Fuel rods

[cheapster316]

do they still sell fuel rods in the parks and does anyone know the cost? Thanks

 

[Rxdr2013]

i saw one at poly and coronado. I never seen them in parks but I wasn't looking for them either! Sorry not sure on price.

 

[themommy]

Yes they still sell them in the parks. I believe they are $30.

 

[yulilin3]

Here's a recent thread about it https://www.disboards.com/threads/disney-power-cell-chargers.3689503/

 

[cheapster316]

Thanks so much

 

[Tomh]

Yes, still in the parks. The price is $30. You can view all of the available locations for buying / swapping Fuel Rods HERE

 

[Euby]

do they still sell fuel rods in the parks and does anyone know the cost? Thanks

I ordered mine thru their website fuel-rod.com for $20 plus $5 shipping.

 

[kdisser]

If you are flying you can see if any airports have a station. We had a 2 hour layover in Atlanta last year and we made it our mission to find it, took some navigating put our gate ended up being pretty close to the other gate where it was located....maybe 20 minute detour. The fuel rod site itself has locations, we spent $20 a piece picking them up there.

 

[fbarker]

I am still a believer in buying my own. They are cheaper and then i have them all the time. My charger of choice is Jockery

 

[CarrieR]

We carry our own, but at the parks, tend to use the FuelRod as our primary so that we can just swap and go. I got mine at our local airport for $20 and it’s been well worth it.

 

[kdisser]

It is easy and convenient, no need for charging when you can get new ones in the parks and at the resorts. No need to recharge when you can just exchange for a new one. I have had horrible luck with ones I have bought off Amazon they wont hold their own charge let alone charge a device, but I have had great luck with my fuel rod experience. I can usually get 2 phone charges out of it before recharging it at home.

And $20 one time is a great price when we go once a year for 9 days.

 

[alliecat523]

We tried them for the first time recently in DL because we forgot a charger and were both dead. While more costly than what you can get on your own, the convenience was great and it was nice to be able to recharge on our own as well. We plan to bring them on our DW trip later this month and just swap out as needed.

In short, cheaper to buy your own on amazon but worth the cost if you’re stuck in the park without options.

 

[fbarker]

It is easy and convenient, no need for charging when you can get new ones in the parks and at the resorts. No need to recharge when you can just exchange for a new one. I have had horrible luck with ones I have bought off Amazon they wont hold their own charge let alone charge a device, but I have had great luck with my fuel rod experience. I can usually get 2 phone charges out of it before recharging it at home.

And $20 one time is a great price when we go once a year for 9 days.

Never had a problem with one I have bought. I bought mine 6 years ago and its still working just fine. Just got back from Alaska and it was a life saver a few times!! So I don't know what kind you bought but my Jockery is great

 

[yulilin3]

I am still a believer in buying my own. They are cheaper and then i have them all the time. My charger of choice is Jockery

You can have the fuel rod all the time as well after purchase, you don't need to give it back. Not sure if you knew that or not. It's yours to keep

 

[Tomh]

I am still a believer in buying my own. They are cheaper and then i have them all the time. My charger of choice is Jockery

When you buy a fuel rod, it IS your own. You take it home with you, charge it just like any other backup battery, and use it in your day to day life. It's only real limit is that it is small, and as such, has a pretty low capacity. It was capable of charging my Galaxy Note 4 to full from about 35%. My Galaxy Note 8 only gets about a 55% charge from it. Because of this, it's use at home is somewhat limited. However, in the parks, it is well worth every penny you pay for it. Being able to swap it for a fully charged replacement at any time is amazing. Last summer, we kept 5 smart phones charged with just one fuel rod.

Additionally, the typical life span of a lithium ion battery is 300 to 500 charge cycles, or 2 to 3 years, which ever comes first. When you buy a backup from Amazon, you know the day you buy it that it's life is 2 to 3 years, after which point it's performance is likely to being suffering, leaving you to buy a new one. With a fuel rod, if you notice that it's not charging your device like it used to, swap it out for another one.

Never had a problem with one I have bought. I bought mine 6 years ago and its still working just fine. Just got back from Alaska and it was a life saver a few times!! So I don't know what kind you bought but my Jockery is great

You've been lucky. The average life span of lithium ion batteries with regular use is 2 to 3 years. This has really not much to do with the manufacturer, it is just part in parcel of how the cells work.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I love the fuel rods and it’s so convenient!

One thing I have noticed is people will complain about it not charging the phones well. That usually is not a charger problem, instead it’s a charging cable problem-once I switch out the cables it works fine. You can either bring your own cable (I keep a 4” one from Amazon in my parks bag), or if you are having issues go to a machine and call the tech help line. Explain the problem and they can manually override the machine to pop out a whole new kit with cable and charger, rather than just a new charger.

 

[FCDub]

Love how these threads devolve into the same argument about Fuel Rods vs. another external battery every time. Never fails to make me laugh.

 

[scard192]

I am still a believer in buying my own. They are cheaper and then i have them all the time. My charger of choice is Jockery

We have Anker. Come in handy in the winter when the power goes out. My daughter's part of town had no power for 36 hours in March. She had a lot neighbors with dead cell phones; she told them to go to Best Buy or Staples to buy one. bought the product for Disney, never thought about how glad we are to have our own at home for power outages.

 

[Emtgirljen]

Love how these threads devolve into the same argument about Fuel Rods vs. another external battery every time. Never fails to make me laugh.

That's because people fail to grasp that the point of having the fuel rod isn't necessarily to have the most powerful charger, it's the convenience of being able to exchange them for a fresh one whenever you need it. I have a different portable charger as well as a fuel rod, and that one isn't as convenient in the parks because once I use it, I can't use it again until it's been recharged.

 

[Tomh]

Love how these threads devolve into the same argument about Fuel Rods vs. another external battery every time. Never fails to make me laugh.

I don't mean to argue one way or another, just to point out strengths and weaknesses of both devices.

In our family, we have a number of backup batteries, sourced from different places. I had one from Ebay, it was garbage. We have a few from Amazon. Some are better than others. The worst was no better than the Ebay one, the best we've gotten are pretty good. Note that none of those were expensive, they were all amongst the cheaper offerings on Amazon.

In addition, we have 3 packs that came from Sam's Club, and one that is from Brookstone. The packs we purchased at Sam's Club seem to be doing well, though none of them are very old. The one from Brookstone came to us used, so I won't pass judgement on that one.

The Fuel Rod is one year old, and has done well for what it is. The capacity is small comparatively. That significantly limits it's usefulness outside of the parks. I do use it from time to time, as it is the only backup battery I personally own right now. I also charge from backup batteries that belong to my wife, my son, and my daughter from time to time.

In the parks we used the Fuel Rod almost exclusively.