I'm just investigating on Dynamo Harvester and Dynamo Harvester Plus.

1. It isn't clear whether it actually exists in both versions, i.e. "standard" and "plus"

2. Why when I go to the online shop the label on its top changes fro Be-on-bike" to "NC-17 ?

3. I'm not personally interested in its Bluetooth App, the question is: has anybody a direct experience with it ? is it really so good compared to alternative more traditional dynamo ac/dc converters ?

The original version had a lower performance. At some point they switched to the "plus" version with better performance (2x if you believe them). You can still send in the original version and get an upgrade to the plus edition for a small fee.

I think they stop selling the original version, but i never checked if that is true for all distributer channels... get "plus" if you can.



JensD (Forumslader) measured the original version, it did not perform so well (No numbers published, i guess more or less in line with the other commercial ones).

The plus version does indeed work better: hard numbers in german

The one crucial detail is bike light: if your frontlight is on, the harvester more or less stops working. I have a forumslader and while the light does reduce performance, the drop is much less noticeable.

In my opinion a relevant problem is also that the trademark BE-ON-BIKE seems not to exist anymore and appears to have been replaced by NC-17.
Going to the online shop of NC-17 there is no access to any performances chart/efficiency except for a very general statement where they say “output 5V-1A”. No mention to "standard" or whatsoever "PLUS" version !!
The online page of the web site of BE-ON-BIKE seems not to be updated any more, last update is indeed June 2016. This might be due to the fact that BE-ON-BIKE at the origin was a start-up and now is something different.

NC-17 alright bought the business. At least that seems to be the meaning of the very last post on the old be-on-bike website (German version). The NC-17 website does not mention the old developer (Thomas Treyer), i don't think he personally joined NC-17.

Documentation for such products is always a problem. I hope the old plus version is the new standard version.

I totally disagree with this, new style, “mis-marketing” approach !
This device has been advertised with some features that now, under the new name, seem to have totally disappeared.
I’m personally starting to be quite unconfident towards certain start-ups that suddenly disappear ... for coming back a few months later under a new name, with no relevant references at all, no data sheets … nothing absolutely nothing.
It reminds me a recent “case-study”, already widely discussed within this forum, where a guy was trying to demonstrate the high performances of a similar device having tested it using “a signal generator with an amplifier” instead of using a real dynamo" !

"Under new management" explains a lot. They probably don't know the product they bought and just try to ride on the hype the previous owner created.

I still think it is a viable product, maybe not a viable distributor... Converting the normal version to plus version at home is definitely easy for you.



That guy removed links to both distribution channels from the website and now sells it directly via his own website. Facebook link is dead, Amazon dropped the product, the UK retailer sells it cheaper then the manufacturer (clearing stock?). He also dropped the lifetime warranty (surprise!) and the most-efficient-ever claim and still does not acknowledge EU-law. I think the price went up, but that might be due to conversion and a weak british pound.

Welcome to the real world and brexit.

Maybe you're right but ... but I think that to advertise the product with a name and sell it with a different name it sounds to me pretty unfair!! And what about its claimed performances, what about possible return and repairing, what about warranty.
Just a couple of days ago I had some problems with my Zzing so I e-mailed the producer/distributor asking him what to do and then being advised about a simple operation I've quikly fixed it and now it's working back very well again !!!

… still today visiting the BE-ON-BIKE shop, what you can actually buy is an NC-17 Connect AppCon GT#1 at 149,95 Euro !!
I really can't understand!!

yes it became expensive. I own the be-on-bike version with the updated level. Pretty simple ease of use.
Regards, Gerhard

Facebook page is in the same place, we never sold through Amazon. The distributor list is still on the website. The warranty was reduced to 5yr to satisfy retailer liability but in reality it's still lifetime (and our customer base will confirm our warranty service is exceptional).

As required by EU law the device complies with CE certification.

Well, this Harvester Plus remains for me a sort of a mistery !!
And what about Forumslader V5 ?? ... is it purchasable somewhere ?? ... or it's just a DIY object ??

Forumslader V5 is real (i have one), but purchasing it is a bit complex. It is a one-man-company avoiding potential legal issues.

You take full responsibility if you sell a commercial product in the EU. You as a producer are legally bound to offer warranty for 2 years and you can be made responsible if the product fails in a bad way (burning down the consumers house). That is a risk one-man-companies cannot really take.

Jens is not selling a finished product. He sells you a set of components, which is not covered by any legally required warranty. He also sells you the service of assembling the set into a product (services are again much easier regarding warranty). This split removes all legal hassles, but it also prohibits selling via retail channels.

It is available via his homepage, or if you request it here via PM (JensD is the username). I guess you only need the set and can skip assembly service.

ok, thank you

... 88% end-to-end efficiency, output 3A, IP69, CE marking … what else, can you please explain ?

Which is his (JensD) HOMEPAGE so I can try to get in touch with him?

THANK YOU

Dear Conrad,

Here you find the email address on Jens' homepage ...

Thank you Arnulf, I have some problem navigating the forum "in German" !!

... are you sure that the e-mail address is this one? I sent him a query but I haven't got any answer !!

This is the right adress if you replace the "aet" and the "(.Punkt)" by an q and a .

But Jens wrote on his Homepage at 29.1.19 that he Needs some time for answering up to one week.

... you might also try to contact him via PN (persoanl message within the forum) or use the email given in his profile. However, you should give him some time to respond .