Charging electronics in small boats whilst dinghy cruising

Thoughts about solar power-banks and charging VHF radios

If you read the first blog post in this series on electronics in small boats,
https://arwensmeanderings.blogspot.com/2019/06/electronics-in-small-open-boats.html

you will know that I am going on some extended camp cruising trips this summer and so have been considering how to charge all my electronics whilst away. I’m also also giving thoughts to installing an electronic bilge pump as well.

One of the three options I have been considering is this one:

1.       A portable bilge pump box with small 12v Yuasa battery and then some solar powered portable power banks which I can then use for trekking, land-based camping and cycling as well. The advantages are portability and multi -use and I would have power-banks that could be recharged or topped up by solar energy each day.

I had started to look at combined solar panel/power-bank combinations. Expenditure is a major consideration now that I have retired. No income is coming in any more so spending on Arwen is now severely curtailed. Some quick research showed up this type of combined unit:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07GB4H8FB/?coliid=IKWIQUOTFU70K&colid=1JO473C0R5H2T&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Knowing nothing about electronics whatsoever and being frank, rather a slow learner, I went to the various small boat FaceBook forums for help and advice. The issue isn’t that such a piece of equipment can’t power android tablet, phone and assorted camera batteries for GoPro and DSLR’s. It will with no problem. The fly in the ointment is charging my ICOM M23 handheld VHF which runs off a normal wall charger. It isn’t a USB charged radio although I have various kits that can assemble on the end of a USB cable to give me the correct fitting for the radio.

In all, thirty or so people took the time and effort to give the issue some consideration and I am grateful to them all. Thoughts were mixed.

Some people felt it could be done

“There are packs around with multiple outputs, you just need to match the numbers on the normal charger”.

“Yes, you can but you need to have a power bank that has the same amperage and voltage as your radio recharger”.

Someone suggested investigating ‘sunpower flexible solar panels’ and some people said:

“I looked up the specs of your radio for you and although the battery pack is 3.7 volts the charger is 6 volts. The solar power pack will only provide 5 volts per USB spec. I would suggest contacting ICOM and asking them if they have a USB charger cable arrangement which would work”.

(I did contact ICOM and they replied – more on that at the end)

.

Another intriguing comment worth investigating was this one:

“If you're not afraid of a little soldering, you can get USB -->12V step up converters that would then work with the lighter cable”.  

I like this idea but what I’m not sure about is whether such a thing would then work with the solar panel powerbank I mentioned.  
You can actually buy something like that:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/KUNCAN-Converter-Voltage-2-1mm-Connector-Black/dp/B01ID90E3C/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?keywords=KUNCAN+5ft+USB+5v+to+DC+12v+Step+Up+Converter+Cable%2C+USB+Port+Voltage+Converter+to+DC+5.5+x+2.1mm+Connector&qid=1559573654&s=electronics&sr=1-1-fkmr0

One forum member said

“You need 12V to charge your radio. A USB charger is only 5V, so that one won't do it. You *can* buy an adapter that will convert USB to a 12v socket, and then another that will take the 12v to charge the radio, but I don't know if the USB-12v adapters put out enough wattage”.

So, if you are reading this and you understand the physics, please dear reader, help me out – would the above work with the solar power-bank I am thinking of getting – to recharge up my ICOM M23? My M23 wall charger plug charger says input 100-240v50/60 hz 0.16A  and output 6.0v  0.5A. if that helps!

Another train of thought was this one:

"Hmmm. The standard charger for this radio is 6v, 500ma. I give it a better than 50% chance that if you:
1: Cut off a USB plug from something.
2: Cut off the DC plug that fits the radio from the charger (or, far better, buy another one...)
3: Attach the above 2 bits together.
Then it's possible the radio wants the full 6v to charge but I doubt it; the USB port will kick out a bit over 5v (5.2 is common) at a few hundred ma which is probably enough for the job".

Finally, before moving on, one or two people suggested I just give it a go and charge it off a power-bank and see what happens. As long as the power bank was supplying 5v output, people felt that the charge controller in the radio would be probably pretty flexible and so would charge the 3.7v battery, only more slowly. General consensus was that the worst that would happen is that the radio just wouldn’t charge but it would be unlikely to have been damaged in anyway.

There were those who said no it wouldn’t work.

“No. That panel is specifically for cell phones and other devices that use a USB charger.  I am not familiar with the M23, but most handhelds need more than 5 volts”.

“We use this model for iPads and iPhones and it works very well.  Won't charge our radio as it has no usb slot”.

Much mention was made of alternative strategies

·        the new ICOM M25 which charges by USB  - a nod to the fact that it can be done but perhaps not specifically with the M23. https://icomuk.co.uk/IC-M25Euro/Handheld-VHF-Marine-Radio

·        building my own adapter using the M23 cradle – which seems a good idea but I have no knowledge of how and I’m still not sure about whether it would work anyway as I feel that the issue here is tied up with watts, amps, output and voltages. My M23 wall charger plug charger says input 100-240v50/60 hz 0.16A  and output 6.0v  0.5A. So, I guess that is what I am looking for on any portable power-bank? I have no idea, really, it’s so sad. Physics at school bypassed me somehow!

·        One suggested alternative was by far the easiest and cheapest. If I am going for no more than a week maximum – buy three spare radio batteries (BP-266) and charge them all up before the trip. Replace the batteries as and when. The M23 doesn’t have an accessory tray for taking AA batteries, sadly. This option would cost around £50. A linked suggestion was to backtrack the 3.7v BP-266 battery type and see if anyone manufactured a USB charger cradle for it. (Great idea, been looking, so far no luck).

The most popular reply – get yourself a 12v system

The most popular reply essentially was – ‘get yourself a 12v system on the boat and use solar panels to top up the battery’. I will do a more detailed blog post on this next week but in essence – here were some of the points made.

“If you have room for it, your best bet is a few large batteries setup as a power cell, use a solar panel to charge those and then power your devices from the battery cell”.

Which is helpful but leaves me with questions – like ‘HOW DO YOU DO THIS?  HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY SET THIS UP?’  I am a visual learner – I need to see it!!

‘Do you have 12v available on your boat Steve? https://www.gaelforcemarine.co.uk/en/GB/Icom-12V-Charger-Lead-for-M23/m-1496.aspx?PartnerID=22&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=UnitedKingdom&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3LyGidzM4gIVy7ftCh3vaQUNEAYYCCABEgK8I_D_BwE

So, I can get an appropriate cable to charge the radio and then using cigarette lighter sockets and chargers, do it that way. This would be all contained in a plywood box arrangement. But then, sadly that puts pay to one of my aims which was to try and make things work across the range of my interests – portable power for climbing, cycling, off grid caravanning, canoeing and camping.

“I use a solar panel on a 12V battery and then use an inverter to use the regular charger that comes with the handheld.  It works perfectly”.

“That’s my system too. A small, 85 ah deep cycle battery powering a 300watt inverter plus a few other bits and pieces. I've two 10 watt panels plus charge it before leaving home and have never managed to run it flat so far” 

OK – but how big is all this, how do you set it up, what does it look like, what are the rough costs? I’m not being lazy and will investigate it all thoroughly – I just don’t understand the basics of electronics – nothing – nada – no idea!

“You could probably eliminate the 12V battery if you used a "car charger" for the ICOM and a controller on a simple "12V" solar panel. In fact, I have a 60W folding panel that has a 12VDC socket - that would probably work fine – this one below -

https://www.amazon.ca/Instapark%C2%AE-Mercury27-Portable-Automotive-Batteries/dp/B00EVFEBKU/ref=sr_1_43?keywords=folding+solar+panel+12+VDC&qid=1559528672&s=gateway&sr=8-43

Now this is a lovely bit of kit and meets my multi use and portability criteria but sadly is beyond my budget plans – pity!

And finally, what did ICOM have to say on the matter?

“Hi Steve,

I'm afraid the IC-M23 does not support USB charging, you would need a CIGAR.003 cigar lead plugged into a 12v supply to charge the IC-M23.

The USB charger blocks you list would work with the IC-M25 as this model does support USB charging”.

Um!

How confused am I feeling?

My grateful thanks to everyone for their thoughts. Greatly appreciated and sorry I am such a ‘electronics numpty’. I will try and process what you have said and investigate the portability power banks a little more before abandoning the idea in favour of a 12v system on the boat. However, if any of you have cracked the charging radio conundrum using solar power-banks, please, please do let me know what you have done……in words of one syllable if you can – so I can understand something 😊