Charging a Laptop from the bike?

First: what laptop are you using?
MacBooks will (slowly) charge from lower amperage USB sources. My assumption is that recent PC laptops will be the same. And slow charging wouldn't be an issue during long rides I assume.

Wapping posted, years ago, a very nice post explaining how to have a waterproof pass-through port into alu panniers (or any type of pannier if we want). That + power feed from the bike would be a simple solution.

Charging a power bank to later use that to charge the laptop makes no sense (and you waste electricity and time in the process). Makes more sense to charge the laptop completely first and, maybe, also a powerbank.
 
As er-minio says, the best way is to charge the laptop directly whilst riding your bike and use a power brick only as a reserve, when you have no decent power supply. Otherwise, you will end up charging the brick to power the laptop, which is a hard way to do anything. On the move, your bike will easily kick out enough power to charge the laptop and a charging Brick at the same time.

Here is one of the pieces I did on getting power into a tank bag:

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showt...into-a-tank-bag-or-pannier?highlight=Powerlet

I used the excellent Powerlet connector to get the power into the several tank bags / panniers I have converted. Sadly these are no longer available but this Optimate alternative is OK, too:

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showt...-box-and-bag-Optimate-mate?highlight=Powerlet

The Chinese (who else) offer a cheap knock-off copy of the Powerlet connector, but the ones I have seen lack the large washer that goes inside the tank bag to spread the load, when the connector is tightened to form a good waterproof seal.

The last conversion I did was for ‘Spangle’ on the UKGSer forum; a really nice guy. Sadly he passed away just a few months later. It took a leap of faith on his part for me to burn a hole in his tankbag to fit the Powerlet, but all was well. I often wonder what happened to the bag after he died. Maybe someone here has it?

PS Most (probably all) cafes in Western Europe have electricity. Ask the owner very politely if they wouldn’t mind you plugging in your items whilst you have a coffee or lunch. I have never had them say no. Don’t though forget them when you ride off.
 
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Video editing on a laptop drain your battery faster than a woman can drain your bank account.

Seriously it will just lead to frustration.

Find somewhere with a socket and work there.
 
deksawyer said:
That sounds like utter rubbish.
Click to expand...

Well what it actually says is.. that of the 140w you can only use 60w?
that being said the reviewer might be a technophobe.

if it is true then it might make charging a slow process
 

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er-minio said:
First: what laptop are you using?

MacBooks will (slowly) charge from lower amperage USB sources. My assumption is that recent PC laptops will be the same. And slow charging wouldn't be an issue during long rides I assume.

Wapping posted, years ago, a very nice post explaining how to have a waterproof pass-through port into alu panniers (or any type of pannier if we want). That + power feed from the bike would be a simple solution.

Charging a power bank to later use that to charge the laptop makes no sense (and you waste electricity and time in the process). Makes more sense to charge the laptop completely first and, maybe, also a powerbank.
Click to expand...

er-minio said:
Again, depends a lot on the laptop.
Click to expand...

Its an Asus Zenbook Duo (This one)



Wapping said:
As er-minio says, the best way is to charge the laptop directly whilst riding your bike and use a power brick only as a reserve, when you have no decent power supply. Otherwise, you will end up charging the brick to power the laptop, which is a hard way to do anything. On the move, your bike will easily kick out enough power to charge the laptop and a charging Brick at the same time.

Here is bone of tge pieces I did on getting power into a tank bag:

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showt...into-a-tank-bag-or-pannier?highlight=Powerlet

I used the excellent Powerlet connector to get the power into the several tank bags / panniers I have converted. Sadly these are no longer available but this Optimate alternative is OK, too:

https://www.ukgser.com/forums/showt...-box-and-bag-Optimate-mate?highlight=Powerlet

The Chinese (who else) offer a cheap knock-off copy of the Powerlet connector, but the ones I have seen lack the large washer that goes inside the tank bag to spread the load, when the connector is tightened to form a good waterproof seal.

The last conversion I did was for ‘Spangle’ on the UKGSer forum; a really nice guy. Sadly he passed away just a few months later. It took a leap of faith on his part for me to burn a hole in his tankbag to fit the Powerlet, but all was well. I often wonder what happened to the bag after he died. Maybe someone here has it?

PS Most (probably all) cafes in Western Europe have electricity. Ask the owner very politely if they wouldn’t mind you plugging in your items whilst you have a coffee or lunch. I have never had them say no. Don’t though forget them when you ride off.
Click to expand...

Cheers guys i have decided ...as usual to go the more expensive route and buy both.
i will buy a charger to charge the laptop directly on the bike AND a powerful powerbank to charge/slow the discharge when stopped.

Wapping, that is on my to do list for my topbox
i didnt really want to drill a hole in it really, but its probably going to be the best way.
specially if like yours its done in such a way it can be unplugged when not in use, i do like that optimate lead.
I already have an optimate lead with rubber cap on under my seat (set up ready for my Rocky Creek pump if needed) so i could use that to feed it.
will probably need an extension piece though to reach?
The only thing with that setup is if i stop for any length of time and forget to unplug it i will end up with a flat battery lol
 
You will probably need an extension lead, yes. Optimate and others sell suitable extension leads.you’ll maybe need one for your air pump too, depending on how long its own lead is. I did.

Yes, left plugged in, the laptop / charging Brick thing will probably, given time, flatten the bike’s battery, which would be somewhat ironic. I saw a GS flatten its battery overnight, when the rider left his phone charging.

The best way to avoid this happening is to use something simple to turn the power feed off, when the ignition is off. Perfect for your use would be:

https://healtech.co.uk/shop/thunderbox-tb-power-distribution-module/#

As this will switch off when the battery voltage falls (ie when the ignition is off) but will switch on again, when it detects the the battery voltage is around 14 volts, ie when you are hooning along. You can trigger it as well via a switched feed but for ease, I would just rely on the voltage drop / rise sensor to do its stuff.

An absolute doddle to fit. I have one on my Royal Enfield to power things.
 
Optimate's USB outlets will cut the power when the battery runs below a certain voltage.

Cheers guys i have decided ...as usual to go the more expensive route and buy both.
i will buy a charger to charge the laptop directly on the bike AND a powerful powerbank to charge/slow the discharge when stopped.
Click to expand...

Good choice ;)

Its an Asus Zenbook Duo
Click to expand...

The powerbank as an extra spare is a good idea.
I recently switched from Intel Macs to Apple Silicon Macs (M1 MacBook Pro and an M1 Max Mac Studio) and it is insane how little power they use.
Battery life on the new M1 MacBook is unbelievable compared to my earlier Intel MacBooks (and I've had a bunch...).

The video I shared last summer from the offroad trip I've done in Wales was edited on the MacBook while waiting out a very rainy day last summer while traveling in France. A few hours on it (killing time) all on battery.

Obviously changing platform is not a choice for many, but I suspect the new ARM-based windows machines will be less power hungry as well.
 
EPG_19 said:
Video editing on a laptop drain your battery faster than a woman can drain your bank account.

Seriously it will just lead to frustration.

Find somewhere with a socket and work there.
Click to expand...

er-minio said:
Again, depends a lot on the laptop.
Click to expand...

EPG_19 said:
Correct but no MacBook silicon in the photo ;)
Click to expand...


To summarise:

A. Some laptops are power hungry. Some, probably more modern laptops, are much less power hungry.

B. The power hungry laptops will definitely benefit from being mains powered.

C. The less power hungry laptops are probably able to carry out tasks like video editing, using their own internal batteries, if you chose to.

D. Use mains power as a preference over internal batteries or charging bricks * if possible and definitely if the laptop is old or power hungry.


* This is true of many products, not just laptops used for video editing.
 
What is the recharge time of the Anker 737 power brick, if you recharge it as you ride along on your bike? I am guessing that it’s a long time.

Isn’t the downside of the 737 that, in order to recharge the power brick when away, you’d also need to have along a mains charger of at least 120 watts, or be faced with potentially long charging times?
 
I have been using the Anker 737 ‘Power Bank’ and its separate associated 240 volt ‘GaN Prime’ 120 watt charger, almost continuously for the past two-and-a-half months. Both have performed flawlessly, charging and running laptops, iPads and phones. Recommended.
 
Moose1 said:
Why not buy/ bring a second laptop battery.

Charge along the way. If you are staying at a campsite bring a camping connect for electrical pickup.

Like this:
Maypole MP3765 Mobile Mains Power Unit, 230 V, 10 A
Click to expand...

A decent power ‘brick’ is (in essence, at least) a second laptop battery, with the added advantage that it can be used to charge items, beyond a particular laptop. Not least, I guess each laptop has different batteries?

The campsite connection is one hell of a block to cart about on a bike. You can though make / buy something smaller.

IMG_4313.jpeg
IMG_4315.png

I have the Hulker or something very similar, except it has a European mains plug and dual European / UK sockets. Hulker offer a range of extension sockets and towers, all well made.
 
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Can't comment on the tech stuff but kriega do a decent laptop case.
 
Most recent laptops (and most electronic gizmos these days) have no swappable batteries. Keep that in mind.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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