So you spend a Sunday afternoon carefully crafting a product review and that should be it, right?
Except that Sunday evening you suddenly realize that you’ve neglected to document one of the most important features of that product, namely output voltage control! Wow. Major oversight! But there’s a perfectly logical reason why this feature was forgotten…
On the 3450i, the output voltage is not controlled by the tip (as is the case on the Electrovaya PowerPad 95). Instead, the output voltage is manually set with a small DIP (Dual In-Line Package) switch that is under a rubber cover on the bottom of the battery (see area circled in yellow in image at left; DIP switch is revealed under rubber cover in image at right):
As the left-hand image shows, the 3450i features output voltages from 5.0 V to 19 V in 16 discrete steps (5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 7.5, 8.4, 9.0, 10.0, 11.0, 12.0, 13.0, 14.0, 15.0, 16.0, 18.0 and 19.0 V). The desired voltage is set by pulling up the rubber cover (circled in yellow) and setting each of the four individual switches on the DIP switch as required. In my case, ALL of my tablets require the same input voltage, 19 V. (Actually, the XT and the XT2 use 19.5 V and the TC1100 uses 18.5 V, but the 0.5 volt difference isn’t significant, so 19 V serves perfectly well for all!) So when I first received my 3450i, I set it accordingly and I haven’t touched the voltage setting since; that’s why it didn’t come to mind when I was writing yesterday’s review.
For some users, manually setting the output will seem like a burden, while other users will appreciate the added degree of control that this approach provides. Clearly, Tekkeon assumes that users who buy this battery are more likely to be in the latter group. My only complaint about the voltage selector is that I would have liked to see settings for 20 V and 24 V (and fewer low voltage settings). If the 3450i is an “instrument” battery, then it should feature a wider range of output voltages for maximum flexibility!
I think that should wrap it up. Again.
Hi
I use a Canon 60D with the LP-E6 Battery (7.4V 1500mAh). I want to go “bush” for a couple of weeks and would like to get your advice on whether this battery pack is able to be charged by solar panel (6W, 12V Brunton) and how many batteries it could charge before going flat.
Cheers
Hello, Fred: Tekkeon batteries appear to be somewhat unique in that they feature a solar power charging port! It’s a small, 6-pin socket of which I think only a couple of pins are used for solar power input.
Unfortunately, that about the extent of my knowledge about this feature. My advice would be to call or e-mail Tekkeon directly and ask them your questions. I’ve spoken to Tech Support a couple of times, and they’ve always been helpful.
Regarding the charging of your Canon camera batteries, the MP3450i can certainly develop the voltage needed to recharge your batteries, but you may have to jury-rig a connection from the adapter cable to whatever battery charging fixture you’ll be using. Other than that, you should have no problems. The MP3450i has a capacity of 58 Wh, so at full capacity, it should recharge your Canon battery between 4 and 5 times (depending upon losses)…
PS: Here’s a link for some additional information:
http://www.tekkeon.com/downloads/dtasht_MP3450i.pdf