Solo 5 Bay Battery Charger.. Interested?

jibcamera · Jul 22, 2016

franknitty69 said:
they cost way more than $150 per unit to manufacture (electronics, injection molding, assembly, packaging, shipping, shrink).

copy that, i was quoting your 4bay #'s...either way, the 5bay one looks great, wish them success with it

PdxSteve · Jul 22, 2016

franknitty69 said:
i have a prototype battery warmer and a prototype 4-bay battery charger sitting in my lab. $10k for me to have 162 chargers manufactured. i've been sitting on these because i don't believe i can make a profit. every time a solo accessory is announced, people bitch about the price even if they have no use for it. you saw that with the hoverfly tether.

if Curtis's charger doesn't sell, what incentive will anyone else have to make other accessories? that being said...i'm in for one.

I get what you're saying, but this doesn't offer anything beyond what you get with 5 stock chargers for $100 more. Actually $150 more since you get a charger with your solo so you'd only need to buy 4. The only "feature" this has is it's one unit with one power cord. You could easily stick 5 stock chargers in a box with a 5 plug power bar and accomplish the same thing, albeit not as pretty.

Just because someone builds something doesn't mean it deserves to sell. It's a beautiful box to be sure, but it doesn't actually offer anything new or do anything better. Most people want faster charging, even well within the specs stated on 3dr's website (2C=10.4A). Second to that, I think a lot of people want to be able to also run it off of a 12VDC source for out in the field. Had the charger had at least one of those 2 features, it would stand out over others and perform something that other chargers don't, making it more valuable. Both are very simple to do too.

I'm also wondering why he's using the 3 prong molex battery connectors which are very expensive and presumably the data blade isn't even being used.

I wish him well, but if I and others can build a faster charger that charges more batteries and can also be used with a 12V car battery for a heck of a lot cheaper than this is selling for, and using totally off the shelf parts, I'm not sure why it actually deserves to sell. It's just not a better product.

Hell this makes me want to sell my 6 bay 5.75A charger in a tough Pelican case that works off of 120v/240v as well as 12VDC for $300. And I'd still profit nicely.

SARDG · Jul 22, 2016

PdxSteve said:
...Hell this makes me want to sell my 6 bay 5.75A charger in a tough Pelican case that works off of 120v/240v as well as 12VDC for $300. And I'd still profit nicely.

Charging at a higher rate AND off of 12V is an absolute perk. I have an inverter in my truck, but 5 separate Solo chargers slowly huffin' and puffin' through the inverter, and at their normally slow rate... ain't gonna do it!

NickNunno · Jul 23, 2016

The posts I keep seeing trying to force rationalization for this charger is just crazy!... Sure some will want or even need it at that price point but attempting to use the "support or you won't get other accessories" rational is absolutely ludicrous. Just because the economics of manufacture have set the price point for this particular product, doesn't mean it's a good price point in general or that it makes it sensible for a large enough group of buyers. PLENTY of otherwise excellent products never make it to market bc the price point just isnt right.(that's half the battle in product design) Also in no way does it mean a completely different product at a lower or even higher price point won't be a huge success that everyone MUST have. The matrix is usually "price-function-options".

Personally, if this was a compact 4 port back to back charger priced closer to $200 I'd probably buy it.

peppys · Jul 23, 2016

@PdxSteve I am up for buying yours right away

I just need to see it and then figure out how you ship it to Europe. I am actually serious

thePeter · Jul 23, 2016

Is there any advantage over something like this: Solo Multi-Charger ?

tim3243 · Jul 25, 2016

peppys said:
@PdxSteve I am up for buying yours right away
I just need to see it and then figure out how you ship it to Europe. I am actually serious

Yes, here in Europe we loose out big time; exchange rates, shipping and customs.

Having said that, it's a nice neat idea; but I'd be looking at something that "smart-charged" to the magic 50% for storage as an option. If only...

peppys · Jul 26, 2016

tim3243 said:
Yes, here in Europe we loose out big time;

True that. I just bought an extra battery and the normal price is $240... cool yeah

Deleted member 5038 · Jul 26, 2016

PdxSteve said:
I get what you're saying, but this doesn't offer anything beyond what you get with 5 stock chargers for $100 more. Actually $150 more since you get a charger with your solo so you'd only need to buy 4. The only "feature" this has is it's one unit with one power cord. You could easily stick 5 stock chargers in a box with a 5 plug power bar and accomplish the same thing, albeit not as pretty.

Just because someone builds something doesn't mean it deserves to sell. It's a beautiful box to be sure, but it doesn't actually offer anything new or do anything better. Most people want faster charging, even well within the specs stated on 3dr's website (2C=10.4A). Second to that, I think a lot of people want to be able to also run it off of a 12VDC source for out in the field. Had the charger had at least one of those 2 features, it would stand out over others and perform something that other chargers don't, making it more valuable. Both are very simple to do too.

I'm also wondering why he's using the 3 prong molex battery connectors which are very expensive and presumably the data blade isn't even being used.

I wish him well, but if I and others can build a faster charger that charges more batteries and can also be used with a 12V car battery for a heck of a lot cheaper than this is selling for, and using totally off the shelf parts, I'm not sure why it actually deserves to sell. It's just not a better product.

Hell this makes me want to sell my 6 bay 5.75A charger in a tough Pelican case that works off of 120v/240v as well as 12VDC for $300. And I'd still profit nicely.

Hye Steve,
Maybe I'm wrong, but I read one of your recent posts where you mentioned many more features on your charger (controlled discharge, smart batteries data logs & recording, ...).
If true, this would be absolute added value compared to common multi-chargers, and I would be a candidate for buying it either as a unit, a kit, or a set of drawings, PCB blue prints, BoM, ...
Would you consider this ?
Michel31 (Toulouse, France)

Joris · Jul 26, 2016

peppys said:
@PdxSteve I am up for buying yours right away
I just need to see it and then figure out how you ship it to Europe. I am actually serious

Same here.
Couldn't you contact a supplier in Europe to distribute them? Once in Europe, they could just ship them to any country for a reasonable price. If not, please don't exclude shipment to Europe like 3DR is doing from their shop. (We can't order the SOLO and many accessories at the reduced prices we see these days.)

Deleted member 5038 · Jul 28, 2016

Joris said:
Same here.
Couldn't you contact a supplier in Europe to distribute them? Once in Europe, they could just ship them to any country for a reasonable price. If not, please don't exclude shipment to Europe like 3DR is doing from their shop. (We can't order the SOLO and many accessories at the reduced prices we see these days.)

Where you based ?

Joris · Jul 28, 2016

Belgium - Flanders - Halen to be exact. I bought my SOLO in France (Studiosport).

Brendon Baddiley · Apr 21, 2017

PdxSteve said:
Hell this makes me want to sell my 6 bay 5.75A charger in a tough Pelican case that works off of 120v/240v as well as 12VDC for $300. And I'd still profit nicely.

Would you ship to NZ?

Mark35mi · Apr 22, 2017

PdxSteve said:
I like my 6 bay charger better It's now in a Pelican 1400 case, so it's tough and has a nice handle with a solid lid. Works off of 120/240V as well as direct connection to 12V car battery so no inverter is needed. The power cords detach and fit inside nice and neat for transport/storage, and can also hold 4 spare batteries. It also charges at 5.75A instead of 3.3A and has 2 3A USB charging stations for phones/tablets/gps trackers/etc. I did get rid of the ability to charge the controller though. I have the bigger battery in my controller and literally go 2 months in between charges so it wasn't really worth it. I'll have pics soon. I keep changing things up. It doesn't look as slick as this one, but it's more compact, is tougher, charges faster, has more power source options and was a lot cheaper to build.

Sounds Awesome!

Crazyfamily · Apr 28, 2017

I think the 5 bay charger WAS something that was planned but that site to sign up showing your interested is VERY old and I don't believe it is even monitored anymore. So sadly, even though I too signed up as I was interested when I first got my first Solo and found that web page, unfortunately I don't think it's monitored or planned any longer.

I have ever have a multi charger in the works that I think many Solo owners will be interested in. It's going to released open source if everything goes as planned so anyone can build it. I do know there are several listed for the DIY crowd right now but with the help of a few friends in the Solo community this muli charger we are planning I think will be well received. Unfortunately it is only a teaser at the moment and I can't answer any questions right now sorry but hopefully soon we will be able to show everyone and provide a list of everything needed! We are hoping to be able to provide the list and files for FREE. Stay tuned......