Not A Fan of Fuel Rod, But .....

[KyleAfterAWhile]

I read Disney has set-up several fuel rod locations in the parks. We are not impressed with how little capacity they have, so we looked at other options and went with an Anker large enough to completely charge either an iphone or Samsung 6 - 7 times before needing a recharge.

But, here is my question about the fuel rods. Some of the group going with us is not as tech savvy as we are so when we talk about Anker, Mophie, etc we get looked at like we have a 3rd arm. I use my phone for photos to share with family back at home so between all of us we will drain the Anker daily. I do not think I will have enough juice for 15 people.

If the rest of the group needs a charge, they will need to go with the fuel rod. If they do this option, does Disney have anything to make this easy for them as far as locations go and such? Do they give you a guide or has it been added to park maps? Are the locations pretty sparse? For example, will they have to trek all over the park?

 

[disneyfaninaz]

If you look under Guest Services in the DME app, it will show where the recharge stations are located with a battery symbol.

 

[Lesley Wake]

I read Disney has set-up several fuel rod locations in the parks. We are not impressed with how little capacity they have, so we looked at other options and went with an Anker large enough to completely charge either an iphone or Samsung 6 - 7 times before needing a recharge.

I have found the capacity to be just fine, especially because you can just trade them out so easily. And they are so lightweight; the larger mobile chargers seem to be much heavier due to their larger capacity. The Fuel Rods also make it easier to not have to remember to recharge at night, something I'm prone to forget. They have kiosks at most, if not all, the resorts now too.

On the app, go to Guest Services and scroll down to Portable Phone Charging System Kiosks. Then click show on map and it will bring up the whole property with just those kiosks marked.

 

[Best Aunt]

They also have them at some airports.

From the Disney World website:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/portable-phone-chargers/
Cost is $30 if you buy at Disney.

$20 + $5 shipping if you buy from fuel-rod.com:
https://simplecheckout.authorize.net/payment/CatalogPayment.aspx

 

[lindsayjs]

They also have them at some airports.

From the Disney World website:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/guest-services/portable-phone-chargers/
Cost is $30 if you buy at Disney.

$20 + $5 shipping if you buy from fuel-rod.com:
https://simplecheckout.authorize.net/payment/CatalogPayment.aspx

Thank you! I was trying to remember where you could get them a bit cheaper.

 

[hertamaniac]

Fuel rods are a lithium based wound cell, but I could not find the actual chemistry being used. My guess is that they are LiFe phosphate due to safety concerns, but that limits the energy capacity. There are a ton of other higher energy density cell chemistries, but typically come with a higher risk of safety issues.

Anker appears to offer both cylindrical and pouch/prismatic cell designs. The Anker prismatic form factor allows for larger capacities in a light package.

If it was me, I would value having a larger capacity prismatic based package that uses voltage control (i.e. Anker) to maximize my charge time and capacity.

 

[Minsc]

I have found the capacity to be just fine, especially because you can just trade them out so easily. And they are so lightweight; the larger mobile chargers seem to be much heavier due to their larger capacity. The Fuel Rods also make it easier to not have to remember to recharge at night, something I'm prone to forget. They have kiosks at most, if not all, the resorts now too.

Yep! I own several better and larger capacity ones that I use when I travel, but when we are in Disney, we just carry our Fuel Rods. We almost always go bagless, so being able to just swap them out whenever we want has worked perfectly for us. We've never had an issue finding a kiosk to swap them out.

 

[yulilin3]

I live stream to facebook 3 times a week from the parks. I cannot tell you how convenient the fuelrod is. I go into my stream with full battery and plug the rod while I'm streaming from an hour to an hour and a half, after the stream, depending on how bright I have my screen (to read viewers comments and such) I have maybe 80% of battery left. At that point I just go to a station and exchange for a full rod again
It's small and lightweight that it fits in your pocket. The only park that has only one station is AK the rest have 3 or 4. They have also started putting them in all resorts

 

[CarrieR]

Thank you! I was trying to remember where you could get them a bit cheaper.

When I flew down in the spring, due to some oversights on my part I arrived at the airport with a partially-dead phone and a partially discharged portable charger. I was able to pick up a fuel rod at our local airport for $20 and I ended up using it for the whole trip. Charged it overnight and at my midday break, never exchanged it and never used my (larger/heavier) portable charger. It was just a short, solo trip (and I definitely use the big chargers on the long trips!) but I was thrilled to find it for essentially 30+% off!

 

[bumbershoot]

Some of the group going with us is not as tech savvy as we are so when we talk about Anker

If the rest of the group needs a charge, they will need to go with the fuel rod.

I just feel like telling them exactly what anker to buy and to bring their charging cords would be easier than them figuring out the fuel rods.

 

[JenniferinFL]

The fuelrods are really easy. You exchange them at a machine that has really clear and large instructions. I'm 99% sure my mother could figure it out and she needs me to turn the volume back up on her phone on a regular basis.

Found a picture of one on another site. You literally just have to make sure the barcode is on the right side and another fuel rod pops out right below.

 

[IrishNYC]

I just feel like telling them exactly what anker to buy and to bring their charging cords would be easier than them figuring out the fuel rods.

I'd go a step further, and not worry about how 15 people are going to keep their phones charged. We've gone on large family trips before (15-20 people) and go on a bigger family trip every year (going in 2 days) and the only ones I worry about are me, DH and DD - we use a Jackery Giant. Not my phone, not my business.

 

[sqpcsqpc]

For those who have used the fuel rods can we get by with one for a party of 4 or will we need multiple fuel rods to support our party?

 

[Minsc]

For those who have used the fuel rods can we get by with one for a party of 4 or will we need multiple fuel rods to support our party?

It depends. The rated capacity of the Fuel Rod is 2600mAh, but in practice you can reasonable expect it to nearly charge the average phone once from empty. My phone battery is 3400mAh, so it would not charge mine from empty to full, but I generally do not wait until it's empty. Depending on how much everyone used their phone, the safest bet would be one per person. However, I guess if you stagger your use, you could just swap it out after one use and give it to the next person, but that might be more trouble than it's worth. I imagine phone use wildly varies from one person to the next.

We are a family of 6, and we each have one, and each person is responsible for their own. My kids are well versed in swapping them out when needed, and it's never been an issue. We all have larger Anker models (10,000mAh) with dual ports, and sometimes the kids will bring those and carry them in their own backpacks. My wife and I go bagless, so the small size and unlimited quick swap of the Fuel Rod work perfectly for us. I haven't had to carry a larger one in over a year.

 

[CAS239]

For those who have used the fuel rods can we get by with one for a party of 4 or will we need multiple fuel rods to support our party?

You'll basically need one fuel rod per phone

 

[Best Aunt]

I just feel like telling them exactly what anker to buy and to bring their charging cords would be easier than them figuring out the fuel rods.

There are some people who would refuse to buy it in advance because they don't comprehend the need for it, but would complain when their batteries wore out mid-day. Having them buy a fuel rod in the park and helping them figure it out would mean that you don't have to listen to them complaining all day.

Not saying that this is the case for OP because I don't know OP.

 

[hertamaniac]

Remember, it doesn't necessarily matter what the rated capacity of the battery/charger is. Self-discharge over days/weeks/months can mean that you get a "new" fuel rod, yet it has discharged to far less than the touted Ah (or mAh) capacity. In some cell designs, heat is directly related to the self-discharge rate. So, you can have a fuel rod kiosk in say an environmentally controlled airport that has a larger number of cells/batteries that are closer to the rated capacity as opposed to one sitting outside in the Florida heat (unless the kiosks are environmentally controlled?).

 

[Minsc]

Remember, it doesn't necessarily matter what the rated capacity of the battery/charger is. Self-discharge over days/weeks/months can mean that you get a "new" fuel rod, yet it has discharged to far less than the touted Ah (or mAh) capacity. In some cell designs, heat is directly related to the self-discharge rate. So, you can have a fuel rod kiosk in say an environmentally controlled airport that has a larger number of cells/batteries that are closer to the rated capacity as opposed to one sitting outside in the Florida heat (unless the kiosks are environmentally controlled?).

This is true. However the general established self-discharge rate of lithium-ion battery charged to 100% is 5% in the first 24 hours, then 1-2% per month. So, you are almost always going to get a battery that is less than 100%. What you would hope for, and we have no data on this at all, is that the turnover rate of the batteries in the kiosks is high enough that there aren't any batteries that have sat in there for a long time.

The real worry, and also unknown, is the number of full charge cycles a battery has undergone since li-ion has a limited number of cycles over it's lifetime. In the dozens upon dozens of these that I have personally swapped out (the only real data points I have), I can only recall getting one that would not hold much of a charge. Instead of plunking it back into the kiosk, I gave it to one of the CM's at that location. I don't know what they did with it, so let's hope they didn't just put it back in there after I walked away.

The locations of the kiosks are climate-controlled, by the way, which helps with the affects of both heat and cold on the electrode/electrolyte material.

 

[tinkerbellandeeyor]

I'd go a step further, and not worry about how 15 people are going to keep their phones charged. We've gone on large family trips before (15-20 people) and go on a bigger family trip every year (going in 2 days) and the only ones I worry about are me, DH and DD - we use a Jackery Giant. Not my phone, not my business.

The problem is if you need to get ahold of them

 

[tnolan]

This is going to sound like a dumb question, but how do you tell, while charging something with a FuelRod, when the Rod is empty?