If you have one of our bags with the white V11 USB battery, it is possible to upgrade to the higher power, higher capacity V39, but there are a few things you should know before you hit the ‘Buy’ button.

Update: We’ve since come out with a V15 battery that replaces the V11. The instructions for upgrading to a V39 remain unchanged.

The performance:
The V39 is a 39 Watt hour battery vs. the 11 Watt hours of the V11, so it will take much longer to charge from 4 Watts, probably at least 20 hours of direct sunlight. When things take this long, it may provide the sensation that things aren’t working correctly. i.e. it may seem like forever to get from 2 solid lights on the battery to 3. You’ll need to be patient. As always, it will charge best outside with the panels pointed right at the sun. Be sure to have the Voltage selector on 6 Volts as well.

The mechanics:
1. It will not fit in the Amp, so you’ll have to remove it to be able to zip up the Amp
2. Use the 5.5×2.1mm adapter to connect from the solar panel output to the left side of the V39. This is included with the V39 if you don’t already have it.

3. You can remove the stitching on the right side of the elastic strap to make the space big enough to hold the V39.

4. If the solar panel output cable is too short, you can ask us for a complimentary 2 panel 6V/12V circuit box with a longer cable. We recently (May 2011) started using the longer ones in bags so the cables in older bags may come up a bit short.

7 Responses

  1. Mary Salvatera

    If I charge the solar batter from the computer, how long will the charge stay.

    For example I charge it and then travel all day and use it at night to keep my phone and or ipad charged?

    Will the full charge I get from a laptop or wall not hold the charge for 8 hours?

    -M

    Reply
    • admin

      We recommend people charge their battery every 5 to 6 months even though there will still be power stored at that point. It will definitely hold a charge for 8 hours.

      Reply
  2. Mike Mckinley

    What about (for older, 3 module bags) swapping out the circuit box for the 18V model? Any drawback besides losing the LED?

    Reply
    • admin

      Hi Mike, there are a few issues. The first is that the plug sizes were changed from 3.5×1.3mm to 3.5×1.1mm so our new circuit boxes wouldn’t work with your panels. The second issue is that your panels put out 1.3Watts each vs. 3.4Watts on the new models so while you could change the connections, the total amount of power wouldn’t work well with the large laptop batteries.

      Reply
  3. ecologicall

    what about the switch bag? can the v39 be place permanently inside a switch?
    Does the lower charging rate, will shorten the v39 battery life?

    Reply
    • admin

      Hi,

      It will fit in the Switch. It will not shorten the life of the V39.

      Reply

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