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External Battery Pack Option

http://www.surfaceforums.net/forum/microsoft-surface-pro/4512-external-battery-pack-option-3.html

I ordered magnetic cable with DC plug on end from this site. Have not received it yet because it is coming from HK. I figure I can use it with a battery pack that has a
DC outlet. What do you think?

New to this forum but love my Surface Pro., especially since I got it at one of my company training conferences for 395.00. Yeah that's right. The Pro for 395.00 and the RT for 99.00. Could only get one though. I think just about everyone of the hundreds of our company employees purchased one.

Also what battery pack would you recommend for use with this cable?

Thanks
Tom
 
jakedai said:
Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, and to the Surface Pro, but have one and love it. I'm headed off in a few weeks on a big climbing expedition in India where I'll be fully off the grid for several weeks and relying on solar power and batteries to run devices and to download, process, and edit photos and video captured on the trip. I've done this on dozens of major expeditions in the past using a variety of products, most recently Goal Zero solar panels and batteries. However, the newness of the Surface and the relative lack of power adapters and options makes it a bit more challenging.

So, I have a couple of questions since there seem to be some gurus out here!

1. I've been in touch with Mike at mikegyver.com (great guy, and very helpful and responsive), and will be ordering parts from him.
2. With the IntoCircuit 26000mAH battery, does anyone know if this can be charged via solar panel? (I know it will take a long time.) I will have Goal Zero Boulder 15 (Boulder 15 Solar Panel | Solar Panel | Goal Zero) or Nomad 13 (Nomad 13 Solar Panel | Solar Panel | Goal Zero) panels with me.
3. Does anyone know of a good Pro cable with a 6mm connector on it? I ask because I may go with the GZ Yeti 150 battery (Goal Zero Yeti 150 Solar Generator | Power Pack | Goal Zero), which is made to work seamlessly with the GZ panels, but it has a 6mm jack. (I'll have Mike's DC chargers, too, but would like to be able to plug in multiple devices without using the built-in inverter to conserve power.) So, being able to attach the surface pro directly to the Yeti for charging would be great.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and ideas!

Jake
Click to expand...

My thoughts, sure. A 15 watt and a 13 watt solar panel at well over $100 is excessive. Almost double what it should be.

As for functionality, I think that is an issue too.
On the surface (no pun intended :) ) the IntoCircuit is I believe close to 96 watt hours. So a 15 watt panel would need about 7 perfect hours of sun. But count on much more depending on a lot of variables. So more like 12 hours, or maybe 3/4 of a charge per day. The Surface needs about 42 watt hours. So figure two charge cycles from one charge on the IntoCircuit. If you run the processor hard in the Surface like a game, you can get it down to 2 hours battery life. Normal is more like 4 to 5 hours. So, a good >5 hours of sunny day on a 15 watt panel may equal nearly 4 hours of Surface use per day.

Now for the issue. The IntoCircuit charge requires 18 volts input. Those panels are intended for 12 volts (though with a higher open circuit voltage). And they are going to only output a max of near 1 amp under the best of conditions.
Now the interesting thing is that the IntoCircuit system needs about 2 amps in. It obviously has a switch mode regulator on the input. I found, as expected, that as the voltage drops below 18V, the current goes up (the wattage is constant). Basically, it would quickly overload the solar panel, and easily not charging at all. I found that it will not charge from anything below about 16 volts (if I remember). I use my IntoCircuit on motorcycle trips, and charge it from my 12 volt motorcycle, while riding. To do this I had to build a voltage up converter (12V in, 18V out).

So you might need a solar panel, a 12V to 18V regulator, the IntoCircuit built in charge regulator and battery. The IntoCircuit built in output regulator to the Surface. That is 3 regulators ahead of the Surface, each one losing maybe 10% of the power along the way.

You have some challenges. Do you need the IntoCircuit portability? Is there any chance that you could use a 12V car battery as the intermediate storage device and forget the IntoCircuit? That may be better. Solar charge a basic car battery. Then use a MikeGyver car charger from the battery to charge the Surface. That would only have one regulator in the line to the Surface. More efficient (though a car lead acid battery isn't too great).
 
Last edited:
Definitely subscribing to this thread. Just pre-ordered a Surface 2 and will want to see how it works for travelling light. I generally prefer to carry a battery pack over the DC adapter and might use some tips from here.
 
Well... Up here in the Great White North (Canada), it is a little difficult to get items shipped from the US. After duties, taxes, shipping, etc. MikeGyvers package would have cost me $250+. That being said, if I was south of the border, I would have purchased it from him after reading the positive reviews in this thread.

I went with this option... It is a 25000 mAh power pack from Home Depot with an actual AC port on it so no messing around with adapter cables. I just ordered it so will let you know how it works out when it arrives. There are also other options available... A cheaper 15000 mAh unit as well as bundled solar panels if you're planning to head out into the back country.

Nature Power 5-Volt Power Bank Elite 25 Portable Battery Pack with 3 USB Charging Ports and 1 AC Outlet-80026 at The Home Depot

If you are going to use Mike's cable, here is an interesting option for the power supply... It is a solar / AC combo unit that looks pretty cool.

23000mAh 12V 16V 19V Solar Backup Power Bank Charger External Battery FOR Laptop | eBay
 
gmaccts said:
If you are going to use Mike's cable, here is an interesting option for the power supply... It is a solar / AC combo unit that looks pretty cool.

23000mAh 12V 16V 19V Solar Backup Power Bank Charger External Battery FOR Laptop | eBay
Click to expand...

A always get a laugh out of those solar panels.
That battery pack may be fine, but the solar panel is a joke. The battery pack is roughly 90 watt hours. That solar panel is roughly 2 watts. So it will take a over 45 hours to charge the pack. If you are lucky and get over 5 hours of perfect sunlight a day (you won't). Then in just over a week, you will have a charge.
 
Wayne Orwig said:
A always get a laugh out of those solar panels.
That battery pack may be fine, but the solar panel is a joke. The battery pack is roughly 90 watt hours. That solar panel is roughly 2 watts. So it will take a over 45 hours to charge the pack. If you are lucky and get over 5 hours of perfect sunlight a day (you won't). Then in just over a week, you will have a charge.
Click to expand...

Haha. Hadn't noticed that... Good catch. The fact that it charges via AC is nice and as an absolute last resort you could charge with the solar panel. As long as you had a week to kill before sending your next email message. LOL.
 
I used a solar charger (a folding binder) when I had my Hitachi Visionbook Traveler. It took too long to work if my Hitachi was drained down, but if it was topped off already, the trickle charge kept it going for quite a bit longer.

Yes, that was in the '90s.
 
gmaccts said:
I went with this option... It is a 25000 mAh power pack from Home Depot with an actual AC port on it so no messing around with adapter cables. I just ordered it so will let you know how it works out when it arrives. There are also other options available... A cheaper 15000 mAh unit as well as bundled solar panels if you're planning to head out into the back country.

Nature Power 5-Volt Power Bank Elite 25 Portable Battery Pack with 3 USB Charging Ports and 1 AC Outlet-80026 at The Home Depot
Click to expand...

Hey gmaccts I am thinking of going the Power Bank Elite 25 route as well. Can you let me know how this worked out for you? Is it a good unit. Does the fan make alot of noise while in operation? Anything issues worth pointing out? I appreciate your feedback.
 
Well... Received my Nature Power 25 battery pack today. Pretty pleased so far. Unit came with a full charge so I ran my Pro down to about 5% and plugged it in. Took a little over 2hrs to charge it back to 100% on standby and the led indicators on the pack show that there is still 75% left. Not sure how accurate that is yet but will post more after I have a chance to use it a little more. The unit barely heated up and I don't think the cooling fan even turned on. There was a slight hum coming from the unit as the Pro was charging but wasn't even audible unless my ear was right on top of it. Looks like a pretty good purchase... Will post more of my experiences as time goes on.
 
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