20,000 mAh Power Bank recommendations?

Just to update this thread, I ended up ordering the Romoss one that BlueSwordM provided a link to earlier, based on a combination of price, good reviews, and high overall current output. It does not have QC 3.0 output, which was one of my original requirements, but I just couldn’t find something with QC 3.0 that was also reasonably priced, had great reviews, and was made by a reputable company. 5V/2.4A output will be good enough for me, I guess.

@pete, sorry, I had forgotten about this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Besiter-Portable-Capacity-20000mah-External/dp/B07DN742XL/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1530815772&sr=8-19&keywords=20000mah+powerbank+qc+3.0

It’s a legit 20Ah powerbank, with a max combined output of 36W using both the QC 3.0 and USB-C port.

For some reason, they all use the same powerbank circuit as the RavPower QC 3.0, but just has a less capable buck converter for charging, meaning the “clones” only charge at 18W vs the 24W the RavPower is capable of.

I did see this one earlier, but some of the critical 1 and 2 star reviews stopped me from getting it. And I’ve never heard of Besiter either. :slight_smile:

I was more comfortable buying Romoss, just based on my personal experience with their chargers in the past.

You’re not lucky either.

I got my RavPower QC 3.0 for 26$CA, do about 20$US last year.

I have that one, capacity charging speed, output are all good.
But construction is sub-par.
Two of it’s 4 port wiggled a bit when I first got it. Now after a year the ports can only be used when you push them exactly the right way.
If not they ‘disconnect’ and don’t charge at all.

Actually anker raised the price of his power bank after he win the 80% of the amazon.com market. I guess xiaomi is a better choice.

Thanks BlueSwordM,
I got this one you linked to for use with the mini TS-80 soldering iron and it needs QC 3.0 and USB-C. Hopefully it will be a nice portable solution. As a plus I can charge my phone and flashlights with it when needed.

You’re welcome.

I’m always here to help.

BTW, if you have a USB power meter and some 5Ohm resistors, you could perhaps test the powerbank’s real capacity.

I ordered the 30k Romoss from Amazon, they have a 39Percent off coupon right now. Came to like 23 bucks plus tax. It’s a beast, already arrived. Thanks for the information.

I have this one and it’s amazing but quite pricey:

I can power an HP laptop with the thing, or two IPhone 12 Pro’s. Charges in less than an hour.

I’ve got a genuine 10Ah Xiaomi as well, with soldered LG, or Samsung cells and after 3-4 years, it’s been pretty good.

I leave it at my gal’s place, but prefer banks with removable cells.

Chris

I have been using RAV Power 20,000mAh 80W, which is quite reliable but very heavy, 23.3 ounces or about 660 grammes. And it looks like a black metal block.

I haven’t tried bringing it on any air flight just yet, although it is under the 100W maximum powerbank limit for onboard carry-on. Will certainly need to explain what it is and show written evidence that it is safe to carry onboard.

When it is on sale, it costs around S$130 in Singapore, or around US$95. I think it might be cheaper in the USA.

Isn’t it strange that they have a battery capacity limit for planes? Does it go over some threshold for catching fire or exploding at 99 watt hours or whatever it is?

It’s probably the same reason because an 18650 inside a nonconductive plastic case it’s a dangerous good while it’s perfectly safe inside a metal flashlight i.e. the ones who make the rules have no idea of what are they doing.

Yeah it’s kind of like how they won’t let you use your phone when the plane takes off. If a bad person can crash a plane with a phone then I don’t want to fly anymore

And if it truly is dangerous, they shouldn’t let people even bring phones on the plane rather than trusting everyone to remember to put them on airplane mode

Idiots

Be sure to avoid ChargeAsap powerbanks. Mine worked great for a short while and then one of the ports stopped working. I emailed them for help and they made me jump through hoops - making videos to provide proof. Then they just ignored my emails. Total scam

This is something that anyone thinking about making a battery power bank should know
I found this out the hard way

Most of these power banks have some type of micro controller in them that if you put more amp hours than what the micro controller is programmed for the fuel gauge will be inaccurate so be aware of this issue

This is one brand that I know for sure has this issue and it is the Black Web brand that was sold at Walmart for quite some time but has been disconnected by Walmart for some reason and now they have a different brand

One note also about the Anker brand also has this issue but not quite as bad as the Black Web brand has it

How I found out about this issue was with my battery tester and doing some testing on the battery bank power amp hour testing and found that the battery fuel gauge does respond correctly to what the voltage is but relies on the amp hours that has been used / but if you disconnect the battery pack and then activate it again now it respond to the voltage and some what calculates the correct amount of time left in the battery pack

So far I have not found a battery power bank board that only rely on battery voltage to calculate the remaining time that is left on the battery some boards are better than other in this respective but I can not recommend any of them for getting good results

I just tend to trust brands like Anker, Mophie, Xiaomi, and RavPower. The banks usually meet the ratings they say they have and are good quality. Seems like you’re rolling dice with others

I have done this before taking a high power battery bank power supply on a plane and they require you to show them that it is a power supply power bank ( and that it will charge your phone or tablet ) but you were limited to 20000 milliamperes hour rating otherwise it had to be put in your luggage not for carry on but I have not travel any where in several years before Covid-19 started so I do not know what the rules are now

The reason why you think that you rolling the dice with quality is because most of these brands use China made cells and depending what manufacturer it is will definitely depend on what quality you get