Griffin PowerJolt Micro review
I picked up the Griffin PowerJolt Micro
- 2 x Apple iPhones
- Apple iPad
- Amazon Kindle
- Canon camera batteries
All of these needed to be kept more-or-less charged throughout the adventure. If they didn't get charged then nothing really bad would happen, but we would get annoyed. All except the camera batteries charge off some variety of USB port. (I'm looking for a solution for that too)The problem is getting the 12V DC of the bike down to the 5V of USB. THe simple solution includes an SAE to cigarette lighter plug then you plug in a cigarette to USB thing.This has some problems.The biggest problem is the size. A cigarette jack is downright huge when compared to my tank bag. The second problem is the charger we brought couldn't handle the Kindle for some reason. Lastly, having another connection is one more thing to go wrong and wiggle loose.Part one of the experiment consisted of plugging everything I can into the new Micro I got. Everything I plugged in charged! Awesome!Part two will involve voiding warrantees.Even thought this device is small it still requires the whole cigarette jack. The device is quite a bit smaller than what it plugs into.So... A bit of hacking and heat-shrink tubing will remove the outer plastic and graft the SAE connected right to it! Actually, I ordered another one and I'll have two USBs connected to one SAE pigtail!Less things to go wrong. Smaller. Charges everything.Win!The one downside of this device (as evidenced by some of the Amazon reviews) is that it can be hard to remove from the socket. From the look of it the intent is that it's plugged in and forgotten about. Since it draws less than 20mA with nothing plugged in it won't drain your car's battery any time soon.