Tout Terrain Plug 2 on my Thorn Tour

[Shauno71]

I need some advice if possible. I bought a Thorn Club Tour in December and the Bike is great along with the Son 28 hub wired to an edelux lamp. It is also wired to a Tout Terrain Plug 2 which I have used to try and charge my I-phone 4 both while the phone is on and off. On both occasions it drained the battery totally rather than charging it - can anyone offer some advice - am I being daft!

[Danneaux]

Hi Shauno, and welcome to the Thorn Cycling Forum!

Reading your post carefully, I can say about your charging system, "It shouldn't do that".

The components are proven to work together well. I would suggest checking the Tout Terrain The Plug 2 with a voltmeter first and making sure it is putting out ~5.0vdc. For reference, my own TTTP2+ model holds steady at 4.91vdc, well within the limits for USB 2.0 output. It is important to note the "Plus" model provides maximum output at a lower speed than the older "plain 2" model, and it may be the supplied voltage is insufficient for adequate charging at slower speeds if yours is the older model, particularly when climbing hills, riding on sower-speed gravel roads, etc.

If the The Plug tests to have adequate output, then the problem may be excessive device draw. To charge the iPhone with the TTTP2, the iPhone may have to be turned off while charging. Tout Terrain make this note about charging smartphones in their FAQ, and I have found it to the true that with some devices, they simply draw too much current while operating for the charger to make much headway on topping-up the battery. However, you mentioned the phone's battery drains even while turned off and plugged-in.

There is another possibility.

You asked...

am I being daft!

No, I don't think so!  Looking at the issue a bit deeper, it seems the iPhone 4 -- depending on apps and settings and the OS version used -- can have charging issues even while plugged in, and these issues affected lots of owners. Here are some links that resulted when I Googled "iPhone 4 battery drain while charging":
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4310494?start=0&tstart=0
https://discussions.apple.com/message/17085471#17085471
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1264910
http://ios.wonderhowto.com/how-to/stop-your-battery-from-draining-after-updating-ios-7-ipad-iphone-ipod-touch-0148680/

Hopefully, something in the above will prove helpful to you.

Best,

Dan.

[Shauno71]

Hi Dan,

thanks for your response - it has certainly confused me but I rang thorn today who were as helpful as ever. Steve advised, like you, that this certainly isn't right and they are sending me the new wiring loom to upgrade this to a Plug 3 which will hopefully solve the problem as they said they have had some issues with the Plug 2. Will let you know how it goes but fingers crossed as this is my first foray into charging from a dynamo and could add greatly to the feeling of independence.

Cheers, Shaun

[Danneaux]

Wonderful news, Shaun!

Fingers crossed this gets things sorted for you; outstanding job by Thorn/SJS Cycles.

Please let us know how you come out and if it solves the problem for you.

Best,

Dan.

[jul]

Hi all,

I have a question please about my Supernova usb charger .. about the PAT battery (https://shop.supernova-design.com/shop/product/supernova-pat-cable-for-the-plug-111)

Is it possible that my PAT battery can be dead if i don't use my bike for many month ? How can i see if it is dead ? 

If yes, can i use my usb charger without the PAT battery or i need to buy a new one ?

Thanks in advance !

[Danneaux]

Hi Julien!

I can't speak specifically to the Super ova variant of ThePlug, but I can say my PAT contains no battery of any kind...only the electronic circuitry TT call PAT (Power Amplifying Technology). No battery dis/charging occurs in storage with mine.

All the best,

Dan.

[jul]

Hey Dan ! thanks to your quick reply 

I'm glad to hear this, so it's certainly the same thing with my The Plug lll

 

[jul]

I can't charge my Huawei p8 lite phone, but i can charge my others batteries (camera, aaa..)
My green led flashes when i want to charge my phone..
Any ideas !?
Thanks in advance.

[mickeg]

I can't charge my Huawei p8 lite phone, but i can charge my others batteries (camera, aaa..)
My green led flashes when i want to charge my phone..
Any ideas !?
Thanks in advance.

Some devices are quite picky about their power supply when charging. 

My Garmin 64 can charge a pair of AA NiMH batteries (you have to make a slight modification to do this) with a good power supply, but my SineWave Revolution and my AXA Luxx 70 Plus will not charge it directly, neither of those chargers play well with the Garmin 64.  I have found that if I use a pass through cache battery with either of those chargers, the Garmin will charge.

This explains what I am talking about.
https://www.cyclingabout.com/best-dynamo-hub-cache-batteries-buffer-batteries/

Now that you read that, I should point out that when I bought the Goal Zero Flip 10 pass through cache battery (it was on that list), that is not enough to charge my Garmin.  So, there is no assurance that the battery packs on the list of that article will function the way that the article says they will.

Does the company that makes the Plug III make a pass through cache battery?

I have a couple of Brunton Ember 2800 battery packs that do work as pass through cache batteries and they will charge my Garmin 64 batteries with my USB chargers (both the Sinewave or the AXA), but the Brunton Ember has been out of production for several years.  The Brunton has a small solar panel built into the battery pack.
https://www.amazon.com/Brunton-Ember-Portable-Power-Black/dp/B01554NSXG

I also found that a several year old battery pack that is similar to the Brunton with a small solar panel on it would charge the Garmin AA batteries.  I suspect that the battery packs that have a solar panel built in are designed to work as a pass through cache battery so that the solar panel can supply the battery at the same time that the battery is discharging to supply a device. 

My B&M Luxos U has a tiny little pass through cache battery built in, that will charge my Garmin 64 AA batteries directly without anything else to help it.

My phone and several other items I have will take a charge directly from those two USB chargers (Sinewave or the AXA) without a pass through cache battery, only my Garmin 64 has that problem and needs the pass through cache battery.  Thus, I suspect your phone is too picky about the power supply to play well with your charger.

That is all I know.  Sorry I can't tell you what you need to buy.  But maybe someone here can provide a brilliant idea.

[Danneaux]

I can't charge my Huawei p8 lite phone, but i can charge my others batteries (camera, aaa..)
My green led flashes when i want to charge my phone..
Any ideas !?

Well, yes. The green light flashes because the Huawei is drawing more current than the Tour Terrain Plug 2 can supply. Some larger smartphones require you turn them off while charging if you don't use a pass through/buffer battery. Yes, if your phone is one of these, it means you cannot use it and charge it at the same time, it is either/or unless you a) upgrade your The Plug or b) use a pass through/buffer/cache battery.

If you truly have a Plug II, then there is an add-on device Tout Terrain made (and SJS Cycles carried at one time) that is called a "PAT" or "Power Amplyfying Technology" device. Basically, this lowers the speed at which the Plug II can produce full power and makes it a "II+". There is also a Plug III and it has the higher output of the II+ and a teeny bit more.

Yes, Tout Terrain makes a pass-through/cache/buffer battery, which I reviewed here: http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=10387.0

There are also a number of alternatives for cache batteries. B&M makes one and I have had stellar luck using a Chinese made 2,200mAh version I paid only USD$7.53 for including shipping ion eBay. Anker (sold through Amazon) makes really nice power packs, but do be aware, they recently announced they have removed pass-through charging from their larger battery packs because they found the cycling caused some larger phones to either overheat or not charge properly.

There is also an even newer Plug marketed by Tout Terrain under their Cinq5 label called The Plug 5 Plus and it includes a cache battery built into it. See:
http://www.en.cinq5.de/stromversorgung/plug5-plus/

All the best,

Dan.

[jul]

 I've the plug ||| with a PAT ..

I'll think about.. thanks to you