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Comment on Cheap Brunton 26 Watt Foldable Solar Array Lowest Price by Volthead

Volthead — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 00:15:53 +0000

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

Great Product!, September 22, 2007

Volthead (Athens, GA United States) -

This review is from: Brunton 26 Watt Foldable Solar Array (Sports)

This is a very useful product. I've used it to power essentially any low-draw 12V equipment that I normally charge via my car's cigarette lighter. I live in Georgia (not a tremendously strong solar area) yet I was able to run anything I wanted to with moderate cloud cover. I used it today to charge my cell phone with a dead battery to full charge in less than an hour (as advertised). I haven't used it to charge my boat/auto battery yet but I have purchased the Brunton Solar Controller to utilize it. The panel is very easy to use and comes with multiple adapters. I'm not an electrician but I was able to open the box and use the product in less than five minutes. I'm excited to take it camping and on my boat. It's just a really, really useful product all the way around and comes with the Brunton name.

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Comment on Cheap Brunton 26 Watt Foldable Solar Array Lowest Price by James D. DeWitt "Alaska Fan"

James D. DeWitt "Alaska Fan" — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:53:13 +0000

94 of 94 people found the following review helpful:

Even Better Than Advertised, June 18, 2008

James D. DeWitt "Alaska Fan" (Fairbanks, AK United States) -

This review is from: Brunton 26 Watt Foldable Solar Array (Sports)

I am a nature photographer, and spend significant intervals a long ways from a power outlet. I recently used this solar charger to keep lithium ion batteries charged for my digital camera. I am pleased to report that it works even better than specified. I was able to charge two Olympus BLM-1 batteries simultaneously, in a couple hours in sunny conditions and in six hours in cloudy conditions. Even when the temperature fell as low as 25 F, the charger worked just fine.

The units folds up into a small comparatively small bag. You wouldn't use it for ultralight backpacking, but it worked fine for me, and is comparatively light in relation to my camera gear. The charger got rained on, got mud splashed on it, and was stepped on my a small child, and survived it all just fine.

Sturdy, durable, portable, powerful and effective. Highly recommended.

(I saw one review complaining the unit wouldn't power a laptop computer. That's true. You'd need two. It won't power a refrigerator or a dishwasher, either. But if you need to charge batteries, this works great.)

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Comment on Cheap Brunton 26 Watt Foldable Solar Array Lowest Price by D. Driscoll

D. Driscoll — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:42:03 +0000

431 of 432 people found the following review helpful:

Good panel with one problem (4th Update), October 27, 2008

D. Driscoll (Florida) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Brunton 26 Watt Foldable Solar Array (Sports)

I like this panel, I like it a lot. Right now I use it to charge a all of my electronics. It folds up nicely, and doesn't weigh much. I agree with the other posters on the positive things about these panels.

These panels as individuals (not linked) are serving me and my teams very well in Iraq. We use them to power everything from MP3 Players and cell phones to advanced GPS tracking systems.

There's only one problem I have, and that is linking more than two panels together. The instructions and box say it can be done, and the box says it includes a linking cable, but there is nothing that says how. You are supposedly able to link up to three panels together, but I am unable to accomplish this no matter how I configure the cables. I've written directly to Brunton's service department for guidance, but after a month I've only gotten the read receipts from them. No answer so far. No one on any blog or forum can tell me how this is done. They are expensive, so finding someone that has bought more than one is rare.

All three panels came with the exact same cables, so I don't think I'm missing anything. There are two connection ports on each panel (it will charge two small items at the same time). As far as cables go you get one with clamps (like the kind that connects to a car battery), one female car cigarette lighter-style outlet, and another cable that has four adapters on one end and a single adapter (for plugging into the panel) on the other.

You have to use the four-ended cable to link panels. The problem is that when you plug the end with four ends into a panel there is no more room to plug in another cable. The two prongs sticking out of the sides prevent this.

Anyone with one panel could see what I mean. Try plugging both ends of your linking cable into your one panel, as would be the case on the middle panel in a series of three. Then consider how you would link three of them together.

I would love to hear from anyone that has accomplished linking more than two of these together.

Linking them together would allow us to power (real time) our field laptops and mini-satellites, we could even recharge our military satcom radio batteries. Unfortunately this isn't the case yet.

The panel is excellent and I like it a lot. I gave it a three star rating because it claims to be able to do something that it cannot (link three panels). The instructions are also lacking in this area. Brunton's customer service also leaves something to be desired, which should be your only negative consideration if you're buying only one.

Update:

I finally got a reply from Brunton concerning linking the panels. Here it is:

"To your question... The four-pronged linking cable can make the
connection between panels a bit tight. Admittedly, the design isn't the
best, but I've got three of our 26s here, hooked them up, and read
increased amperage. On the panels where you're forced to use both the
single and multi-tipped wire, I've found it's best to turn the four-tip
plug perpendicular to the flat ground, making it easier to fit the
single wire. I'll be the first to say it isn't pretty. It creates a
slight fold in the panel, and doesn't allow it to sit completely flat,
but it does make the connection, and since there's no solar receiver
over the output, it doesn't affect the efficiency.

As I said, the multi-prong cord isn't the best design. It's something
I'm trying to get them to change in the development department. Keep in
mind that hooking multiple panels together doesn't increase the total
voltage coming out of your last panel, but rather simply increases the
amperage. "

Update * Click on "See customer Image" underneath the main product pic to see what this looks like *

So I broke out my panels and gave it a try. Yes, by bending the panel you can make the two fit. This causes me some real problems. My initial intent was to take some cord and tie the panels down (using the nicely grommeted holes in each corner). I can't do this because the corner that's bent can't be tied down tightly. When I pull on the corner that's bent down (see pic), you can hear the plastic under strain. The four prong outlet tries to straighten out with no where to go, when you do this. I wouldn't want to tie the panel down tightly for fear of breaking something.

The answer to this of course is to make your own single male-male cable. In the rest of the email the service rep offered to send me some cables and cords that I could splice together.

One other thing I noticed is that the female cigarette outlet is completely smooth on the inside, there are no ridges or insets. Any male connector you insert into it will not "lock" into place. There is some... Read more

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Comment on Sell Milwaukee 907822 18-Volt Ni-Cad 3/4 Inch Cordless Impact Wrench for Sale by Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:46:30 +0000

Best cordless wrench out there!, September 8, 2006

Stuart Brown -

This review is from: Milwaukee 907822 18-Volt Ni-Cad 3/4 Inch Cordless Impact Wrench (Tools & Home Improvement)

I bought this after finding out that the SIP wrench I had did not have replaceable bushes, and they were worn out after 14 months. This rendered the wrench scrap. I checked out other wrenches available but none were rebuildable (including the Snapon ones others in my workshop use). I had to bring it in from the US, and use it with a 12v charger (which suits me as I'm a mobile mechanic). This wrench has worked tirelessly for 2 years and given no problems I've had one battery die last week, but was happy to buy another. This tool has really done some work! The wrench has loads of grunt, on a fully charged battery it will undo anything our shop-air wrenches will.

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Comment on Sell Milwaukee 907822 18-Volt Ni-Cad 3/4 Inch Cordless Impact Wrench for Sale by Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 02:54:40 +0000

Huh?, November 25, 2011

Bryan -

This review is from: Milwaukee 907822 18-Volt Ni-Cad 3/4 Inch Cordless Impact Wrench (Tools & Home Improvement)

How can this be the highest rated at 350 ft lbs when the 1/2 drive cordless Milwaukee is rated 450 ft lbs

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Comment on Discount HQRP 85 Watt Solar Panel 85W Power (Size of 80 Watt / 80W) 12V Monocrystalline PV Module plus HQRP UV Chain / UV Radiation Health Tester Best Price by Andrew

Andrew — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:35:36 +0000

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

Great mid sized panel with good power, April 5, 2010

Andrew -

This review is from: HQRP 85 Watt Solar Panel 85W Power (Size of 80 Watt / 80W) 12V Monocrystalline PV Module plus HQRP UV Chain / UV Radiation Health Tester

Made custom mounting hardware for this panel. It was easy to install and I saw a peak amp output of 4.8 Email me of a picture!

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Comment on Discount HQRP 85 Watt Solar Panel 85W Power (Size of 80 Watt / 80W) 12V Monocrystalline PV Module plus HQRP UV Chain / UV Radiation Health Tester Best Price by Pierce

Pierce — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:34:17 +0000

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

good panels, April 25, 2011

Pierce -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: HQRP 85 Watt Solar Panel 85W Power (Size of 80 Watt / 80W) 12V Monocrystalline PV Module plus HQRP UV Chain / UV Radiation Health Tester

I bought two of these panels for my boat.
Goods showed up, was installed and works as per the description.
There could have been more documentation included but I knew what I was doing so it was not a big problem.
I measured the outputs and found them to be very close to the specs (17volt/5amp).

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Comment on Discount HQRP 85 Watt Solar Panel 85W Power (Size of 80 Watt / 80W) 12V Monocrystalline PV Module plus HQRP UV Chain / UV Radiation Health Tester Best Price by John

John — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 09:55:31 +0000

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

RV Power, April 30, 2011

John -

This review is from: HQRP 85 Watt Solar Panel 85W Power (Size of 80 Watt / 80W) 12V Monocrystalline PV Module plus HQRP UV Chain / UV Radiation Health Tester

Recieved the solar panel as a gift. I had it mounted on my 2006 981 Lance Max Camper with dual batteries. This panel keeps my batteries in top condition and fully charged by evening. Great product. Plan on buying another one to hook up in series on my camper for extended dry camping.

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Comment on Sell Goal0 12201 Nomad 27M Solar Panel In Stock by Tek2000

Tek2000 — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:10:46 +0000

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

Non-standard connector to their powerpack ONLY, August 19, 2011

Tek2000 (Phoenix, AZ USA) -

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Goal0 12201 Nomad 27M Solar Panel (Automotive)

I chatted with their online help before ordering and was assured that the output plug on this unit would fit the 5.5/2.5 mm receptacle used by the Duracell DPP-600HD Powerpack 600 Jump Starter & Emergency Power Source with Radio. The 5.5/2.5 is pretty common. I was disappointed when the unit arrived and its output jack was a 4.7 mm. I imagine it fits their battery, but I bought the Duracell only a few weeks ago when they were on sale on Amazon, and don't really want a new powerpack so soon.

Their online chat told me I could get a cigarette adapter output from the nomad 27 free of charge and could use that to charge my duracell. I accepted even though that is not ideal because of the huge size of the connector and the fact that cigarette adapters never seem to keep a good continuous circuit with even the slightest movement. They rush shipped it to me, which was a nice touch. However, when it arrived, it had yet another off-standard male barrel jack on it that would not plug into any output on the nomad 27! (The nomad does have a female receptacle for "chaining" which takes another 4.7mm jack, but this one is even larger than a 5.5mm.) Maybe it fits some other device they sell? I figure I better return the nomad 27 before my time runs out. I'll never know if it produces electricity, I guess.

The unit is less expensive than the Solaris 26 Watt Foldable Solar, folds into a nice compact package, seems sturdy enough, and the Photovoltaic cells are supposed to be a few percentage points more efficient than the brunton. However, if you can't connect it to anything, it's not very useful. [Yes, I could make my own adapter, but I really hesitate to have to cut their lead to do so. Plus my soldering on these small connectors has never been very good.]

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Comment on Sell Goal0 12201 Nomad 27M Solar Panel In Stock by B. Nyleen

B. Nyleen — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:47:04 +0000

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

Theses are rugged and work really well., August 11, 2011

B. Nyleen (Salem, OR USA) -

This review is from: Goal0 12201 Nomad 27M Solar Panel (Automotive)

These are the same ones the military use in Iraq, except they are not camo. I got two of these nd they fully charge my Sherpa 120 in about 4-5 hours on a sunny day.

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