# Silvercrest solar charger



## steveindenmark (14 Apr 2016)

I am often looking out for a solar charger but the reviews are always varied and I never take the plunge.

While I was in Aldis yesterday I came across the Silvercrest Solar Charger SLS 2200 C2, it cost about £10 and I couldnt resist, so bought one. 
Im not a technocal Buff and I am writing this thread just in case anyone else is looking for one and comes across this whist shopping.

The capacity is 2200mAh. The charger can be charged from a computer or the mains using a USB which is supplied with it and acts like a normal power bank. There are 4 bar indicators on the front to show how much charge is in the Unit. When I switched it on from new, 3 bars lit up. I attached my phone which was at about 30% and the solar Unit sent it to 100% in about an hour, using 1 bar of power. I think It would charge my empty phone, possibly 2 or 3 times.

Over the next couple of days I will see if I can get the sun to charge the Unit. If that doesnt work, I will take it into the mountains of Italy next week and try it there. But even as a power bank I think it was worth a tenner.

I will come back with more results.

Has anyone else bought this Unit and tried it?


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## Arjimlad (14 Apr 2016)

No, but if I see one, I will buy it, as it sounds useful even if the solar bit is not very powerful.


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## Mark Grant (14 Apr 2016)

I bought one a year or two ago for my daughter to take to festivals etc.
No idea how it has performed, she hasn't complained about it though!


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## steveindenmark (14 Apr 2016)

I turned it out into the sun this morning at 0740 with 2 bars lit. It has been sunny all day and is now 14.30 and still only 2 bars are lit. Not much use with solar by the look of it. But the power bank side of things work OK.


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## Ajax Bay (14 Apr 2016)

How heavy?


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## steveindenmark (14 Apr 2016)

120 grammes


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## steveindenmark (15 Apr 2016)

I have spent a couple of days with this.

Dont waste your money. It does work as a power pack, but there are cheaper, smaller and more powerful ones on Amazon/Ebay for less money.

It was worth a punt though.


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## jefmcg (15 Apr 2016)

steveindenmark said:


> Dont waste your money.



Thanks for the review. I could have easily bought it myself.



steveindenmark said:


> The capacity is 2200mAh. The charger can be charged from a computer or the mains using a USB which is supplied with it and acts like a normal power bank. There are 4 bar indicators on the front to show how much charge is in the Unit. When I switched it on from new, 3 bars lit up. I attached my phone which was at about 30% and the solar Unit sent it to 100% in about an hour, using 1 bar of power. I think It would charge my empty phone, possibly 2 or 3 times.



There's something wrong here, too. Your phone (unless it is not a smart phone) will have a battery capacity > 1Ah, probably closer to 2Ah. So, there is no way you could get 2 charges out this battery, entropy and all that. I'd guess the bars don't reflect the true state of the battery. But you've already established it's no good


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## Sailorsi (15 Apr 2016)

I got myself a 2nd hand one of these http://www.amazon.co.uk/Powemonkey-..._UL160_SR120,160_&refRID=0FZV0JG0W9RDB89K4YHB
The Solar panel takes a while to charge the cells unless its really sunny but it comes with a usb and mains adaptor. Ideal for an overnighter if you don't have a facility to plug your phone in. Power Monkey have introduced a new model so these are going cheaper.


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## Tigerbiten (15 Apr 2016)

I've got one of these -> http://www.beamled.com/20w-semi-fle...gclid=CNb5__-qkcwCFUqdGwodVYwLxg&gclsrc=aw.ds
The 20 watt panel fits nicely on top of the aluminium box on my large Carry Freedom trailer. I use an E-werk as a voltage regulator to step it down from 12-18v to 5v. I starts to charge my cache batteries in light overcast. the aluminium base of the panel means that it doesn't heat up to badly when sitting in direct sunlight.


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## Prometheus (15 Apr 2016)

Yes been a major problem for years how to charge your tecno camping.
This may be the way forward.

Just got new phone with turbo charge 2 technology.
They claim 10% too 80% charge in just fifteen minutes.
So just a wash brush up and I will be back up and running.

Also they have upgraded power banks to turbo 2: try for size
http://www.easyacc.com/media-center/top-5-best-quick-charge-power-bank/
About to put my solar charger on Ebay


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## steveindenmark (15 Apr 2016)

I bought something else today Mort. Its worth having if you are touring. I will do a seperate review. :0)


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## contadino (17 Apr 2016)

Thanks for the review. In a similar vein, I've run some tests on the battery bank that I got last summer and discovered that it loses charge after about 10 days. I think it may be common to many lithium ion batteries because I had a couple of friends try theirs too. Different brands, same issue. Sometimes a week sometimes two..

Not necessarily a problem if you know in advance.


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## *Dusty* (18 Apr 2016)

Solar chargers don't work particularly well in the UK. Florida, grand canyon, deserts and places like the canary islands have more success with them. 

Better to buy a large capacity power bank which will give you half a dozen charges on your device before needing recharged itsself.

these are pretty good if slightly bulky for a bike.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/EC-Technolo...23_lp_t_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=06R8AWWQKJS5X607G5S5

If you only need one for an overnighter one of these should give you a full charge or near enough, they're also very portable 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/EPCTEK-Exte...d=1460978940&sr=1-2&keywords=small+power+bank


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## jefmcg (18 Apr 2016)

contadino said:


> Thanks for the review. In a similar vein, I've run some tests on the battery bank that I got last summer and discovered that it loses charge after about 10 days. I think it may be common to many lithium ion batteries because I had a couple of friends try theirs too. Different brands, same issue. Sometimes a week sometimes two..


That's not right. Li-ion keep their charge for months. NiMH used to bleed power - newer versions have fixed this - but they took way more than 10 days to discharge. I've had no problem with self-discharge with Li-ion batteries of any sort, and have been using external batteries for about 6 years. Mobile phones switch off and left in a drawer usually have most of the power left when you turn them back on, and I have a tiny bt headset that claims it will go into deep sleep and keep power for 5 months.

I think your battery has some fault in it's circuitry. I'd be reluctant to use it, as faulty li-ion batteries can explode 

spectacular version of what can happen if you mistreat a battery. 
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkP-b1ADvbk&feature=youtu.be&t=219


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## contadino (18 Apr 2016)

Hmmm...so mine's a Belkin, one friend has an Ankler and another has one of those round ones from an airport 'duty free' shop and they all lose charge. The Ankler one seems to hold charge the longest - 2 weeks before it dropped a notch. Mine drops a notch after either 9 or 10 days, and the round one only holds charge for about a week.

Are they all going to explode?


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## mjr (26 Apr 2016)

I wouldn't trust a power bank that's losing charge in a week. It does sound like something's faulty.

Damnit. I bought one of those chargers. Oh well, it's just a very expensive power bank.

I should know really. Last year's solar panel is twice the size and takes a few days of UK sunshine to charge 1000mAh AAA batteries, so I'm foolish for thinking the Silvercrest could possibly work here. Solar panel tech isn't developing that quickly.

If anyone's looking for a cheap power bank, I use something that looks very much like http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PORTABLE-...ER-WITH-USB-LEAD-FOR-SMARTPHONES/291578678487 to power my bike-camera and occasionally top up the phone. At the other extreme, I've a veho pebble that can power a laptop for an hour or two.


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## mjr (27 May 2016)

mjray said:


> I should know really. Last year's solar panel is twice the size and takes a few days of UK sunshine to charge 1000mAh AAA batteries, so I'm foolish for thinking the Silvercrest could possibly work here. Solar panel tech isn't developing that quickly.


Actually, it's slightly better than I feared. Basically if it's kept inside double-glazing, the Silvercrest charger gives one "free" phone charge about every 5 days (1500mAh 3.7v battery, from about 10% to 90%) at this time of year and about every 3-4 days when I was cycling with it on the handlebars. The status monitor doesn't seem that great - it stays on one light and three lights for longer than zero, two or four=all.


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## mjr (19 Jul 2016)

Just another update: standing it outside and sloping it vaguely towards the sun, it's currently recharging its internal battery in about an afternoon, which is good enough to keep my GPS-tracking podcast-listening phone working and much better than my previous solar panels.


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