1 Watt Solar Power Pack

Comments about THUNDERBOLT MAGNUM SOLAR 1 Watt Solar Power Pack:

I took the chance after reading all the reviews purchasing this was as stressful as trying to decide if I should take another card with 14 showing when playing blackjeck. The reviews are very helpful. the package is not. I decided to roll the dice on this because the price was low. The first thing I did was dig a unviersal charger out of the closet. it was 5 volts. charging took over 5 hours. at first I thought it wasa dude because when I plugged it in nothing for about 1 or 2 minutes. then the red light came on. it went green about 5 to 5 1/2 hours later. I plugged in my kids I-pod touch and it charged up. Now charging it for the second time. So it seems to work but I have not put it in the sun. I'll update the review after I give it a go in the sun for a day or so. If you ask me since the first charge took over five hours it seems to be the way to go. I would think in the sun light it would take much longer to charge from dead. my advice. start it out plugged in to the wall.

Comments about THUNDERBOLT MAGNUM SOLAR 1 Watt Solar Power Pack:

NOTE: I discovered some phones do not like this charger: Blackberry Bold hates it while my LG Spectrum has no issue with it. Just wanted to let people know that

Comments about THUNDERBOLT MAGNUM SOLAR 1 Watt Solar Power Pack:

Directions suck for this product for a solar dummy. But after charging for a couple of days, plugged the cell in and it charged it up. :>)

Comments about THUNDERBOLT MAGNUM SOLAR 1 Watt Solar Power Pack:

I bought this to charge my GPS when out on bike rides. It works great, now that I have figured out how to use it. In a nutshell, set it in the sun until the LED changes from red to green. This means that the internal battery is charged. Then plug it into whatever you want to charge and Bob's your uncle. I opened it up to see what the coaxial connector was for - it's more or less in parallel with the solar cells (tip positive). I was able to charge it with an old 6 volt wall wart that I had.

Comments about THUNDERBOLT MAGNUM SOLAR 1 Watt Solar Power Pack:

Without any directions I didn't think it worked @ 1st & was planning on a return until the auto shop tossed out ALL of my receipts so I decided to give it another chance since I was stuck with it.Out of the box it can take up to 3 days to fully charge & get the status light to turn green using the sun (Red indicates charging). The battery is what charges your phone, NOT the direct sun.It can also be charged with a universal AC to DC charger (powerline from [@] works great, has 7 plug sizes plus USB). Charge @ 4.5 volts. It takes around 3 hrs to charge. 6 volt charging is maybe/probably ok but I wouldn't go any higher than that to avoid damaging the battery. 4.5 to be safe.I used it while camping @ a 4 day music festival. It charged my Moto Droid from dead to full & charged my Blackberry Curve while on a 1 hr conference call with no prob. I then tried to charge my chicks iPhone 4S with no success. Could be a bad plug cause it still worked on the other 2 phones. I'll report back on iPhone status.Pros -Solar is cool.Great in a pinch to charge a dead phone.LED flashlight works great.Everything fits perfectly in a "CaseLogic" hard drive case [@]. Just add some velcro sticky back mini strips on the mesh pocket to keep adapters in place.Cons - Solar panel only 1 watt, slow charging w/ sun.No/ poor documentation.May over heat if left in window dash of vehicle during summertime. But that should be obvious.May not work w/ iPhone, jury is still out.

Comments about THUNDERBOLT MAGNUM SOLAR 1 Watt Solar Power Pack:

Instructions are inaccurate...

Solar only charges internal battery. The internal battery charges your device.

The device needs to be fully charged before it works. When fully charged the "RED" light turns "Green". There is no blue light per the instructions!

You can charge the Solar Power Packs internal battery using solar, or the second round plug on the device next to the flashlight switch. I made a cable from an old USB cable and a RadioShack Adaptaplug "H" plug. It Charges in only a few hours using my laptop.

Button/switch only turns the flashlight feature on and off. It does not stop the device from charging per the instructions.

Other than the instructions being garbage, the device works perfect and is a great emergency backup power supply for my cell phone!

Comments about THUNDERBOLT MAGNUM SOLAR 1 Watt Solar Power Pack:

This solar charger is good and all it does charge my iPod and devices but the it has another input to charge the lithium battery directly but is not included in package

Comments about THUNDERBOLT MAGNUM SOLAR 1 Watt Solar Power Pack:

There is no documentation.

The panel is rated for 1 watt in full sun. If I assume an ideal 5 volt charger, than the panel puts out 0.2 Amps. To fully charge the 2700mAh battery would require 13.5 hours of *full* sun. In my region we only get about 5 hours of full sun (southeast US) and that is if the mount tracks the sun. As such, it takes 3 days in ideal conditions to charge the battery. Probably more like a week if left in a window.

There is a jack for charging the battery directly, but without documentation, there is no way to know what voltage the supply should be.

Comments about THUNDERBOLT MAGNUM SOLAR 1 Watt Solar Power Pack:

so i have it charging outside right now. there is a red led on the side that turns on in the sun. no directions with this thing. does the LED change color when the battery is full?
would really love some directions with this unit.

Comments about THUNDERBOLT MAGNUM SOLAR 1 Watt Solar Power Pack:

I thought maybe I just got a bad one but after reading all the other reviews of people having the same problems as me I don't think that is the case at all. They should appoligize for this product and mail a refund check to everyone who ever bought it as bad as it is. My suggestion is go find something else to try and don't waste your money on this junk.