Why inverters are a waste of energy.

Inverters vs Direct Current.

We have actually covered this issue so many times on our website and Q&A pages, that it took me completely by surprise when I realized that I had actually never blogged about it! So you, our loyal blog followers have never learnt why inverters are a complete waste of energy or why you cannot use inverters for your large devices such as Macbook Pro's - well at least not from me :-)

So without any further ado..after just receiving yet another email from a user who asked why he should switch from and inverter which would cost him $39.95 to our more expensive setup... I figured its time to explain. 

Without making it too complicated, 

1.  Inverters convert DC power (car/Airplane/boat power) into AC power (household power). 
2.  Say for instance you are using an Apple adapter with an inverter, the Apple adapter actually  converts the AC power BACK to DC power. 
3.  You can see for yourself that you are wasting a tremendous amount of energy converting from  DC to AC,  then BACK to DC. (That's 12vdc -> 110vac -> 16.5vdc in Geek speak)

TADAAAAA!!

Obviously, this could mean a dead car/airplane/boat battery sooner then you think if using straight battery power! For this reason inverters are often times useless on airplanes because they supply limited power and also why inverters will almost always fail to charge your Macbook or will charge it but shock you in the process.

Here is a diagrammatic representation of the scenario:



The above diagram, however, depicts how our DC adapter works. It just modifies what is already laptop friendly DC power (in your car/airplane/boat), from 12vdc to 16.5vdc. A small step up and no wasted energy! Also, because it is extremely efficient, it leaves you with enough power to charge your Macbook Pro enough to last your entire airline trip - including delays - not to mention longer run times if you are using batteries.

 If you are an avid follower, you will remember one of our previous blogs in which we lent our DC adapter to a fellow airline passenger who was experiencing this exact same problem!

Our solution may not be the cheapest, but we can assure you that you will get more work done as we will most certainly save you time, and as the saying goes... "Time is money"!

Stay powered up!  Efficiently :-)

Mike
MCT-corp.com

How to make a backup light source in case you run out of power.

Hi Everyone,

If you follow our blog, you will see that we have blogged about how our batteries can be used for devices that are hard to connect, like Macbooks, Lenovo Yoga, and Microsoft Surface devices. You will also have seen that they can also be used everyday life to make your life easier ~ see how we stopped our dog from digging up our lawn. In this blog, though, I am going to tell you how they came about giving me much needed light in a really tight situation.

Not so long ago, Hurricane Matthew hit Florida with forces not recorded since 2008. We were blessed to escape with no injuries but like so many exposed to these kind of forces of nature, we found ourselves without power and no generator. In true #MikegyverStyle though I realized; we might not have a generator but we DID have TONS of batteries. 

I am sort of a "pack-rat" and save things "just in case" it can be used for something else - much to my wife's dismay. One of these particular items are automotive light bulbs that are only partially burnt out with one of their filaments still in working order.

Now as mentioned, we had TONS of batteries and quite a few of these partially burnt out automobile light bulbs, so I figured (as most people do who have ever run out of power or light whether camping or simply domestically) that our first priority was light!

A quick trip to the garage netted me a used bulb that I'd saved from my car. I then soldered up a wire and connector to the good filament on bulb, like this:

Set our voltage on the battery to 12v, plugged it in, and we had an instant light like this:

Now that we could see we could get more done and set about creating more #MikegyverStyle power solutions to get us through the crisis.

Of course when day dawned we whipped out our new solar panel kits to power up our batteries again and were ready for the next night.

I am grateful to our batteries for getting us through a tough time and my wife is now grateful for all the burnt out light bulbs I keep :-)

If you have one of our batteries and would like a step by step of how to set up your own Mikegyver LightBulb in case you are ever in a pinch, simply leave a comment below.

Stay Powered Up,

Mike

MCT-Corp

How our Batteries can keep you not only #PoweredUp, but connected too...

Welcome to 2017! We are happy to have you here with us and hope to keep you entertained for another year with our Blog on how to #StayPoweredUp!

So our first topic for the New Year is:

How to increase your internet reliability with your wireless router when the powers out?

My house has horrible wifi.  For some reason, my Apple Airport extreme has a hard time getting wifi signal into the next room even if it's just 25 feet away.  So I have no choice but to run hard Ethernet across my home, to my garage and to other Base stations so I can stay connected.  This would normally do the trick, but not in my case. As I had to run the cables around the outside of my house, around corner, and over the roof of my house, they were exposed to extreme weather and...squirrels!  

So when my cable got severed again for the umpteenth time, I decided to look for another solution..

After some research, I purchased the Netgear Orbi. This is a Mesh network that promises true internet speeds all over your house. I was skeptical at first but this router really works!  I could not believe the speed I was getting! Not to mention strong signal all over the house, even where I'd normally be gasping for Wifi.

Problem solved....  But in true #MikegyverStyle, I wanted an even better solution. So I thought: "Now that I am no longer tied to wires, why not make my wifi work even if I have a power failure!"

I am sure you can already see my shameless product plug coming :-), but it so happens that our batteries make a great Battery back up for your router when out of power. And let's not forget; because this is pure DC Power backup (UPS) it'll last longer on battery then traditional UPS's!

This picture shows our Mikegyver "Executive 34.2ah" battery, being used as a backup to our Netgear Orbi routers in our garage. How cool is that!?

If you are interested in finding out how it's done or you have any other innovative ideas around this concept, please comment below or email us!

Stay Powered Up,

Mike

MCT-Corp

Enjoy the great outdoors with free energy

We are so excited about our NEW ITEM in store.

YOU ASKED. WE ANSWERED!

Mikegyver now offers solar panels that will powerup all your devices.

Nowadays, if you have the right resources, you can access the internet almost anywhere. Even some places in the middle of nowhere. It is a bit harder, however, to find a power plug in a tree. :-)

So, in true Mikegyver Style, we would like to introduce our Mikegyver 80w and 100w solar panels. Enough power to keep your most power hungry devices powered up anywhere!

The solar panel coupled with our battery will recharge our batteries during the day and keep you powered up through the night.

Our solar panel options, neatly fold up into slim, easy to carry, brief case sized bags come with your choice of one of our Batteries and limited time only, car adapters*!

http://mct-corp.com/products/Solar-Panels/

to sweeten the deal we are offering a 30% Dicsount on the above package. Just choose the discount code that matches the social media site that brought you to our blog or the MCT code if you are a blog follower and use it in store today.

Facebook: 30SOLFAC
Twitter: 30SOLTWI
LinkedIn: 30SOLLIN
Blog: 30SOLMCT

Stay Powered Up,

Mike

MCT-Corp

The New Macbook Pro's

Hi All,

As you might have heard, Apple is now shipping the New Macbook Pro 13" and Macbook Pro 15", and its a beauty.

We wanted you to know that our Car adapter is only rated for the Macbook USB-C 12" and that in traditional Mikegyver style,  we are ALREADY working on a solution to assist you with your new Macbook. We hope to announce our solution within 1-2 months.

Meanwhile, if you are looking for a Macbook USB-C 12" car charger, you can find it is here.

Stay Powered Up,

Mike

MCT-Corp

Win with Mikegyver this Christmas

Enter to win a battery pack for Christmas and...

#StayPoweredUp in 2017!

Tell us your favourite hashtag from the three below and stand a chance to win one of our "Super Slim" batteries for Christmas.

The hashtags are: 

#StayPoweredUp - it is all about us and our gadgets,
#GetOutThere - is about how our gadgets help you stay out there for longer 
#MikegyverStyle - is about the creativity and ingenuity that goes into all of our products.

So this is how you win your Mikegyver Christmas Gift:

1. Go back to the post that sent you here (Facebook, Twitter or Instagram) then Like the post and simply let us know your favorite hashtag in the comment section of that post.
2. Or simply add your favorite in the comment section here.
3. You can enter on as many platforms as you want but will have only one entry on each platform.
4. Please make sure you understand the rules below before entering

The fine print (rules):

1. You must be over 16 to enter and have a legitimate postal address for us to send the prize to.
2. One comment from each user on each platform (Facebook, twitter and Instagram) will be entered into a lucky draw that will be drawn randomly by an unaffiliated and totally objective party.
3. Entries close Midnight on the 2nd of December 2016.
4. The draw will take place on the 3rd of December 2016 and winners will be announced on the 5th of December 2016 on all 3 social media platforms.
5. Winners will be contacted directly to make postage arrangements.
6. The winning draw is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
7. If for some reason the winner is not able to claim their prize, it will go to a second entry drawn second on the same day as the final draw.
8. By entering this competition you acknowledge that you understand that this promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook and so in so doing you release Facebook of any liability whatsoever.

Stay Powered Up,

Mike

MCT-Corp

Macbook 12" car and battery charging solution

NEW!! NEW!! NEW!!

We have just released our Macbook 12" USB-C car adapter and external battery solution just for you.

Getting a USB-C car adapter was not easy.  In 2015, we had a charging solution for the Macbook 2015, but Apple changed something in how their Macbook 2016 charged, so we had start over again.  This time our car charger will charge ALL Macbook 12" laptops (Macbook Pro coming soon!).  We used our Mikegyver skills to source a top quality one and it is available to you now in store.

These work with our batteries and in the car!  Don't use inverters!  Stick with pure DC power!

Stay powered up,

Mike
MCT-corp.com