Zeno Hot Spot 80 uses then what? Is it 80 uses per battery charge?
548730
I just read the manual online at Zeno's website (myzeno.com, click on support), and unfortunately, yes, the product is meant to be disposable. That means 80 uses and then into the trash it goes. According to the website, they are planning to solely market this product moving forward, which strikes me as a cynical attempt to squeeze a bit more money out of their customers. I couldn't find any suggestion anywhere on their website that the Hot Spot is a superior product to their older products. Plus, it seems odd (could that be a euphemism for greedy and insensitive?) at a time when the world is moving toward more sustainable reusable products for Zeno to be heading in the opposite direction.
317074
It's only 80 uses. After throwing hundreds of dollars into the Zeno money pit, I bought the Sirius Pulsar and found it works just as well and does not have limited uses. The only complaint I have about the Pulsar is that it's power button is too sensitive. I throw it in my purse, only to find the battery has worn down because it has been inadvertently turned on. (Still cheaper to buy batteries than endless Zenos)
779404
That is going to depend on how discharged the batteries get each night. To give you an idea of what to expect, I have a 1600 ah battery bank and 6 panels. They are able to fully charge the batteries each day as long as it is sunny. They produce around 30 amps for about 5 hours mid day in February. With 2 panels I would expect 10 amps. I am in northern Nevada, farther south you should get more sun/power.
854241
On my D800, I set the battery type to FR6 (AA lithium), this is under Custom Settings -> d Shooting/Display -> d11 MB-D12 battery type. This shows the charge, although I have no idea how accurate it is. A single charge seems to power the camera for many many hundreds of photos, perhaps even 1000+. It needs charging so infrequently I honestly am not sure how many photos it lasts through, but it's certainly a lot. Hope this helps!
769258
Brent, It uses less than a smidgin. Imagine how much a digital watch uses on that little tiny battery inside and yet lasts for years. I leave my voltage tester plugged in all the time. It's like no drain. I've had it plugged in for atleast 2 months. It's in a sailboat that uses a 5 watt solar panel to upcharge the battery. It keeps charged up mucho.
1155749
I don't have that adapter handy right now, but it is the 65 watt version of the 45 watt adapter that came with the Zenbook. Your info sounds correct. I can tell you that it works just fine with my Zenbook.
2256708
You probably do not want to have this plugged in all the time because that will "overcharge" the battery and damage it, so you only want to take it to it's "full" level and stop. If you want to have it charged every day to be "freshly charged", after an initial charge you could leave it plugged into a timer that comes on for 20 minutes a day, that wouldn't "overcharge" it and yet would give it a brief charge.As far as current used, the charger probably delivers 1/2 Amp at 12V which means at 120V house power it only draws 0.05 Amps. So you will hardly see that on your power bill. You probably do not want to have this plugged in all the time because that will "overcharge" the battery and damage it, so you only want to take it to it's "full" level and stop. If you want to have it charged every day to be "freshly charged", after an initial charge you could leave it plugged into a timer that comes on for 20 minutes a day, that wouldn't "overcharge" it and yet would give it a brief charge.As far as current used, the charger probably delivers 1/2 Amp at 12V which means at 120V house power it only draws 0.05 Amps. So you will... » Read More You probably do not want to have this plugged in all the time because that will "overcharge" the battery and damage it, so you only want to take it to it's "full" level and stop. If you want to have it charged every day to be "freshly charged", after an initial charge you could leave it plugged into a timer that comes on for 20 minutes a day, that wouldn't "overcharge" it and yet would give it a brief charge.As far as current used, the charger probably delivers 1/2 Amp at 12V which means at 120V house power it only draws 0.05 Amps. So you will hardly see that on your power bill. « Show Less
483592
Unbelievable. That's my take on the price point established for this device. $2k to charge a USB device? 100w? That's about .8 (eight tenths) of one amp of current for any device needing 120vac (w/v=a). I can certainly understand the utility aspect of this item, but not the price being asked for such anemic output or novelty of sun tracking. And sorry, Matt, but "600" watts doesn't even come close to a 'typical' refrigerator. Mine demands 9.7amps - that's (v x a =w) so that's 120 x 9.7 = 1,164 watts. The price point is ludicrous for what is being offered.
2244171
Hello, to be honest I have not used it yet. There was one sheet that came with it all it says is that it will flash 3 times if the controller is already is connected to the 12 volt battery supply. On the other side it says if LED off is not connected, fast flashing battery is discharged, steady on under PWM "panel watt per Min. charge, slow flashing battery is almost charged. also it says the plugs on the controller and the panel are the same and you have to match the wire colors when you hook it up. I called them and got a message to email I tried WWW.microsolar.com no contact there then I did the sales@microsolarinc.com they answered pretty fast (626) 244 8538 call and listen to the message to make sure that's right. I hope this helps also you can contact seller through amazon? microsolar sent me a complete 5w free and they paid the shipping!
566434
I've seen these "battery extender" devices on E**y by a seller called SF Planet, they have a bunch of them for creatives, basically it plugs into your device and is capable of approx 3-5 full charges on 4 AA batteries, it has an on/off switch. It can also run the player as well. Bulky but good to use when traveling and not having to carry a bunch of AC cables or trying to find a computer to charge it. If your battery died you could use the thing to run the player if you had to, or at least long enough to get all your stuff off and backed up before you ship it to Creative for repair. SF Planet said the battery extender they sell for the Zen V is also compatible with this player; both have the USB mini plug. I've seen SF Planet as a seller in Amazon Marketplace a few times as well. There is also a do-it-yourself battery replacement kit, including some tiny tools, for the Zen Vision M- which also has an internal battery- so I'm sure there will be something like that available eventually for this. There are lots of them on E**y. As long as the player has screws on the back you should theoretically be able to open it up and pop in a new battery, like changing your watch battery. But if your player is under warranty, you have to send it back to Creative- opening it would void your warranty.
1535428
Hmm, this a good question for which I do not have an answer. I only use the Sanyo recharging station to charge these batteries. I am sorry I could not be more helpful.
780124
Newer models have a voltage regulator so they can be left plugged in constantly, but older models didn't have that and could be damaged if left on too long, so you may get mixed messages about this. This is from the description here on Amazon: "The onboard battery automatically stops charging when it has reached a full charge--allowing you to keep the JNC660 connected to an AC outlet indefinitely without causing any harm to the battery."What I've done to insure I'm not leaving a few batteries I have "drained' but am also not leaving them plugged in 24/7 is set a timer on a charger to come on for 15 minutes a day, otherwise I "manual charge" them right after using them. Newer models have a voltage regulator so they can be left plugged in constantly, but older models didn't have that and could be damaged if left on too long, so you may get mixed messages about this. This is from the description here on Amazon: "The onboard battery automatically stops charging when it has reached a full charge--allowing you to keep the JNC660 connected to an AC outlet indefinitely without causing any harm to the battery."What I've done to insure I'm not leaving a few batteries I have "drained' but am also not leaving them plugged in 24/7 is set a timer... » Read More Newer models have a voltage regulator so they can be left plugged in constantly, but older models didn't have that and could be damaged if left on too long, so you may get mixed messages about this. This is from the description here on Amazon: "The onboard battery automatically stops charging when it has reached a full charge--allowing you to keep the JNC660 connected to an AC outlet indefinitely without causing any harm to the battery."What I've done to insure I'm not leaving a few batteries I have "drained' but am also not leaving them plugged in 24/7 is set a timer on a charger to come on for 15 minutes a day, otherwise I "manual charge" them right after using them. « Show Less
938449
It has a gauge you calibrate according to outside air temperature before starting charging. Personally, I just use the gauge to get me into the green zone on the gauge, or when the system is blowing cold air on your hands (in the vehicle). Overcharging will defeat its purpose.
2214659
I DONT RECOMMEND USING A TIMER ON THIS DESIGN OF CHARGER, when the timer drops power to the battery then the light on the charger will stay lite up by using the battery (that you where charging) power. It doesn't get hot. I leave 1 (of this model) on each of my atv & jetski when ever my stuff sits for roughly over 2-3mths.I mainly leave mine on through the winter months.I have another brand (a old obsolete design I left a review on also) permanently mounted on my mower.After a couple years Id recommend topping off the battery with water if needed.Ive used trickle chargers for about 10ish years I DONT RECOMMEND USING A TIMER ON THIS DESIGN OF CHARGER, when the timer drops power to the battery then the light on the charger will stay lite up by using the battery (that you where charging) power. It doesn't get hot. I leave 1 (of this model) on each of my atv & jetski when ever my stuff sits for roughly over 2-3mths.I mainly leave mine on through the winter months.I have another brand (a old obsolete design I left a review on also) permanently mounted on my mower.After a couple years Id recommend topping off the battery with water... » Read More I DONT RECOMMEND USING A TIMER ON THIS DESIGN OF CHARGER, when the timer drops power to the battery then the light on the charger will stay lite up by using the battery (that you where charging) power. It doesn't get hot. I leave 1 (of this model) on each of my atv & jetski when ever my stuff sits for roughly over 2-3mths.I mainly leave mine on through the winter months.I have another brand (a old obsolete design I left a review on also) permanently mounted on my mower.After a couple years Id recommend topping off the battery with water if needed.Ive used trickle chargers for about 10ish years « Show Less
1494504
It's a pwm controller so it works in stages it doesn't overcharge my battery. I think its sable at 13.6 volts when it shuts down to charged mode. I only use it when im camping so I can't be sure. But it works great with 2 100 watt panels.
1281465
We cut and used ours between the solar panels and the charge controller, making it into two 25 foot cables. But why would you want to use it between the charge controller and batteries? The only reason to buy this cable is because it has MC4 connectors, as used on many panels, on it. To use it between the charge controller and batteries, you would have to completely cut off the MC4 connectors, and just use it as plain old wire. You would indeed have to put terminals on one end of each cable for the batteries. There is no reason I can see to use this cable in this manner, its cheaper just to buy plain old heavy gauge cable at your local hardware or home improvement store. We cut and used ours between the solar panels and the charge controller, making it into two 25 foot cables. But why would you want to use it between the charge controller and batteries? The only reason to buy this cable is because it has MC4 connectors, as used on many panels, on it. To use it between the charge controller and batteries, you would have to completely cut off the MC4 connectors, and just use it as plain old wire. You would indeed have to put terminals on one end of each cable for the batteries. There is no reason I can see to use this cable in this manner, its cheaper just to... » Read More We cut and used ours between the solar panels and the charge controller, making it into two 25 foot cables. But why would you want to use it between the charge controller and batteries? The only reason to buy this cable is because it has MC4 connectors, as used on many panels, on it. To use it between the charge controller and batteries, you would have to completely cut off the MC4 connectors, and just use it as plain old wire. You would indeed have to put terminals on one end of each cable for the batteries. There is no reason I can see to use this cable in this manner, its cheaper just to buy plain old heavy gauge cable at your local hardware or home improvement store. « Show Less
2259523
Thanks for the feedback. I've found that I can use other USB cables on other PC's even if they don't have the Creative Centrale software installed, so that's the good news. The Ac adaptors with the same kind of USB connector have not worked. So looks like I need to buy the zen Ac adaptor. It should at least allow me to listen and charge at the same time <grin>