JacobsParts® Micro Car Charger 5V 1A

This little Charger works great, had it for months now, a went back and bought 3 more, nice output, fast charge. Takes up no space, the 1 amp output is perfect for the newer smart phones with larger screens.

Slime COMP06 Pro Power Heavy-Duty 12-Volt Tire Inflator

I'm writing this review because the Amazon description doesn't inform you that you NEED 15 amps to power the device as clearly stated in the owner's manual. Unfortunately, I didn't know this before purchase so when I plugged it into my Honda Pilot which only supplies 10 amps, it didn't work. I called Slime customer service who confirmed that all their products require 15 amps.

Check your car owner's manual to make sure your power socket supplies 15 amps!

I'm giving it 5 stars because the device itself looks very high quality with a nice storage case. Slime customer service was also speedy and helpful. Too bad the Amazon item description was inadequate.

UPDATE: I have since bought the Black & Decker ASI300 Air Station Inflator which works great with my car.

Great carry case, well made, very fast tire inflation, a good buy. Works well on larger SUV type tires. Not a cheesy, cheap compressor.

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This pump is far and away superior to a cheaper unit I had been using. I like the coiled air hose and its screw-on connector to the tires and its quick-disconnect connector to the pump. Also, the pump-mounted switches are more substantial than the switch on my old pump, which was on the power cord and had to be replaced. As noted by others, the fabric carrying case does fit the unit snugly, but I've had no difficulty removing or replacing the pump or air hose in the case.

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The Slime tire inflator is exactly what I wanted. I was seeking durability, portability and affordability. I got all three. The inflator is built much better than most tire inflators in the same price range. It is very portable, even including a handy case so it can be stowed neatly in the trunk. For me, the price was right as well.

I added five pounds pressure to each of my Toyota Corolla tires after receiving the unit. Within two to three minutes the additional pressure was reached. Inflating a flat tire may take up to 10 minutes, but that time is much better than using a hand pump!

The Slime also includes additional attachments for basketballs, beach balls, and other inflatables. The tire attachment screws on the valve, which I much prefer over the common clip.

I recommend this product highly -I don't believe you'll be disappointed if you are seeking an affordable, portable tire inflator!

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This 'heavy duty' inflator failed after only a few uses. It was typically very slow to inflate my car's tires, but would eventually fill them to the required pressure. At one point, my tire was very low on pressure and the Slime inflator managed to bring it up to pressure after several minutes. After that, however, the unit no longer worked.

Also, for me, having the unit powered by the car's power socket, and not having a 110V alternative, was inconvenient.

I would not buy this unit again.

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Retractable Rapid Car Charger with IC Chip for Sprint, Alltel, US Cellular Motorola VE20 RAZR

We recieved the product very quickly. When we opened the package and pulled the string out it broke. We had to make some repairs to it. Tryed the contact the company but had no contact with anyone once again.

Schumacher INC-700A Automatic Charger

If you are in need of steady power for programming or running diagnostic on vehicles & are tired of having to inhale carbon monoxide from running vehicles then this is what you need. This puppy is rock solid and hands down the most affordable "quality" power supply on the market.

I am an extremely satisfied customer and would recommend this charger to anyone. I purchased this battery charger about 1 year ago, and have waited until now to post a review because I did not want to mislead anyone. I can safely say this is one of the best products available on the market.

PROS:

Accurate power display

Versatile charging settings

Compact design for easier storage and relocation solutions

Large low gauge wiring for both the charger leads and electrical outlet plug

High volume twin ventilation fans and heat dissipating fins on body

CONS:

Battery clamping jaws may be too large for some applications

Somewhat hard to understand automatic charging logic

No cranking assist

Working in a dealership, the shop provided chargers were completely unreliable and had no advanced charging functions. All it took was one failed charger mid programming, and I ended up spending 3-4 hours to fix a job that ended up paying 0.6 hours. I then decided that was enough and I needed to buy a heavy duty charger of my own. I wanted something compact that could fit in my tool box drawer for security reasons, and to make sure nobody would use it when I wasn't around. I also needed something with flash program functions to keep the voltage steady. This charger answered every need of mine and more. I am not sure who is the real manufacturer of this charger, but I have seen it rebranded under OTC and other automotive specific tool brands. It also uses a very similar charger function interface as the roll around Snapon EEBC500 unit, which is what drew me to this charger. But this charger's main advantage is the flash programming mode which allows the user to set the voltage from 13.0V and higher and the charger will automatically adjust amperage to suit, from 0 to as much as 70 amps. The large fans keep this unit cool which will aid in it's life and the low gauge wiring appears very strong and will hold up. There are sometimes the jaws will not fit on the battery itself and can only be used on the jump start terminals, so depending on different vehicles this may be an issue but it has not been for me as nearly all of the vehicles in the brand I work for have jump start terminals. It is likely possible to switch out the jaws anyhow. One odd thing is the automatic charging function which sometimes I don't understand. I am not sure if it uses the battery's internal resistance or is aiming for 12.6 volts 15.0 volts or what the case is, however I am confident it will not overcharge and "cook" a battery if left alone for hours. Overall I am very happy with this purchase, it is a tool that I feel is reliable and will last a long time as I use it almost everyday. Many technicians in the shop I work ask where I got the charger from as they can see by the build and functions this is a high quality product. Amazon has the most competitive price I found around and the purchase went smooth.

Buy Schumacher INC-700A Automatic Charger Now

Best for the money automatic charger and power supply. One of the best power supply for programming. The charger is ok to.

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I bought this charger to replace the expensive and fragile German made chargers and so far have been pleased. If it is connected to a car and run on battery charge setting, it tends to supply overvoltage, as much as 15.6 volts and has caused overvoltage faults in control modules. If it is run on flash reprogram setting, I set the voltage to 14.8 and have had no problems. The fans are a little noisy, but in a busy shop, not too noitceable.

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We saved several hundred dollars by buying this unit and the cart only takes up more room. Must have for programming BMW and other cars that require a stable voltage while programming.

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Motorola DROID RAZR MAXX Vehicle Navigation Dock with Rapid Vehicle Charger - Non-Retail Packaging

For the most part, I am comparing this to official Motorola car dock for my Droid 1. This car dock for the MAXX is a GREAT improvement and shows Motorola can actually incorporate some good ideas.

First, I made sure to research docks before getting one. Which can be hard since this one didn't have a ton of user reviews right away. Quickly I did learn that what Verizon was pushing in their stores was not the same as could be ordered from Motorola and elsewhere. My biggest draw was the integrated audio. This is a great idea and, in my opinion, worth the premium over the Verizon (which doesn't have the integrated audio cable). My old Droid dock was just a holder for the phone. I had to supply the charging cord and the aux cable (which went to the 3.5mm jack in the phone). It got cluttered, but hey, that's the way is was 2 years ago.

This dock for the MAXX has the connector that slides in to lock the phone in place, charge it, and place audio. Only one cable that goes into the back of the dock. Very clean. 2nd USB port is also a plus. The "horn" that comes with this dock has the same size ball as my old Droid dock, as well as my old Garmin, so use which ever you like. I like my old Garmin because it is more compact and uses a smaller disk. I haven't had any issue with this dock losing suction, so I'm happy there. Also, just pressing the phone into the dock without inserting the USB/audio connector is easy and seems to keep the phone in there pretty well. It isn't to hard to pull it out, just watch for where the volume buttons are so you don't change them accidentally.

I have one gripe. I use a bluetooth device to [sometimes] talk when I'm driving. This device is also capable of playing music from my phone. With my old setup (Droid,dock), I would have BT broadcast enabled on the device, the music to BT option enabled, and a cable in the headphone jack going to my car stereo. I'm listening to something from my phone and it plays on the car stereo. When I get a call, it pauses the music on the phone, answers the call via BT device, I talk, hang up, music resumes over car stereo. Perfect. With the MAXX and its dock, I no longer need to plug anything into the 3.5mm jack while I'm in the car. The problem is when I have BT function enabled, music to BT option enable, and the integrated USB/audio connect inserted everything is pushed to the BT device. If I turn off the BT device or disable the BT function on the phone, then music plays through the car stereo. If I forego the dock and just use an aux cable going to the 3.5mm jack on the phone, then everything works great (as it did w/ the Droid). This seems like a major oversight and I would think that it is just a software issue (but hey, I didn't design this thing). Now, this is probably more a flaw of the phone than of the dock, but since Motorola makes both the phone and the dock and both of the items work exclusively with each other, I think people need to know about it. There is no reason the integrated USB/audio connector should affect the transfer of functions to the BT any differently than the 3.5mm jack.

I'll gladly edit if I find out anything new on the BT issue or if an update fixes it. Overal, great product at an acceptable price, with one oversight.

==================================================================================================================

Edit 6/8/12

I've noticed that over the past month the audio crackles when going over bumps and rough roads. It is the micro USB connection of the cable to the dock that is failing. When I hold the connection rigid or switch to using the 3.5mm jack then there are no issues. After looking at the micro USB side of the cable under magnification I can see that several of the metal prongs are flatter than others.

Now, I first have to admit that I do not drive on the smoothest roads, and even for Wisconsin I think these are some of the worst roads around. I would still expect better performance than lasting 3 months. I have taken the review down from 4 stars to 2 because of this. And to think that I was disappointed with getting only 1 year out of the bad retaining tab on the original Droid.... I expected better from Motorola. I don't think that expecting this to last more than 3 months was too high.

03-12-2012

Dock arrived in "non retail packaging" as described, which means it comes in a plastic bag instead of a box (still includes directions, individually packaged cords, etc.) It works perfect. When I plug my phone in, launches the custom navigation mode. This mode is customizable.

Construction of the mount is solid as well. Cords are quality.

I will be updating after a few uses.

UPDATE 03-31-2012

After using this dock numerous times in the past few weeks, I'm still pleased with it. Motorola also has a car finder app that when you unplug your phone from the dock, it automatically launches to save your location for easy car location. This app must be downloaded separately from the Google Play Android Market.

Dock Plug cord: definitely worth the extra cash. The dock plug integrates an MP3 cable INTO THE USB. It works flawlessly. This makes it so instead of having a cord plugged into the phone's headphone jack as well as a usb cord plugged into the dock, there is only one cord, the usb cord, plugged into the dock. Instead, your headphone/mp3/auxiliary cable plugs into the usb cable at the other end near your cigarette lighter. Very convenient. This allows for easy phone removal with NO CORDS unplugging from phone.

Stability: I have had no app stability problems during the several hours of use. App launches when phone is docked and closes when phone is un-docked.

Features: Features are simple (navigation, podcasts, music, internet radio). Outside of these, not much here. HOWEVER, this makes it easier to use with less complication.

Voice Features: a little lacking here; only allows you to say "read message" when receiving a text or "make call" in response to receiving a message. These features work and both reads and makes calls to voice commands: however, these features are only activated when receiving messages/calls. I wish they would be available outside these situations. Perhaps a future update will provide more.

*More to come

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I won't reiterate what has already been said about the actual product, but I would like to discuss fit. Please be aware that this navigation dock only fits the Maxx WITHOUT a case. I have a hard plastic case on my Maxx, and it does not fit into the dock unless I remove it. Having to remove the case every time I want to use the dock is quite the nuisance and I wish the dock would've been designed to allow for some adjustments. If anyone has input on alternative docks or a way to manipulate the Maxx dock to fit with a case, please share.

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OK, so I bought this for traveling to use the navigation and it works well. The only thing that doesn't really work for me is the charging. It works to a degree, but not as I had hoped. So to explain a little further, when I use the navigation, and the battery was charged down to say 40 or 50 %, I have it plugged into the lighter socket and the battery doesn't deplete, but it doesn't increase either. I used to to drive about 2.5 hours and it stayed at 50% the whole trip. On the way home, I used the navigation and radio app at the same time, and the battery actually drained as I used it. I was hopeful that the charging would be better. Still haven't decided if I want to keep it or no because of that.

Please note that the audio on mine playing thru the provided jack and into the Aux in of my car works flawlessly. The sound is awesome. Maybe I got a bad charger part and other got a bad audio jack.

The suction works perfectly for me. Didn't fall off once.

Also, sometime when I dock the phone and try to lock in the charger part, it doesn't go in easily. I have to carefully press, release, press, etc, until it goes in.

And, no, for those asking, you cannot use any case when using this. You must remove it from the case. I have a few easy ones to remove, so that isn't a problem for me.

I know that using navigation, especially in junction with i heart radio or Pandora, will use more battery life, but I thought since it was plugged in to charge, and yes the charge icon is showing charging, I figured it would still charge somewhat.

I will try to use the phone by itself without any apps or anything running, to see if this charger does work. But I haven't traveled anywhere since that trip other than a short trip to work and back. Last time I tried this, for about a half an hour, it went from 20% to 21% in 30 minutes. My standalone charger was much quicker than that. Just mentioning this so you know.

I still recommend this, but if it isn't to your satisfaction, you can always return it.

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Unfortunately, the USB cable that was included in the packaging was NOT the USB cable pictured in the description. The CORRECT USB cable has an additional dongle with a 3.5mm audio jack, so only one cable is connected to the dock itself and both audio and 750Ma of charge are carried by it. The cable that was included in the sealed box was the run-of-the-mill motorola USB cable that would only carry charge (and probably was a data cable limited to 500Ma, although I don't know that for sure).

I contacted Amazon Customer Service to see if the correct cable could be exchanged, however the ONLY remedy was to return the entire item and re-order. Customer Service was unable to assure that the next item shipped to me would not have the same issue, so now I play the waiting game to see if this was a simple packaging oversight or a systemic issue. Based upon my reading of recent reviews, it looks like others are receiving the correct USB cable, so here's hoping!

Oh, and the price jumped $12 since I ordered it... Fortunately I noticed while still in live chat with customer service and they issued me a credit to make up the difference.

If the next box arrives with an incorrect cable, I will NOT be a happy camper. However, if the next box arrives with the proper cables, I will revise this review and rate as appropriate, although I will still knock off one star for the hassle.

EDIT 10/09/2012 Received new shipment of this product, the correct cable WAS in the box this time! Will further update once installed.

EDIT 10/14/2012 Installed, works quite well. I have love/hate relationship with Motorola... I dislike how they have handled software issues (Motoblur, Music Player on DroidX2, Bionic/Atrix upgrade fiasco, locked bootloaders, etc.), but I have to say from a hardware perspective their stuff is first rate. The ability to have a single cable to the car dock with audio and charge carried by it is great! Motorola has clearly put a lot of thought into accessories for their phones.

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Dc Adapter for GPX 07 Pdl806 Pdl795 Pd718b Pd808b Jwin Jv11055b Jdvd743 Jdvd759 Jdvd766

• After market replacement car adapter
• save money on batteries

Wow! greatest thing since 7Up! yea! Now I can drive and have conversations, un-interupted why... no more bordom in the car! My kids are now able to play their DVD player and watch movies without the battery dying because of this wonderful invention called a DC car power adapter! After ordering from Amazon, It seemed only minutes that I received it! That is how quick the shipping was. It was fast and "furious" !!! Thank you sooo much!

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I ordered this adapter to replace my broken one. Not sure why, but it does not power up my dvd player even though my player's model number is listed.

eForCity Compatible with Samsung© GT-i9100 Galaxy S 2 Retractable Car Charger

serves the purpose if you get it connected correctly. most make sure phone is charging i have had a few experiences where it wasnt and ended up with a dead battery

It's an ok bag for a beginner...haven't really used it yet so don't know if it's a good quality or not...

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It's really small so that's great, but the bottom part doesnt come assembly... so I havent try it yet in my car, i hope it works...

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HOME TRAVEL CHARGER FOR Samsung syNC A707, A717, A727, BlackJack i607, D807, M610, UpStage M620, T2

Its a travel charger and the cord is only a foot and a half long, what do you expect for the money.

I just received it and it charged my phone beautifully, so at this price and shipping rate, it was a great bargain and a relief to receive!! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YJ2IFW/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title

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Not much to say about this. I bought a cell phone charger. I received a cell phone charger. It charged my Samsung SCH-u740 cell phone. I'm happy. Good cheap alternative if you could even call it that, because it does the EXACT same thing anyway...

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Great value for the price. Works perfectly for my Samsung SCH-U740. Cord length is about 3.5 feet. I have no complaints.

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I tried buying a charger in a store and it was around $30 for my Samsung. Amazon gave me , as usual, a much better deal. All I want from a charger is for it to keep my phone operational. Nothing fancy, just a practical little charger.

OTC 3833-13 Tire Pressure Monitoring System Internal Rechargeable Battery Stick and Charging Cradle

Since every car has to have a tire monitoring system on it as of 2008, a TPMS tool is a must. I know from experience that the batteries can drain pretty quick out of the OTC and Kent Moore relearn tools and buying new ones add up. You simply install the battery pack in the back and sit the tool on the charger. Grab and go. It acts like a trickle charger once its at 100%. If you are just a small shop or if its for personnel use than this may be unnecessary. But any fast moving shops should have this charger.

P.S. The tool itself works extremely well.

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SOLAR 1010C 10/2 Amp 6/12V Battery Charger

Its an okay charger. The last Solar Charger that I had was much more substantial (was heavier). This one is very good for a homeowner who uses it once in a while. JMK

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IOTA DLS-45/IQ4 12 VOLT 45 AMP 3 STAGE AUTOMATIC SMART BATTERY CHARGER / POWER SUPPLY

I work in a large cold storage facility that requires occasional repairs to be made in the freezers that have no 120 volt AC available. We used to use cordless drills etc. but the battery life in sub zero temperatures is extremely short. We were wasting too much time waiting for the batteries to recharge and warm up. What we finally ended up doing was to make a portable deep cycle battery cart with an inverter mounted in an Igloo cooler. Deep cycle battery packs require a specific recharge cycle that is TOTALLY different from automotive starting batteries. This charger provides the initial bulk (current constant) charge for the initial 80% charge followed by the absorption phase (voltage constant) followed by the float stage (reduced constant voltage). A automotive type charger will not provide the proper charging cycle and will eventually ruin your deep cycle batteries due to sulfation and plate warpage and deterioration. The IQ4 option is a microprocessor based "smart" controller that allows you to hook up your battery pack and forget it. We have used this charger extensively for about 9 months without any issues or complaints. You MUST do your research and buy the appropiate sized charger for your AH rating as deep cycle batteries must be bulk charged at a rate not to exceed 25% of the 20 hour (C/20) AH capacity rating. Our battery pack is assembled from four 6 volt ,215 AH batteries wired (series/parallel) to provide 12 volts @ 430 AH. To extend the life of your battery packs, it is recomended to keep the bulk charging rate to about 10% of the AH (C/20) rating. In our case that would be 43 amps so the 45 is ideal for us. The charger is basic, well built and the cooling fan is variable speed (as required by heat dissapation) and quiet if that is important. One last benefit is that this is also a regulated, filtered nominal 12 volt (13.5 V) power supply that will power devices up to its rated output without a battery connected. I actually found out about this charger/power supply on a ham radio site. Great bang for the buck.

I am very happy with my power supply battery charger. It has more than met my expectations and at a price that was affordable.

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Sunforce 50048 60W Solar Charging Kit

I purchased two of these kits (8 panels) and mounted them on the top of my RV. I have had them on the top of my RV now for approximately 8 months.

When I received the units, I tested each of them for the open voltage measurement noted in the instructions with a digital meter and found each to be producing 21 volts unloaded. Encouraged that the panels were working properly, I went ahead and took the time and expense to mount them to the top of my RV.

After 8 months, here's what I found:

First of all, the 15 watt, 1 amp peak output rating that Sunforce advertises is not correct. The peak output rating for each of these panels should have been advertised at approximately 750 milliamps per panel. The total peak output that one could typically expect from the 4 panels in this kit would be around 3 amps. 3 amps under perfect conditions.

I have noticed that the boards are extremely prone to large drops (upwards of 45%) in current output when they begin to heat up. In other words, the boards are VERY intolerant to high temperatures. But even under perfect conditions, the 8 panels that I have mounted on my RV only produced 6 amps, and I am in Hawaii.

Another problem: The boards shut down in lower light situations. In other words, early morning and later afternoon lighting, significant cloud cover, or other low light situation will be cause for either a total shut down of output, or the boards will be very poor performers in the low milliamps for 8 panels in parallel.

Within a very short period of time (about 4 months) the output from the panels gradually decreased by nearly 50%. And right now I am getting about 40% of the advertised peak output in perfect conditions.

The plastic construction is very cheap, in my opinion, and I am now worried that the plastic may break away around the screws that hold down the panels and fly off the vehicle. Needless to say, I am removing the panels.

I'm out some money, a lot of time and effort, but I've learned a lot about solar panel technology over the past 8 months.

For just a few bucks more, I will purchase a decent monocrystilline, 36 cell panel that will far and away outproduce the 8 panels that I have on my RV now, and take up far less space and be much safer on top of the vehicle.

Don't waste your time or money on this kind of solar panel technology. You will be very sorry.

*Update* 6-2010, while my original panels are still running strong so long as I hose them down once a month, I've noticed that the PVC pipe provided to hold them in place has become brittle with sun exposure, hence I would now in 20/20 hindsight recommend a coat of Krylon Fusion Dover White Plastic Satin Spray Paint on the PVC parts to prevent UV cracking later in life. I do not think the Krylon Fusion product was available when I first setup my first panels but UV cracking of the support structure could cause panel damage in years 2 and 3.

Meanwhile Amazon got their hands on some obsolete & discontinued Sharp panels (12.5% efficiency vs the new 13.1% efficiency) if you are serious about needing lots of solar power in a small space, this is a big kit you can view it here: Sunforce 39126 246-Watt High-Efficiency Polycrystalline Solar Power Kit

My only concern about the kit is that due to the new panels being higher efficiency means it will be difficult to match panels if you find you still need more power later on. The other con on that system is it's price -$1300+ but you get the wattage, along with a cheap charge controller and inverter, both of which could be upgraded for better system performance. It's just another solar system to consider in the $5/watt or less pricepoint for DIYers.

Update 9-18-2008 Still going strong. I am very pleased with the summer power output of these panels. I wash them with a hose 1x/mo to keep the output current up. Measured before washing and after washing the panel efficiency is clearly a factor of how much dirt is on them. No problems long term on a roof though!

Update 2-20-2008 goes with graph "photograph" #3 above pink line is power and blue line is amps from the panel x 10 to share the graph. The X axis is panel voltage. Data was acquired using an Agilent dummy load with programmable voltage in 1V steps from 1V to 22V (open circuit voltage on the panel) on a partially cloudy day in winter sun. Expectations are for 2-3 times performace in summer sun provided the panels don't get too hot. These are on my house roof laying flat on a 3/12 pitch facing due south which is suboptimal but easy for me to do. Be sure to read the photo notes. Sorry about the colors excel defaulted to!

This is a MPPT chart (maximum power point tracking) you can see that the panels are optimized for charging a 12V wet cell right out of the box. Charge current turns on when battery voltage drops down to 13.0 VDC and turns off at 14.2 VDC with the supplied charge controller in the kit.

The only other interesting fact in 2 months is to keep your panels clean. My maximum current was 5.0 A on a cold morning with bright sun until it rained hard and washed the panels clean. The current went up to 7.0 A maximum right after the rainstorm. Below is the original review these panels have been running constant for 2 months now into 3 parallel deep cycle marine cells (315 AH) connected to the prosine inverter below to drain the energy made.

When reading the power/current chart you should keep in mind the amps have been multiplied by 10 so they use the same Y axis (so 20A on the chart corresponds to 2.0 A panel current) Watts are actual volts*amps. This was taken in the winter with partial clouds expectations are for a X3 improvement during summertime but its still february and I'm in the northern hemisphere so we'll have to wait and see. Basically an MPPT charger won't gain but a few watts with this panel so it's not a good investment unless you already have one laying around.

(Begin original review after buying panels)

I never seem to be overwhelmed by the latest shipment of product from China, but this one seems to show some promise and shows signs of good cost engineering and a complete design that can be set up quickly by one person with very little effort. I'd give it 5 stars if it were well packed, but my purchase turned into a shipping fiasco.

Most ALL solar installations are rated in $/watt much like new homes are rated in $/sq ft. We'll get to the sq ft bit later. Here you are getting 60W for 320 dollars or about 5.33 $/watt. Compared to a similar wattage panel, the BP solar 365U rated at 65W and priced (street) at 399 or 6.13 $/watt the amazon package seems to be a good deal when you consider it comes complete less battery (we'll hit that one later too)

In fact, the amazon package deal includes a xantrex 175 watt inverter with a .15A "idle" current designed for solar systems where current consumption must be minimized. It even includes a simple diode/switch "charge regulator" with 2 leds to indicate panel voltage and battery is full but lacks the ability to tell it what type of battery you are using (full is defined at 14.2 volts give or take so it's for wet/flooded cells). Neither of these are big buck items, but they do set you up for a complete small scale solar kit minus the battery out of the box, which is impressive.

Oh yes, the battery. I also ordered the duracell 480W inverter+28AH battery with this panel so I'd have a battery. Also made by Xantrex, it's a nice piece to complete the system. I made the mistake of ordering it with the solar panels (read on)

So how does China produce a complete kit for a lower $/watt price than professional solar companies like BP solar, GE, Kyocera, etc? Well it's the sq ft part we forgot about for a while. This uses 4 panels @ 15W each to get up to 60 watts with a simple parallel adapter included in the kit. The BP solar is one panel about the size of 1 of these 15W panels, or put another way, is 1/4 the sq footage. So if you are planning on covering your roof with these, think again because you'd need a really big house and have lots of 7A charge diodes and 175W inverters kicking around when you are done. The reason for the 4:1 size difference is the China panels are made using a silicon deposition on glass technique with a very thin film and correspondingly thin output, while other manufacturers use a silicon wafer production method that is roughly 4x more efficient in area, and somewhat more expensive as a result.

Ok now onto packaging. We need to get this from China to Amazon and finally to the consumer. On the first attempt FEDX carefully placed my fragile glass solar panels on the concrete then put 2ea 60lb batteries on top of them, cracking the glass on all 4 panels. After returning that to amazon, we tried again, this time without the batteries and shipping the system by itself. FEDX again noted shipment damage which wrecked 1 of the 4 panels, but running on 3/4 panels it does work, just not with full output. Amazon has given up because they will only ship and ruin something twice instead of making fedx pay up for piling 120 lbs of batteries on top of the glass panels and poking through the box & styrofoam the second time so I am still in negotiation with them about the shipment, however the product does deserve mention while I have it.

PERFORMANCE:

The design is actually quite well done. You can make (with 4 panels) a 12V (actually 15V) x 4A system, or a 30V x 2A or a 60V x 1A configuration depending on your power inverter and battery collection. For me, this will always be tied into a 12VDC bus so it is fine as shipped, but the flexibility is there if you have other voltages in use. There is no skimping on wire with 16 foot cords on each panel which helps to minimize power lost in the wire since each panel has its own cordset going to the combiner, after which runs are kept short. On a cloudy day I was able to get 2 amps from 3 panels (30 W) in full sun it peaked at 5.91A with 3 panels, so the Chinese manufacturing has under-rated their output as 90W from a 1/4 dead 60W panel in winter sun is doing very good I'd like to know how it performs in the summer!

As for mounting, a very clever system was designed to support the panels out of 1" PVC tubing with elbows and T's all of this is assembled with a singular bolt/wingnut style and the pipes have slots milled into them to ensure that the panels will line up one way or another without breaking after you get them. It has a prop-up leg system for use on the ground or can lay flat if placed on a roof that is already angled towards the sun. There isn't a provision for connecting multiple systems together, however you could make one out of sprinkler pipes you probably have.

All this really needs to be a well designed solar kit is 1) better packaging and 2) a battery. Even with 25% of my panels broken and removed from the system, it still managed to charge a car battery in under 1 cloudy winter day.

I'm impressed with the product, however disappointed with the shipper. I've also run up against Amazon's policy of two strikes and they are out meaning they won't negotiate for repair or replacement as the shipper on my behalf. I can return it alltogether or pay 100% for 75% of a system so it's probably going back tomorrow (monday) but my testing this weekend has shown that the product warrants consideration for people who

A) Need to keep their starting batteries charged year round (2nd cars, generators, etc) outside where AC power is not convenient.

B) People lacking A/C power somewhere and would like to run a small refrigerator (purchase a Xantrex Technologies Prosine 1,000 to 1,500-Watt Power Inverter #1000 TRUE SINEWAVE power inverter to run any motor load without damage) for 12V refrigeration needs its best to AVOID both inverters and peltier effect coolers ($40-80) and spend the money ($427 ouch) to get one of the Danfoss 12VDC real compressor refrigerators. The peltier coolers are just that coolers in a car they can keep something from your fridge cool, but the power draw of 8A x 12V (96 watts!) running continuously just to cool a 6 pack is insane. The danfoss iceless iceboxes can MAKE ICE if their compressor runs 80% duty cycle at 3A or about 24 watts. If you just want to keep 3 ea. 12 packs ice-cold and have a 2nd cool box inside for stuff you don't want to freeze they run 20-25% duty cycle on the 3 Amp compressor depending on temperature difference. Because I am on the road alot I keep one of these iceboxes with me attached to its own 80AH battery which will run it 3 days w/o charge. The same battery would run a peltier cooler less than 8 hours till dead. The battery is isolated from my engine but charges when I drive.

C) Or people who have *lots* of roof space and are looking at the lowest cost/watt installation complete with mounting hardware.

Don't forget the battery and don't have it delivered with your solar panels. As for emergency power, 60 watts won't do much for you but keep your generator battery charged and ready to go when the power fails. My natural gas genset is rated for 12,000 watts or 200 of these 60 watt 4-panel kits (800 panels) which would cost $64,000 and still not provide power at night, like the quiet genset does. With 12,000 watts I can comfortably run my whole house. Considering these natural gas gensets can be had for under $3000 they are clearly a great solution for whole house power backup systems so long as the gas stays on (most do propane or natural gas). I still like my friend's earthquake backup solution his house is heated by diesel and also has a diesel genset + diesel vehicle, so he is quite well prepared.

My use was to keep my seldom used 12VDC batteries all charged in the back yard. I kept the solar system for long term statistics and measurement and now have 2 of these in parallel. I bought a grid powered battery tender CTEK CTK7002 MULTI US 7002 Battery Charger to best charge my genset starting battery.

One last reliability issue having seen 5 broken panels now I can see an advantage to the professional panel systems these use the glass just as a cover & weatherproofing plate. The cells underneath are not damaged if the glass breaks provided the break is superficial. On the amazon system, the cells are deposited on the back of the glass, so if it breaks, by default so does the entire cell. A hailstorm could easily wipe out your backup power if using these monolithic inexpensive panels.

Buy Sunforce 50048 60W Solar Charging Kit Now

The panels are installed on my garage roof, wired in to a battery bank and inverter which primarily functions as a very large (4KW) uninterruptible power supply for the house. So far, everything is working fine. They keep the batteries topped off without using power from the grid.

Like most manufacturer's specs, the 60 watt claim is hard to realize. The panels' current output is about 3.2 amps under bright sun, which yields only about 45 watts into a 12 volt gel cell battery at 14.2 volts. The panels can output about 20 volts which would indeed yield 60 watts, but not while connected with the included charge controller. A MPPT controller would achieve 60 watts, however.

The included controller is acceptable in that it works as advertised. One good thing about it is that it does not shunt the panels when the battery is charged, it actually opens the circuit, which means the excess panel output would be available for other uses. I intend to build another device for charging another set of batteries after the primary set is charged.

The included inverter works, but I did not use it in the system. Instead, I'll just keep it around for a portable inverter.

Also, I did not use the PVC pipe stand included with the system, instead mounting the panels directly to the roof.

The kit did include a variety of connectors allowing use with cigarette lighter plugs and jacks, alligator clips, and hardwire, but the charge controller is only usable if hardwired. I strongly recommend the charge controller be used, as the panels can easily overcharge most any 12 volt battery if a charge controller is not wired in.

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We bought this a few months ago. We live in Phoenix, AZ ("Valley of the Sun"), so this has plenty of opportunity to work. We have it plugged into 2 marine batteries (like car batteries, but bigger), and we have an inverter connected to those. The inverter is in the house, and the batteries are outside. The wire goes through the wall. We plug things into the inverter.

This was easy to put together. You have to buy the batteries, but this came with everything else.

I can run my laptop all day, as well as recharge the cell phones and Wii remotes. My husband can also run his laptop. If we only get on the laptops after work, we can run them well into the night. I've had to switch to grid power a couple of times if I've used my laptop all day, but I've never had to switch over if I've only used it during the evening. (This doesn't count the few rainy days we've had. Yes, once in a while it rains in Phoenix.)

This is not the most efficient solar panel set, but it's very good for starting out and learning about solar power. It's inexpensive enough to set up and charge all your rechargeable stuff whenever you need it, as long as you live in a fairly sunny area.

Oh, as an experiment, I plugged the vacuum cleaner into the inverter, which promptly started screaming for help. (The inverter has an alarm, apparently.) This whole set-up CANNOT handle this kind of power draw. You have to unplug everything and turn the inverter off and let it just sit a while and reset before plugging in your lower power things again.

You're not going off the grid with this set-up, but you'll save yourself a few bucks a month. And you get to be smug whenever anyone talks about going green. "Well of course, our solar array has lowered our carbon footprint considerabley. Shall we go for an organic smoothie now?"

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I am pourya, a PhD in power electronics and I design renewable energy systems.

You might not know how much 60W panel is.

A normal car battery is 100Ah which means for 100 hours it can provide 1 A. The voltage is 12V so it can provide 12*100=1200Wh of energy.

This panel is 60 W. reaching the nominal values for renewable sources are very rare. So we call this a 50W panel. After 1 hour it delivers 50Wh energy.

Now to charge our battery you need 1200/50=24hours of charging. Each day will give you 8 hours of good energy in texas. So you need 3 days to charge 1 car battery. ( but since you never fully discharge your battery, it might be 2 days ).

Now you should consider the rate of your consumption. If you want to use the battery simultaneously, it becomes very important that you consumption rate is below 60W which is basically a lamp in a car. So you are just discharging your battery and the panel is reducing the rate.

I don't have this unit. But I know the price is high. With 200-250$ you can get 200W panel not a 60W one.

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12V Solar Battery Charger Maintainer for All 12V Batteries for use with ATV Four 4 Wheeler Jet Ski

I am a little surprised that this works but it does! My 1990 Jeep Cherokee sits 98% of the time in my driveway but so long as I use this charger it starts right up. It attaches with clamps directly to the battery or plugs into your cigarette lighter. It does not seem like 1.5 volts would be enough but it is...at least it works for me.

I used these chargers in three vehicles of elderly relatives that rarely get driven. So far they have kept the batteries charged up so that when they DO get driven they crank up every time.

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I used this for 2 years now and works flawlessly. I leave it outside my Jets Skiis when stored for the Winter and I no longer need to replace the batteries when the summer season starts.

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Stopped working after the second day, blue LED light never comes on, how do you test unit to see if it works?

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Hitachi DB3DL2 3.6-Volt 1/4-Inch Hex Drive Screwdriver

This is my 2nd Hitachi power driver....same one. I had my 1st one for over 3 years , which I totally rely on for work as a PC tech. The forward / reverse switch started getting sticky. I will be sending it in under its life time warranty for repair (a big plus). The new model apprantly is a little thicker with a grip and almost an inch longer....the switch feels better...comes with a brighter LED light...and overall its more quieter / smoother. There's a lot of torque...too much even @ the lowest setting (1) for my personal use most of the time. I also use it for personal home jobs...which has the potential for heavy duty functions. The battery life is good....and uses the same type. It only takes 30 minute for full charge. Great tool!

Before getting into the review, I need to comment that I am a stickler about my tools. I tend to find one brand that has a great reputation, works well for me and proves reliable, and then I usually stick with that brand. Over the past 20 years, I've been particularly pleased with both my Porter Cable and Bosch acquisitions and have centered my tool acquisitions around these fine brands.

After much deliberation, I decided to get the Hitachi DB3DL2 instead of the Bosch PS10-SA. While the Bosch has excellent reviews and a deserved reputation for being extremely powerful, it was a bit "too much" for what I was seeking to do with a small and compact driver. When I need major drilling or driving, I'll always turn to my big PC 19.2V drill/driver. But, when I want a small driver for general light screw driving around the house, I need something that is fairly compact, light, but still plenty powerful. But, not TOO powerful. And, many of the reviews on the Bosch stated that the PS10-2A was just a little too big, and a little too powerful (in fact, it apparently has a reputation for stripping or over-torquing screws).

While I have seen many different Hitachi tools (with very happy owners), I had never really considered purchasing one for fear of going with a new brand. Also, the 3.6V power source concerned me as being "too light, too little". But, I decided to give it a try with the intent on returning the driver if it didn't prove its worth. Well, this little guy is now my primary driver around the house and will be enjoying a long and fruitful life here at home. This is an outstanding tool.

First, the DB3DL2 is very light and comfortable in the hand. It drives screws in an out like a banshee, and you get a really respectable service life out of a single charge. I haven't had any problems driving screws for the installation of window blinds or tight electrical box screws. I've also driven large #8 and #6 screws into wall studs with ease. The clutch system on this driver is excellent for the small driving work for which the system was intended -very easy to dial in and find the correct torque release setting.

The LED lighting on the front of the driver is welcome for dark area work, such as cabinet installation or electrical work (where you don't have a power source for illumination). Battery installation and removal is easy, though the visual cues for battery insertion could be better (it's a hit or miss type insertion where you may have to turn the battery a little to find the correct orientation to complete the insertion). Battery charging is straightforward and only takes about an hour. The folding pistol grip is great when you need to quickly change the orientation of the driver for a little more torque, but it easily converts back to a typical straight driver configuration (which I find I use most of the time).

No real issues to report. It has been a super-reliable, very well designed and made driver which has been a welcome new tool and brand to my tool box. I won't hesitate to purchase another Hitachi tool from this point on, and will include Hitachi as another "preferred vendor", along with Bosch and PC. I highly recommend this fine tool.

PROS:

Perfect feel "in hand" light but stout, perfectly sized (even for someone with gargantuan paws such as me), and a great rubberized grip which gives you confidence when holding the driver. Excellent ergonomics

LED lighting on the front which reasonably illuminates the work area. The Bosch does not have such a light, and that was a major factor in my decision to get the DB3DL2.

Excellent clutch system which is ideally set for the light-duty torquing that this driver was intended to do. It works perfectly and is easy to dial in.

Very strong driver when you need it -this little guy can really crank when you need it (especially if you have the clutch set in drill mode).

So far, great battery life and consistent torque and power.

CONS:

I wish there was a way to lock the handle in either "straight" mode or "pistol" mode. While I've not yet run into a situation where the driver has collapsed while in use, it would provide a nice sense of security when really pushing down hard on the driver in "straight" mode.

The battery is round and keyed, and it will only fit into the grip in one way. However, there isn't any immediate visual cue that says "insert this way only" -such as a pair of identical symbols on battery and grip, or an asymmetrical shape which instantly indicates how the battery should be inserted. Not a big deal as you will find the correct rotation of the battery in a few seconds, but it could be improved.

There is a single LED light on the front of the driver, but it is not directly centered on the work area (offset by about an inch). DeWalt puts three lights on their drivers for consistent illumination of the work area from all angles. Adding one or two additional LEDs would really help in this department.

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I purchased this Hitachi screwdriver to replace a Milwaukee 6547-22 2.4-Volt Two Speed Cordless Screwdriver for which I've had to purchase three additional pairs of batteries beside the ones supplied with it. The third replacement set failed after they had only been in use for five months.

Admittedly, I am a very poor steward of batteries I often forget that I have placed them in the charger. Without a near-perfect charger (which experience tells me the Milwaukee is certainly not) NiCad's quickly fail. When subject to the abuse I give them. Again, citing my own experience, LiIon batteries are much more tolerant of the abuse I give them or the currently available chargers are better suited to my form of abuse i.e. I have never had a failed LiIon battery.

The Hitachi screwdriver is almost identically the same size and weight as the Milwaukee but seems to go about three times longer on a freshly charged battery.

They both have the same torque limiting feature and the very handy rocker forward-stop-backward switch and the speed selector switch is in the same place on each. The Hitachi has a positive action bit holder (that I find the be a mixed blessing because I use a magnetic bit holder) and a marginally useful flashlight led.

Hitachi also gives a two-year battery warranty, which may be useful if my prior experience with LiIon batteries does not persist.

On net: The Milwaukee tool has served me well for a very long time and, but for the battery problems, I would never have replaced it in its time, it was a five-star product. I think that the Hitachi screwdriver is a worthy successor.

Read Best Reviews of Hitachi DB3DL2 3.6-Volt 1/4-Inch Hex Drive Screwdriver Here

I purchased one of these about 2 years ago and have used it daily for my work. This thing is amazing! The adjustable clutch works perfect and even though it's only 3.8v, it will drive in fairly large screws. I have used, abused, and done more with this screwdriver than any other one I have seen. People often comment on it and say "where did you get that"? I think I am going to buy another one just in case they discontinue it.

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I bought this to primarily use for my son and I's R/C hobby, but it has quickly became a go to tool for around the house jobs as well. It beat's pulling out my heavy 19.2 drill. The battery lasts and lasts and when it starts to fade, just swap it out with the spare ( a nice option as some only come with on battery). The batteries charge quickly as well.

The clutch works flawlessly. It's very sensitive and on the lowest setting is perfect for our r/c cars. They go just far enough that I can finish tightening by hand, which I really like.

The only gripe I have, but is in no way a deal breaker, is I wish there was a way to lock it in either pistol or straight. I hope the hinge doesn't wear out, but since I use it 99% of time in pistol, it shouldn't. Also I like having the option to use it as a straight driver. Some lower priced unit's do not offer this.

For the price, this screwdriver cannot be beat. I have used other's priced twice what this one is and there is no way they are worth it. Give the Hitachi a shot and don't look back!

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Fosmon Micro USB Rapid Car Charger for the Samsung Galaxy S3 S III - Black

you have to losen the ending so that the fuse connects to the car power otherwise it does not work.

Im not sure if it is due to my car or the charger but this no longer works. I think there was a short in the wire and that was only after I had it for two months. I would not purchase this again. It was not durable.

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Its definitely charges, BUT it also DEFINITELY kills your phone's battery! I would suggest pending a few more dollars and getting a good well known brand charger

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I bought this charger and I'm very happy with it. It fits a little loose but it does its job.

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this charger broke on me right away. It's cheaply made and not worth it. worst charger I have ever had.

Microsoft Sharp Kin 2 Combo Rapid Car Charger + Home Wall Charger for Microsoft Sharp Kin 2

These chargers work well, but they are not very rapid. Typically the wall charger takes twice as long as the charger that came with the phone. The travel charger is a little bit faster than the wall charger.

They do work, but don't expect them to charge as fast as the stock one!

4-Pack 25 ft Battery Tender Extension Leads

Seems to be very good quality, heavy cables. Bought leads to extend charger leads to charge my two motorcycles and 67 couger. Very happy with the purchase

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Battery Tender Plus Single Output 12 Volt Battery Charger For Harley-Davidson

Works great!!! My Tri-Glide has a security alarm which drains the battery. Put the Battery Tender on it and my motorcycle is always ready. I have a Honda rice-rocket which I now charge after my Tri-Glide is charged. I should have bought two; I will soon :)

Gomadic High Output Home Wall AC Charger for the Garmin Nuvi 760 760T with Power Sleep technology -

• Power Sleep"" feature reduces vampire power draw 99%. Charger will consume less than 0.1W of power when in ""dormant state"" (e.g. not connected to the Garmin Nuvi 760 760T).
• Advanced state-of-the-art internal circuitry protects the Garmin Nuvi 760 760T from power surges, overcharging, and short-circuiting, to significantly extend the internal battery lifecycle.
• Gomadic Powerful High Wattage wall charger for home or travel use. Customized circuit design is based on the latest in power regulation and is tailored to the precise output voltage and resistor ID requirements of the Garmin Nuvi 760 760T (accurate to 0.1v!)
• A quality product intended to be the last home/travel charger you ever buy! This product is backed by the Gomadic Lifetime Warranty.
• Uniquely engineered in a small, lightweight, and highly portable design, the Gomadic Garmin Nuvi 760 760T Wall Charger travels easily, saving both space and time.

This charger works with DC and is lightning fast. It's great if you don't normally use the cord in your car that connects to your cigarette lighter or other power source. I don't like to have the power cord hanging from my windshield and charging the unit before I use it in my car avoids that. I don't use the traffic feature which isn't very good anyway so I have no need for the FM receiver attached to the cord. If you use this cord, then you don't need this charger unless you move the unit between different vehicles alot, as I do. Again, it's useful to have it fully charged and then you don't need the cord to move it between vehicles.

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16" x 16" Red Mesh Warning Flag with Grommets

Well made and durable. We tow two kayaks on a boat trailer and they stick out a few feet from the end. These bright red meshes attach easily with caribiners to the kayaks and provide an added measure of safety to cars behind us. Our State also requires something like this when carrying long items on vehicles and trailers. This is a very inexpensive safety device for towing and hauling long items on truck beds and trailers. Highly recommended.

For my purposes the mesh was too far apart which made the flag difficult to view from a distance, I was hoping for a more prominent red flag so need to look elsewhere.

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