Speakeasy Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Hey all, so i have been experimenting with a bunch of solar options for the USB nano pump and through it all i came up with this set up. Its been running for little over a month now without issue I've had many different failures leading me to this conclusion. The USB nano pump needs a USB nano solar system. Sure I can build or buy a solar generator, but such things get expensive, if not down right complicated. Being that USB is kinda plug and play I wanted a plug and play system that was easy to set up....lets go over the parts shall we.First i went with this King Solar 21watt foldout solar panel because it has two USB ports (this will prove to be important), it has a kickstand for easy "deployment" and 21 watts seems like its big enough for were i live.Next is the battery bank. I landed on this Pursun 10,000mAh (10Ah for the engineers). Now this choice did not come lightly. I experimented with many different batteries. Unfortunately most battery packs do not have pass-through capability, which is to say they can't give a charge while receiving a charge. This pack is no different in this regard, but i did figure out a work around. Also alot of battery packs need to be turned back on after being charged, which means everyday after sunset you have to go out and turn the thing on for it to work through the night. This battery does not have to be turned on every night. It will switch from taking a charge to giving a charge without you having to interact with it....and it has a digital display which is kinda sweet. Let's go over cords and connectors for the system.USB male to USB female extention cord. USB to USB C type cord (commonly used to charge android phones today) USB female to 2 USB male spliter (commonly used to power external hard drives). This part is paramount. It solves the pass-through problem i spoke of earlier. Allowing the solar panel to charge the battery while powering the pump during the day and allowing the battery to takeover at night. Well thats cool, but how's it all go together? Let seeFirst i plug the pump into the spliter, allowing the pump to accept power from 2 different sources. Next I plug one of the spliter ends into the battery. Then I attach the solar panel to the other side of the spliter, using the USB male to female extension cord Finally I attach the battery to the solar panel using the USB to USB C type cord. And that's it you're off to the races. What do I like about this system? Well the battery never over heats because its sitting in the shade while the solar panel is having fun in the sun. Also its modular, if any one part goes bad, I can replace it without scraping the whole system. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speakeasy Posted August 10, 2020 Author Share Posted August 10, 2020 (edited) Yes...ish, so the battery sits in a plastic shoe box with holes punched in it, letting it vent and the cords to come out. The panel sits up by my house giving it a bit of protection, but otherwise I have a plastic sheet protecting the ports. And everything is up off the ground. The post was getting long and the sun was setting. Tomorrow I'll post about weather proofing when I get some pictures. @Streetwise Edited August 10, 2020 by Speakeasy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Smith Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Nicely done! The splitter, very clever. I hadn't thought of that when I tried to set up one of my own. What do you think is the cost of all the parts? Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speakeasy Posted August 10, 2020 Author Share Posted August 10, 2020 @Bill Smith grand total was about $90....48 of those dollars being the solar panel. The battery pack was under $15. I bought 2 meter cord as well as 2 packs cause I can always use extra cords. As well as a longer spliter. If you bought single cord packs and or shorter cords you can bring the price down. I can put links to what I used but I don't know what the rules are regarding that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Smith Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 (edited) I can't imagine competing products would be a problem here, there are no such rules posted anywhere that I know of. I would think it's fair to compare/contrast Aquarium Co-Op products with the competition. It's just the affiliate links where posters are trying to generate money for themselves that I would recommend avoiding. Edited August 10, 2020 by Bill Smith 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speakeasy Posted August 10, 2020 Author Share Posted August 10, 2020 Solar panel: https://www.amazon.com/KINGSOLAR-Portable-Waterproof-Foldable-Electronic/dp/B07Y8CQWQD Battery bank: https://www.amazon.com/Updated-Compact-10000mAh-Technology-Portable/dp/B07YB9K7WJ Cord Packs: https://www.amazon.com/Anker-2-Pack-Premium-Charging-Samsung/dp/B07DC5PPFV https://www.amazon.com/USB-Extension-Cable-Male-Female/dp/B07PGZT8WX Spliter: https://www.amazon.com/CGTime-Extender-Splitter-Charger-Extension/dp/B06ZY98462 These are not affiliated links. Again you can save a bit of coin by shopping around on the cordage. But I do strongly recommend this battery. I tested 12 different batteries (including anker) before I found one that worked without effort. If you all ready have a battery pack test it and let me know if it works. I am currently searching for a large capacity battery, but can no longer afford to throw money at batteries that may or may not work. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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