power bank as ups

wle · 2019-09-10T11:50:56.000Z

Are there power banks (portable battery powered USB supplies) that can be used as a UPS?

The problems are:

some require a button to be pressed, to start the output
some assuming they are ONLY charging a battery and may quit supplying current when the load falls below a threshold

I think the key word is “pass-through”, that is supposed to mean they can charge and discharge at the same time

But they would also need to satisfy 1. and 2. above…

(What is the use? USB powered cameras, for instance, for security systems… internet routers. (so you still have a phone if your phone is via internet).

So instead of powering via the regular USB 5V supply, you would use one of these things instead.

Would also be nice if they were cheap.

I’ve seen things on Amazon in the $40 range, that is too much.

wle

e1000 · 2019-09-10T12:37:34.000Z

They do exist, although not very popular.

amazon.com

Amazon.com: APC Back-UPS Connect Lithium Ion UPS with Mobile Power Pack, USB...

Amazon.com: APC Back-UPS Connect Lithium Ion UPS with Mobile Power Pack, USB Charging Ports for Echo and Network Routers (BGE50ML) (Not sold in Vermont) : Electronics

There are also USB power banks that have passthrough charging function, although it’s not very widespread and not always advertised

wle · 2019-09-10T12:37:40.000Z

yeah $125 is a lot
i was thinking more like $25

wle · 2019-09-10T12:45:32.000Z

i see this for $6

https://www.amazon.com/Simpiz-5000mAh-portable-charger-external/dp/B015HQNTD6/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=power+bank+pass-through&qid=1568119177&s=gateway&sr=8-2

seems like it would work

if you don;t need a lot of mah

e1000 · 2019-09-10T13:23:09.000Z

There you go. Like I said, they do exist, even in lower priced banks, it’s just not a widely implemented or advertised feature.

Scallywag · 2019-09-10T13:39:04.000Z

They make things like this but I haven’t tried harder to find one in-stock somewhere. Battery backup for a small device run off an 18650.

wle · 2019-09-11T17:17:41.000Z

so i have a liitokala engineer charger

it occurred to me that it has a usb out, powered by cells that are in the charging bay

it doesn;t work as a UPS for 2 reasons

1. load has to be OVER X ma, and X is like 50 or 100

2. it does not work when wall-wart power is active

so it would not continuously supply 5V in either case

wle

BT100 · 2019-09-11T20:59:13.000Z

Does anybody know of any powerbanks with pass-through charging?

DavidEF · 2019-09-11T21:47:14.000Z

The TP5100 chip used in the BLF LT1 lantern for charging can input/output at the same time. In fact, the lantern will be able to work without batteries if a power supply is plugged into the USB charging port.

Here is a simple charging board available on eBay which uses the TP5100 chip.

will34 · 2019-09-11T23:13:42.000Z

BT100:

Does anybody know of any powerbanks with pass-through charging?

I think the gen2 xiaomi 20,000mAh have 5V pass through but not sure if there is a switching
when input power is disconnected. Most UPS doesn’t have switching but DIY solar controller + 12V battery charger 2in1 does. I can check it out and let you know which powerbank in my collection have non-switching pass through (always on or separated buck-boost controller).

BT100 · 2019-09-11T23:34:45.000Z

@ Will34,
Thanks, would appreciate that!

angerdan · 2019-10-05T18:47:08.000Z

e1000:

They do exist, although not very popular.
Amazon.com

Awesome find!
There are some more UPS especially for small electronics:
ebay.com/itm/Mini-UPS-Uninterruptable-Power-Supply-System-with-POE-Current-Transfer-Function/183952535867
ebay.com/itm/Mini-UPS-Uninterrupted-Power-Supply-7800mah-12V-2A-USB-5V-1A-Output-GM312/383191878917
ebay.com/itm/1575192-Vultech-UPS30PW-DC-Bianco-Mini-UPS-30-Watt-Gruppo-di-Continuita-Portatil/401874780975
.
.

wle:

i see this for $6
amazon.com/Simpiz-5000mAh-portable-charger-external/dp/B015HQNTD6/
seems like it would work

It would work, but it’s not available anymore: “Currently unavailable”
.
.

Scallywag:

They make things like this but I haven’t tried harder to find one in-stock somewhere.

They sell it in germany:
ebay.com/itm/12V-USV-Mini-USV-unterbrechungsfreie-DC-Stromversorgung-12-V-22-W-2000-mAh/122971057294
.
.

BT100:

Does anybody know of any powerbanks with pass-through charging?

Sure:
Blitzwolf QC3 power bank 10000mAh BW-P3, fixed version
Blitzwolf QC3 power bank 15600mAh BW-P5
Miller ML202 V4
Ravpower Turbo+ RP-PB043 (20100mAh)
Soshine E4S
Thrunite C2 power bank and charger
Tomo Power bank M2
Tomo Power bank M4

BT100 · 2019-10-05T20:00:00.000Z

Thanks angerdan

hank · 2019-10-05T20:21:08.000Z

The Ravpower looks good on review
I can’t find it for sale though.

angerdan · 2019-10-05T21:39:43.000Z

hank:

The Ravpower looks good on review
I can’t find it for sale though.

Here it is:
amazon.de/RAVPower-20100-mAh-tragbares-Ladegerät-Technologie-schwarz/dp/B019IH53MA
amazon.de/RAVPower-20100mAh-Powerbank-Anschluss-Kapazität-schwarz/dp/B019GI39VI
heise.de/preisvergleich/eu/ravpower-xtreme-20100mah-rp-pb043-a1449786.html

HKSJOSHUA · 2019-10-29T23:37:04.000Z

My blackweb 20k mah powerbank with type c powerdelivery does passthrough

janver22 · 2020-01-27T06:20:34.000Z

I have tested these DIY powerbanks below if they can be UPS for RPi, Routers, etc.

1. Tomo PowerBank S4 (4x 18650; Similar to M4/M2; 5V/1A input) - Can do pass-through charging but does not seem to be able to charge the battery while using the output, this maybe due to input power limited to 1A. Unplugging the input power does not cause a surge on the output USB.

2. Soshine E3S-QC (4x 18650; QC 3.0 on USB Out 2) - Can do pass-through charging, but unplugging output causes a less than a second power surge before switching to battery. While pass through charging, the USB output port 1 (5V/1A) is turned off.

3. Epilot E4 (4x 18650; 5V 2A input) - Similar to Soshine E3S-QC, but can still provide power to both USB outputs on pass-through charging.

In my case, I am trying to power an Intel Compute Stick for hotspot router. Will try this one RPi UPS with DIY battery: 52Pi Original 18650 UPS Pro Power Supply Device Extended Two USBA Port for Raspberry Pi 4 B / 3B+ /3B

Barkuti · 2020-01-27T07:00:17.000Z

The following stuff is advertised as UPS, besides being a DIY power bank meant to provide power for up to 65 W laptops:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000268838287.html

Battery arrangement is 3S2P, but if I were to buy one I'd make windows on the cover and install more batteries (of course all soldered or spot welded).

There are some related videos out there.

wle · 2020-01-27T13:50:46.000Z

thanks

Starkm32 · 2020-01-27T15:07:24.000Z

Some are said to work starting cars. True?