Amazon Deal Alerts & Discussion Thread

I received my EBL 8xAA battery set & charger. Batteries did not come charged. They were pretty low. Charging took a very long time. After 5 hours and only half-way through, I let it continue overnight. I assume it may have been about 10 hours total.

Btw, once off the charger, these 1.2v cells were reading at 1.42v. Is that normal? Are they actually capable of this voltage, or were they overcharged?

I removed mine from the EBL charger before they were fully charged. They were so hot, you could barely hold them. So I use my AA/AAA PowerEx charger instead.
They don’t get nearly as hot charging them at 200mAh - 300mAh setting. They typically come off the charger at about 1.42v and the static voltage reduces to about 1.37v.

“long press for 2 seconds to turn off”. That’s a big nope.

Edit: Just noticed in the photos it shows 6x cells which makes a 20,000mAh powerbank not 26,800mAh, but in the descriptions it claims it uses 21700? which according to this you might receive the 8x 18650 version or the 6x 21700 version POWERADD EnergyCell Series Power Bank, Power Your Devices – Poweradd

Poweradd is a well known charger & powerbank brand but something must have happened because seems like they’re pulling all of their products off amazon and selling them cheap under energycell store. I do remember they have been offering free stuff for positive reviews in the past, maybe same fate as tacklife?

Anyways $13.59 for a 26,800mAh powerbank with 30W PD charging is a steal, well that IF you get the real poweradd product. There is also a 15,000mAh version for $10.

https://www.myvipon.com/product/8841534-Power-Bank-30W-Portable-Fast-Charging-amazon-coupons?sl=4b55a0b492cafee65e57a7e177e5998e

https://www.myvipon.com/product/8844898-Power-Bank-USB-Portable-Charger-with-amazon-coupons?sl=4b55a0b492cafee65e57a7e177e5998e

Just got one of these in:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08Y8M54M9?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details
No special deal. But was looking for something nicer than my $10 crappy metal vernier - I can’t read the darn scale - ones. And not as expensive as my Mitutoyo $$$ digital one.
There are jobs I won’t use the good ones for. Too chicken on FUBARing them up.
Not as smooth, but all metal, matches the readings of the big bucks set, Came with 2 extra batteries. Case clasps don’t feel like they will last very long.
$19.98 + tax. If they last, heck of a deal if you are in the market. Way ahead of the plastic jobbies that are just $10-$12 cheaper.


All the Best,
Jeff

Just don’t try to measure the length of a Li cell… :laughing:

Been there - almost done that! Keep tape handy to keep the sparks at bay!
:open_mouth:

Thanks for the heads up. I ordered both, but had to check out each separately for the codes to work.

Interesting. I should qualify things a bit more, to help make the picture perfectly clear.

1. I tested one battery out of the box and it showed 1.27V with my basic digital battery tester. Now, since the cell is marked 1.2V, that should be considered a fully charged cell, right? So I thought maybe I should put it in the charger to see what is shown. Only 1 bar of power level was indicated.
2. I figured OK, I’ll put the whole pack on the charger. I have heard it’s good to “exercise” a NiMH cell at first use. Fully charge, deplete near empty, then charge up again. I didn’t expect that charging would take so long. I mean… cells starting at 1.27v, but the EBL charger showing only 1 bar?
3. It took way too long in my book for the charger to “top off” these cells. But, if there’s one consolation, I had temperature checked the batteries at several points. Never got hot. Barely warm even.

After charging they showed 1.42v. Next day, after “resting,” they’re now showing 1.34v which is in line with what’s considered “normal.” LINK.
AFAIK, there’s no such thing as a 1.5v AA NiMH battery. You have to step up to Lithium Ion to achieve that.

Been there, actually did that. Thank heavens it was a protected cell and the protection circuitry actually did it’s job. Yes, I’ve now learned to tape one end of the cell.

I got a great deal on mine 3 years ago. Monoprice had the Tacklife DC02 (metal, digital) for $8 and free shipping. They might not be high end, but they’re great. I probably use them at least once a week, especially now that I do quite a bit of 3D modeling for 3D printing.

Thanks! I ordered the 26,800 mAh version. You’re right… it’s a steal at this price if genuine and the cells still maintain their rated capacity.

Bought a cheap one with plastic jaws just for that. Just don’t forget and use the wrong one

https://www.amazon.com/Dispatch-Trapper-Traditional-Folding-Outdoor/dp/B08RMP1RX5/?th=1&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Dispatch-Trapper-Traditional-Folding-Outdoor/dp/B08RMNHKPF/?th=1&psc=1

few trapper knives for 6.99 - 3.00 click coupon, 4 bucks prime shipped.

The trouble with those cheap digital calipers is they eat button cells. Parasitic current drain is significant enough that they will use up a cell in a few weeks or months just sitting there. Keep spare cells around. I found this annoying enough that I mostly use a 2 dollar Harbor Freight caliper now, and plan to get a crap-rate dial caliper ($10 at dx engineering) sometime. Meanwhile the HF one is perfectly fine for measuring batteries:

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-in-utility-caliper-63664.html

And since there are non-amazon links here, the 2 dollar 1aaa Halo lights are up again at Meh::Sidedeal:

https://sidedeal.com/deals/3-pack-halo-mini-lite-led-flashlights-15

They are that price til midnight EDT Sunday night, then back to $3. My review is here:

I’m tempted to order some now, but I have several other 1aaa lights (Sofirn C01 variants) making their way from ali express. So I’ll resist. But these are decent gift lights since each comes in a little box with some useless accessories, and they are fairly bright by non-flashaholic standards. I am edc’ing one right now.

Finally got around to sticking the first 4 in my Ope, and they’re clocking in at an average 2050mAH each at 500mA, and pretty consistent (2072, 2069, 2035, 2049).

Didn’t try the charger, but in the Ope, they all ran fairly cool, nothing was heating up.

This was a great fan ( The night of Ida) at the $13.99 price — Even better at $7

https://www.myvipon.com/product/8844112

Good to know, time will tell…
The set I got has an on/off button. It turns on by itself it the jaws are moved.
All the Best,
Jeff

Just received both of these power banks. Both arrived in brand new unopened boxes and are each about 1/3 charged. I have them on the charger now and I’ll run
them through a charge cycle and let you all know if any issues arise. Thus far, all seems perfect, but I will try to open the larger 30,000mAh version and see what
type of cells are inside it.

Thanks Richie. Im looking forward to your discharge results and 30k tear-down. Does the larger one allow for fast charging the pack? And can the pack be charged via USB C?