whats the current best powerbank?

Off-topic Chatter
1

Hi guys, im looking for the current best powerbank, already got a few of them and even modified some with panasonic cells.

Looking for something with power indicator(10, 30, 70, 100 or something similar.
Already wasted a lot of my flashlight money on bad purchases and wanted to leverage on experience of members here. Looking to buy from online shops like fasttech or anywhere with free shipping.
Anyways, really love my powerbank that i modified with panasonic 3400mah, if only it have the power indicator im looking for.
Thanks guys, on flashlight related stuff i just finished modifiying my roche f12 with dedomed hi cri xml2 on noctigon with qlite driver. Love this pocket monster now with additional throw. :bigsmile:

2

Not sure about “the best” but I have a Romoss sofun 5 powerbank. It’s only 13,000mah and it says the batteries are made by Samsung so I am assuming 5x 2600mAh 18650s. It has 4 charge level indicator lights (not sure of %), charges off micro usb and has 2.1A and 1A USB outputs. It’s a very well made unit and I have been very happy with it. Got mine off of eBay.

3

Try this one out. Link.

I have several of the same brand, all made very well.

Stick whatever battery you so desire inside.

4

The Romoss seems good, looking for something like 3k-5k mah and will think about the 4k romoss as it seems to be good.

Is there any review of the powerbank from fastech?

5

Hi Ramblings, is this charger have the batteries in series or parallel? Been looking in this one andcant see a review to check the efficiency.

6

Was looking through powerbanks seller sites too. This XiaoMi product has lots of appeal but sold out on official site.
Title stated LG/ Samsung batteries in Alu alloy case. 11USD! crazy cheap.


7

Hi Alll… I’ve got one of these: -

https://www.fasttech.com/products/1280801

Mine’s loaded with four Panasonic 18650 laptop pulls. It works great for me.

Worth a look.

Cheers

Malc

8

Not sure about that! Only 1A output and at first sight no protection built in. I wouldn’t take the risk with unprotected 18650 pull’s.

9

This Ruinovo, 4 cell model, takes unprotected 18650’s. In fact they specify that you use them. Perfect for cheap laptop pulls. It will also charge iPads which require a 2.1A charge rate. Not many power packs can provide that. Also you can charge this pack at 2.1A with your iPad power supply for faster charging.

http://www.fasttech.com/products/0/10004340/1332106-diy-418650-batteries-holder-case-box-mobile-power-

Here is HKJ’s review of this box.

10

Is there a 18650-based power pack that can realistically run a full-sized laptop by plugging in my laptop’s AC adapter? So a power pack and inverter in one? It seems possible since laptop batteries are 18650 but I’ve never seen one for sale.

I’m thinking about using it camping so I need a light solution.

I could just buy extra battery packs for my laptop but that can get expensive.

11

Extra battery packs is what makes sense here IMO. inverter losses + AC adapter losses + laptop’s internal PSU losses = bad. And I don’t know, but I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that efficiency drops running on the “stepped sine” / square wave that the average inverter produces.

12

That sux. I wish you could change the batteries in computer packs as easily as changing them in a flashlight.

13

As the owner of 2 of these, i find them quite usefull, although i doubt they can put out the necessisary voltage for a laptop, they work well enough for my uses

14

I believe that each cell is separated and regulated individually.

So definitely not series. Parallel, but independent.

15

Leaning towards this powerbank by runiovo, it seems compact enough and battery is replaceable.
Anyone know of a better option?
I just recently bought the powerbank that accepts protected 18650s but for only 2x18650 it is too big.
V8-2 Dual USB PCB Board + Plastic Enclosure for Power Bank DIYblack / 1-2*18650 batteries required
v8-2

16

I bought three of them to power boot heater elements because of the 2A output the elements require, and the favourable review. Mine sometimes get all the LED’s stuck in the on position, and you have to disassemble them to pull the battery to reset it. The panel is very fiddly and infuritating to get on and off, and the self tapping screws are only going to go in and out a couple more times without stripping out. So while the review gives the circuit a thumb’s up, the form factor of these makes them almost unusable in my opinion. I certainly would not recomend them to anyone.

I have since ordered one of these V8 Power Banks to try as it also provides 2A, but it has not arrived yet.

17

Just rceived the black v8, currently testing it. It seems to charge my iphone 4 3x with 2 3400mah battery.
Is the efficiency good enough? Maybee im expecting more.
Also what would you recommend for a 3 or 4x 18650 powerbanks that is compact as the v8 is really big for 2x18650 powerbank.
Thanks

18

I use this.

Input: DC 5V / 1.6A
Output: 3A / voltage is adjustable in 5V, 5.5V, 6V, 6.5V, 7V, 7.5V, 8V, 8.5V, 9V, 9.5V, 10V, 10.5V, 11V, 11.5V, 12V, 12.5V, 13V
With LCD display to indicate remaining battery power

https://www.fasttech.com/p/1341401

19

I didn’t really look at the size of it, how it it for weight? How does the LCD work? (I wish they gave a number instead of the simple bars).

Does anything get hot when you are charging?

I find that the Ruinovo is pretty heavy to carry on a day trip with the 4 cells, but the boot heaters draw a fair bit of current and even with 4 3400mAh cells I only get about 3 or 4 hours it seems

20

Pok,

I had not seen that before. 3A is a nice feature. The thing that scares me is again having to use screws. If you lost your screws, could you still snap the case together? What about if winter in the field and you wanted to take another set of batteries, would it be hard to put new cells in with cold hands standing in the snow? How is the quality of the case?