are depleted; after a short while, the charger shows a solid green and the shaver will charge to capacity.
• I agree; once installed, the TTTP2+ is not easily transferred -- less convenient for owners of multiple bikes, but more secure in preventing theft. For easy portability between bikes, the B&M e-werk I also own works very well and has adjustable voltage and current, but does not charge at speeds as low as the TTTP2+ in my experience.
Not much you can do with two AA batteries these days.
Andre, in my case, I have deliberately standardized many of my gadgets on AA or AAA batteries. These include my GPS, my SteriPen water purifier, my weather radio, and my MP3 player as well as the LED head-worn light I use around camp at night. The only embedded/other batteries I charge are the ones in my Panasonic shaver, my telephone, my 2200mAh buffer battery, and my various camera batteries.
Best,
Dan.
