18650's inside your backup battery packs

[JW Flynn]

Heya guys, the cat bumped my damn backup battery pack off the table the other day ( don't fret, even tough it was made and bought in china, it is still working, lol )

Just thought I would share what I have found to be on the inside with everyone... I was expecting something similar, but not this many, hehe

 

[Andre]

Wow, a lot of batteries. Could go camping for a few days with that.

 

[johan]

Heya guys, the cat bumped my damn backup battery pack off the table the other day ( don't fret, even tough it was made and bought in china, it is still working, lol )

Just thought I would share what I have found to be on the inside with everyone... I was expecting something similar, but not this many, hehe

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I've got exactly the same unit, just in metallic blue color

 

[JW Flynn]

Wow, a lot of batteries. Could go camping for a few days with that.

used to use this pack allot with my S4, but since I upgraded to the note 4 the battery life is so damn good, I find myself charging this pack to charge other units every now and then only not to cause damage to the batteries... lol..

lol, sometimes I even charge it, then charge my t max s80 (a 20W 5500 mAh mod) and the wife's battery pack that does still get used every now and then, even though she also has a note 4... but she is hectic on the games on that thing, hehe

 

[Yusuf Cape Vaper]

You could make a pretty cool parallel box mod out of that thing battery life for years


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[JW Flynn]

exactly what I told the wife and her reply was an immediate NO!!! LOL

 

[Ashley A]

20,800mAh with 8 cells makes it 2,600mAh each. Wonder if those are Smurfs. Could be a cheap way to buy a lot of batteries. I expect they should be high drain if they're made from charge things rapidly.

 

[JW Flynn]

20,800mAh with 8 cells makes it 2,600mAh each. Wonder if those are Smurfs. Could be a cheap way to buy a lot of batteries. I expect they should be high drain if they're made from charge things rapidly.

I have no idea, actually checked and there are 0 markings on there, unfortunately...

 

[DoubleD]

Any idea what cell were used? like brand?

Edit: you guys are too fast for me today

 

[JW Flynn]

Any idea what cell were used? like brand?

nope, unfortunately not, no markings of any sort on these.. and the device actually still works, so not prepared to strip it completely just to see if it has some indication under the sleeves....

 

[Silver]

Dont those battery packs deliver like 1 or 2 amps only?
Does that not suggest these are low drain batteries?
Just guessing

@johan, what do you think they would use for the cells in these things?
Just sounds strange to use high drain batts if they only need to push out 1 or 2 amps
Am i thinking right?

 

[JW Flynn]

Dont those battery packs deliver like 1 or 2 amps only?
Does that not suggest these are low drain batteries?
Just guessing

@johan, what do you think they would use for the cells in these things?
Just sounds strange to use high drain batts if they only need to push out 1 or 2 amps
Am i thinking right?

sounds about right... when comparing what a usb port on your computer would output, I think the max on one of those new charging ports is also only around 2 amps... so in all probability these are low drain bats... but even if it where only as little as 2 amps per batt, that would amount to 16 amp... you would be vaping for days, lol...

 

[Ashley A]

Dont those battery packs deliver like 1 or 2 amps only?
Does that not suggest these are low drain batteries?
Just guessing

@johan, what do you think they would use for the cells in these things?
Just sounds strange to use high drain batts if they only need to push out 1 or 2 amps
Am i thinking right?

I think think the amp output is limited as almost all the devices being charged have a rated charge input of 1amp or 2.1amp for higher end devices like the ipad or Note 4. But I think high drain might be a possibility to allow it to be completely discharged when charging other things and recharged safely as normal batteries won't cope well with that. Plus I'm sure bigger powerbanks like this can charge multiple devices at once needing better batteries. I'm sure someone can test it and give us the answer.

How much are these powerbanks btw?

 

[johan]

Dont those battery packs deliver like 1 or 2 amps only?
Does that not suggest these are low drain batteries?
Just guessing

@johan, what do you think they would use for the cells in these things?
Just sounds strange to use high drain batts if they only need to push out 1 or 2 amps
Am i thinking right?

I've tested a few before I bought this exact unit. You're correct, 2.1A output (USB-2), but that is limited by the internal voltage regulator. What the current capacity is of the individual cells, I don't know. (2 x series) x 4 parallel, even if their individual current rating is only 1A, you have basically a 4A source, and that is more than an adequate safety margin on the USB port. If the 20800mA is correct, which I highly doubt, the individual cells should be 5200mAh - I don't know of the existence of such an 18650 battery cell. They obviously use the maximum regulated current (2.1A) per hour over tested time period to get to 20800mAh. Irrespective of the misleading mAh rating, I can charge my tablet 5 times before the charge bank is depleted.

 

[JW Flynn]

I think they where in the range of 300 to 400 in china(cant remember, got allot of stuff over there, hehe).... got it while I was there on business... so have no idea what they are going for over here...

 

[johan]

I can't remember what it cost me, but it was less than R400 at the Huaqiang Bei Electronics market, in Shenzhen.

 

[JW Flynn]

I've tested a few before I bought this exact unit. You're correct, 2.1A output (USB-2), but that is limited by the internal voltage regulator. What the current capacity is of the individual cells, I don't know. (2 x series) x 4 parallel, even if their individual current rating is only 1A, you have basically a 4A source, and that is more than an adequate safety margin on the USB port. If the 20800mA is correct, which I highly doubt, the individual cells should be 5200mAh - I don't know of the existence of such an 18650 battery cell. They obviously use the maximum regulated current (2.1A) per hour over tested time period to get to 20800mAh. Irrespective of the misleading mAh rating, I can charge my tablet 5 times before the charge bank is depleted.

From what I could pick up it was 4 in parallel X2 and then these two packs where in series

 

[johan]

From what I could pick up it was 4 in parallel X2 and then these two packs where in series

Exactly the same as what I said: "... (2 x series) x 4 parallel": 2 x series [3.7V] = 7.4V & 4 x parallel [ie 2A each] = 8A

 

[Ashley A]

How long does a 20,000mAh powerbank take to charge? Sorry for hijacking but I think you guys have the experience here.

I received mine this morning at 9am and it's been on charge on a 2.1 amp wall charger since then and it's stilllll charging. The indicator lights showed that it was charging from halfway too at 9am so not even completely drained or low.

 

[JW Flynn]

I never really took the time to time how long it takes to charge... I did once see that it does take a long time, but usually I leave it over night...

 

[johan]

How long does a 20,000mAh powerbank take to charge? Sorry for hijacking but I think you guys have the experience here.

I received mine this morning at 9am and it's been on charge on a 2.1 amp wall charger since then and it's stilllll charging.

All depends on make and type of internal battery cells used and how depleted the cells are, but on average a 20000mAh power bank should take 5+ hours to charge at 2.1A.

 

[Gazzacpt]

How long does a 20,000mAh powerbank take to charge? Sorry for hijacking but I think you guys have the experience here.

I received mine this morning at 9am and it's been on charge on a 2.1 amp wall charger since then and it's stilllll charging. The indicator lights showed that it was charging from halfway too at 9am so not even completely drained or low.

Well 20A at 2A an hour I would imagine over 10hrs

 

[johan]

Well 20A at 2A an hour I would imagine over 10hrs

If its 100% depleted yes.

 

[Gazzacpt]

If its 100% depleted yes.

Ah, yes. Normally the onboard charge circuit also starts slowing down to a trickle closer to full capacity?

 

[Ashley A]

Thanks guys. All makes perfect sense now. Overnight charging should be best but decided to charge it up immediately since you never know when loadshedding will hit.

On the positive side, I'm guessing it's genuine capacity if it's taking this long to charge since I found a lot of advice against these big powerbanks as most appear to be fake capacity ratings while trying to get the answer earlier. 7 hours and counting now...