# Keepign electronics charged in the GC



## avondan (May 5, 2011)

Staring a trip down the Grand Canyon in the face, and wondering what the best method to keep batteries charged over a 3-week period? Thinking go-pro batteries mainly. Solar? Something else? Thanks!


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## desertSherpa (Feb 27, 2013)

2 x 18aH power packs should do it.
Solar requires waterproofing the system.

But seriously, try a bit harder : 
Mountain Buzz - Search Forums
Try the keywords "grand battery" : 
http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f44/charging-stuff-on-the-river-2016-version-65266.html?highlight=grand+battery

http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f44/alternative-power-sources-post-ideas-and-pictures-if-possible-thanks-53443.html?highlight=grand+battery

http://www.mountainbuzz.com/forums/f44/battery-only-gopro-camera-charging-50685.html?highlight=grand+battery


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## skiergirl (May 11, 2010)

Goal zero is the way to go!


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## PhilipJFry (Apr 1, 2013)

https://www.amazon.com/OUTXE-16000m...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=2MAEX8RBWPSK9QGCTVZ7

I use this with my gopro, no problems for me. I charge my go pro at night, and let the battery charge via solar during the day. works great.


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## IndigoWendigo (Apr 4, 2017)

I can recommend this folding solar panel. I used it on the San Juan last year and a lot since then. It works fast in full sun. I kept it in a dry box during the day. It would charge a phone in about 30 minutes so it mostly stayed packed up.

https://www.amazon.com/Nekteck-Char...1840616&sr=1-4&keywords=nekteck+solar+charger


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## griz (Sep 19, 2005)

Any smaller electronic stuff charging with a USB... a Jackery Titan battery pack. $30 bucks each on Amazon and will charge a GoPro about 10 times. Charges my iPad Mini four times.

Get a couple and you are set. Awesome for every day life too. Camping, airports, long flights,etc. Compact and light.

They charge devices about the same speed as a wall outlet.

The Jackery battery itself takes a good 12-18 hours to charge from a wall outlet though. Keep it in mind in your planning.

Jackery Titan — Jackery - Empowering life on the go


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## LSB (Mar 23, 2004)

The best way to keep a charge on your device would be to plug it into the power supply of your shuttle rig and leave it there while your on the river.


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## BrianK (Feb 3, 2005)

You can get all sorts of power banks on amazon or anywhere else for very cheap that you can use to recharge your GoPro batteries. 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...eld-keywords=power+bank&rh=i:aps,k:power+bank

You can recarge a GoPro battery 10 or so times with a 20000 mAh battery that you can get on amazon for $20-$30. 

Consumer solar panels are expensive and not very efficient. Just get a power bank and charge it at home.


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## OregonRafter (Jan 30, 2013)

You didn't mention what you plan on keeping charged or what time of year you will be in the canyon. Both of those factors make a big difference. If you have devices that absolutely must be charged or your trip is non summer then your best bet is to figure your capacity need and bring enough juice to last you and not worry about solar. If they are a few convience items like cell phone (for taking pictures and tunes) and headlamps & GoPro's AND you will have plenty of sun then solar may work well. When I did the grand on a summer trip I ended up deciding to bring enough battery power with me to power all of my devices for the trip. An SLR, video camera, smart phone, headlamp, and GoPro. My math showed it was more economical and I didn't have to mess with the daily fuss of keeping panels aimed at the sun, deploying at certain times, monitoring batteries, etc. Bringing enough power allowed me to just charge my cameras in the evening and have tunes and not sweat it. I figured it would suck to be on an epic trip and not be able to take pictures or video because of a few cloudy days or a couple of shady camps. YMMV.


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## jerseyjeff (Apr 16, 2016)

After looking at all the options, I am planning on bringing a pair of 20000-21000 Mah powerbanks to charge camera batteries, Solar sounds good on paper, but after reading all the threads it sounds like way too much work, especially if the powerbanks will do the job. One important thing to note, 21000 Mah is the max that can fly without grief. According to the gov you can fly more with the airline's permission, but airlines seem to be devolving with the way that they have been treating folks as of late.


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## IndigoWendigo (Apr 4, 2017)

The solar panel I linked really works. It surprised everyone how well it did. I use it all the time in conjunction with power banks. It's on my dashboard a lot, charging all sorts of devices. Just sayin!


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## CSHolt (Jun 4, 2011)

Not really a fan of the solar idea... what power bank did you go with to charge all of those devises. 



OregonRafter said:


> You didn't mention what you plan on keeping charged or what time of year you will be in the canyon. Both of those factors make a big difference. If you have devices that absolutely must be charged or your trip is non summer then your best bet is to figure your capacity need and bring enough juice to last you and not worry about solar. If they are a few convience items like cell phone (for taking pictures and tunes) and headlamps & GoPro's AND you will have plenty of sun then solar may work well. When I did the grand on a summer trip I ended up deciding to bring enough battery power with me to power all of my devices for the trip. An SLR, video camera, smart phone, headlamp, and GoPro. My math showed it was more economical and I didn't have to mess with the daily fuss of keeping panels aimed at the sun, deploying at certain times, monitoring batteries, etc. Bringing enough power allowed me to just charge my cameras in the evening and have tunes and not sweat it. I figured it would suck to be on an epic trip and not be able to take pictures or video because of a few cloudy days or a couple of shady camps. YMMV.


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## jerseyjeff (Apr 16, 2016)

I personally went with a pair of anker 20100 mah powerbanks, tiny, fit nicely in the pelican box, and over 9000 people weighed in, and it still got 4.5 stars


Anker PowerCore 20100 - Ultra High Capacity Power Bank with 4.8A Output, PowerIQ Technology for iPhone, iPad and Samsung Galaxy and More (Black)

I am putting a pair of 4000mah powerbanks that were free at costco (as long as you spent 600 on a new cell phone) in my son's bag.


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

I tried to do Solar on my first Grand trip last August and it was a pain in the ass trying to always be making sure it was in ideal sunlight and didn't get too wet.

On my last Grand trip, I took three 26700mah battery banks from RAVPower and they did awesome. Charged a tablet, my phone, an MP3 player, GoPro and my Bluetooth speaker without a problem whenever it was needed. I ended up overestimating how much capacity I would need and never even touched the last battery bank but it was nice to have that reserve.

At least right now, I'm an advocate away from mobile power generators like USB solar, water generators or wind turbines. They are just more effort then they are worth and batter power banks are so cheap that its silly to go with anything else.

If you must, go with the biggest Solar charger you can afford and don't fall into the trap of Goal Zero products. They are twice the price of most of the stuff you find on Amazon and half the capacity. They work allright, but I had issues with mine overheating.... which seems silly to me considering its designed to capture the suns power. You can get a 21 watt unit from Anker for about $50 compared to the Goal Zero being $80 for their 7 watt unit.


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## Elkhermes (Dec 23, 2012)

Solar is the least efficient method for charging electronics, yet it's the most practical and proven method.
Combined with a high capacity USB battery then you have a more comprehensive system to be off grid for an extended period of time. I have friends that use this setup on multi-week trips in Africa, South America, and the Himalayas.
Personally I use an Anker 10,000 milliamp battery combined with a Sunstastics S8 solar panel. I have another Anker 20,000 milliamp battery to charge from as a backup in case of several days of cloudy skies. I normaly need to charge gopro batteries, a Sumsung Galaxy S7, headlamp, biolite flashlight, and 360° camera. 
This setup has worked for me for several trips that last from 5 days to 3 weeks in length.
The Suntastics solar chargers aren't cheap, but worth the money if you are out in the backcountry enough. I went ahead and splurged on one of their solar chargers because it has a 5 year warranty, an IPX 7 rating for being waterproof, and is made in the USA. It's also durable enough that I've actually used the back of the solar charger as a cutting board a few times.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Mountain Buzz mobile app


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## IndigoWendigo (Apr 4, 2017)

A 20W panel and 20k MaH battery would supply most small electronics indefinitely for under $100. Charge the bank when you have the opportunity, if not the battery holds a lot of extra juice.


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## Hooter (May 29, 2016)

LSB said:


> The best way to keep a charge on your device would be to plug it into the power supply of your shuttle rig and leave it there while your on the river.



Exactly!! 


Sent from my iPhone using Mountain Buzz


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