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Battery charger pack specs comparison!
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- This topic has 56 replies, 41 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 1 month ago by Russell Lawson.
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Feb 22, 2014 at 10:17 am #2076013
Any thoughts? If not I guess I will go larger with the #5 just to make sure I am covered.
Feb 22, 2014 at 11:13 am #2076035Great chart — thank you for sharing all your hard work! It helped me make a decision on which one to buy, so I'm very grateful. :^)
Apr 1, 2014 at 4:41 pm #2088552I received my Fluxmob Bolt. http://www.fluxmob.com/collections/bolt
It's a single unit that has a power adapter and a 3000 mAh Samsung Li-Ion Battery. It's exactly perfect for long hikes in which I'll have occasional access to power. On short trips where I won't recharge during the trip it is not appropriate since I don't need a power adapter on those trips.
Weight = 3.1 oz (85 grams). But since I don't have to carry the iPhone power adapter, the weight penalty for carrying the backup battery is 2.3 oz. (65 grams).
Capacity = 3000 mAh
Output Type = USB 1A
Weight = 2.3 oz, 65 grams [less than actual device, since I've deducted the power adapter I don't need to carry.
Price = $60
Cost per mAh = 2 cents
mAh per gram = 46.1Unlike the Jackery battery that I own, this one allows pass-through charging, which is a requirement IMO.
Compared to the NewTrent TravelPak, which is also an integrated battery & power adapter:
The Fluxmob has 75% of the capacity
The total weight of Fluxmob is 3.1 oz vs 5.9 oz.Apr 1, 2014 at 5:03 pm #2088561I bought a battery case off ebay for $10 and harvested the batteries from an old lap top (most of them are probably good) Lithium 18650s. Four batteries — 243 grams. Easy 12,000 mah.
TSA compliant — I have not had an issue.
Apr 1, 2014 at 6:06 pm #2088589"So you tech types…considering the state of the market at this point, it seems like a battery pack may be the best for thru hiking at this point, yes? I need a rare Nook charge, a more frequent Delorme SE and an occasional iPhone top off."
Hi Jennifer,
By no means am I a "tech type" but from a little reading, it's my understanding that you need to calculate 30% loss in energy transfer.
If my googling is correct, your Delorme SE has a battery capacity of 2450 mAh which needs to be recharged every 100 hrs (Let's just say twice per week) so that's 6370 mAh per week for two charges. If you can get to town before it needs the second charge, then you'd only need 3185mah per week. All at 3.7v.
Don't know which Nook you have but I believe the Simple Touch is roughly 1530 mAh and I personally wouldn't need to charge it more than once per week so there's another 1989 mAh you'll need from your battery bank. Also 3.7v.
If you felt the need to keep your iPhone on in airplane mode for pictures and such, I believe the 5S is roughly 1440 mAh and would only need to be charged once per week so 1872 mAh. Again at 3.7v.
So theoretically you could probably get by with a 10,000 mAh battery bank delivered at 3.7 volts. If you kept your gadgets off except for when you really need to use them, you'd probably be fine with much less.
I know nothing about backpacking solar panels and barely more than that about larger systems. It's my understanding that you'll want one with a charge controller built into it or there's the possibility that it'll suck juice out of your gadget in low light situations. I'll let someone smarter than me confirm if this is correct or if I'm lost in space on this one.
I believe Buck used a solar charger on one of his adventures so you might want to PM him on his set up.
Apr 2, 2014 at 12:02 am #2088676Solar charge controllers do different things, depending on the model.
In general, they control the solar charging to the battery. What does that mean?
If the battery already has a high voltage (high state of charge), then the solar panel is cut off. That way, the battery is not subjected to overcharging which would shorten its life. Plus, the battery is cut off from reverse current going into the solar panel, which would be wasted.
If the battery already has a low voltage (depleted), then the solar panel can charge the battery, perhaps unless the battery is completely too far gone. The charge current is typically controlled to be roughly correct for that capacity of battery.
So, the charge controller is constantly monitoring the battery voltage and the solar panel voltage, and it keeps trying to do the right thing.
–B.G.–
Apr 5, 2014 at 2:34 pm #2090033After reading through this thread, it strikes me that my Eneloop XX NiMH batteries, at least on face value, hold a lot of charge at a reported value of 2500mAh per AA battery.
So four of these batteries would be the equivalent of a 10,000mAh Li ion battery pack, at least in terms of capacity? Am I missing something here?
Also, I have read that a typical iPhone can hold about a 1420mAh charge. This seems unreal to me, that my phone holds less than a high-capacity AA battery's worth of charge. Is this all right?
If it is right, then why aren't there more battery banks out there that simply hold multiple high-capacity AA batteries, like the one Tim Zen made above?
If this works, then it seems like the ideal system would be one where the battery pack itself can be directly plugged into the wall (similar to the NewTrent TravelPack Plus), thereby acting as a AA wall charger, but there would also be one or more 5V USB oulet ports where you could transfer the stored charge to your phone/gadgets.
Am I missing something critical here? I must be.
It seems that a system like this would combine many systems into one: phone charger, battery bank, AA battery charger, and AA battery storage for other AA-based systems, such as headlamps.
So you could bring a system like this and not have to take: a separate phone charger, a AA battery charger, or standalone extra AA batteries.
Again, what am I missing? This seems like it would be the ideal system for me on paper for multi-week hikes with town resupplies…
Apr 5, 2014 at 3:15 pm #20900442200mAh, 5 Volt, 0.8 amp, 2.7 oz, USB output, $10, I think it's lithium, cheap shit from China but I've been using one for a while no problem
Eneloop that I have – 1.1 oz, 1.2 V, 2400mAh – plus you need some stuff to regulate and convert to USB plug
4 Eneloops would be only 4.8V so you'de need 5 of them = 5.5 oz
Apr 5, 2014 at 3:23 pm #2090050Eneloops are 1.2v x 2500mAh = 3000 watts x 4 batteries = 12,000 total watts of energy.
Li-ion are roughly 3.6v x 10,000 mAh (in the example) = 36,000 total watts of energy, or, 3x as much juice as 4 eneloop maxis.
Volts x amps = watts.
Watts = apples to apples comparisonsYour idea of an AA batt charger that can be charged from USB via the wall, solar, auto, etc., while also being able to be used as a battery bank to charge other devices via a seperate USB output, is what Goal Zero's Guide 10 is. The problem I have with it, is it doesn't charge each of the 4 batteries independently, so mixing dead cells with good ones produces poor performance. At least that's beem my experience.
Apr 5, 2014 at 4:32 pm #2090065ahhhhh….you missed a "milli" or two in there ….
Apr 5, 2014 at 4:35 pm #2090067Eneloops are 1.2v x 2500mAh = 3000 watts x 4 batteries = 12,000 total watts of energy.
Li-ion are roughly 3.6v x 10,000 mAh (in the example) = 36,000 total watts of energy, or, 3x as much juice as 4 eneloop maxis.
Volts x amps = watts.
Best to get all the units correct:
1.2 volts x 2,500 milliamp-hours = 3,000 milliwatt-hours (mWh) x 4 batteries = 12,000 mWh of energy, or 12 Watt-hours (Wh).
3.6 volts x 10,000 milliamp-hours = 36,000 mWh, or 36 Wh, still three times as much as four Eneloops.
Watt-hours = apples to apples comparisons for battery storage.
— Rex
Apr 5, 2014 at 6:06 pm #2090089Ah, guilty as charged for sloppy work. Anyway you slice it though, whether it's kilo, mili, or plain ol' run of the mill regular watts, it's still watts to the rescue! :)
Apr 5, 2014 at 6:41 pm #2090103Been thinking of a portable power source for USB items for a while, just purchased the NewTrent TravelPak Plus from Rakuten for $22. Seems like a good deal, and way more capacity than that Mintyburst I made.
Steve
Apr 5, 2014 at 7:24 pm #2090125To make choices even more involved, don't forget there is always the option of the 22mm/26.2mm successor to the 18mm (18650) that we all love so much.
The safe chemistry IMR 22mm/26.2mm batteries are starting around 4000mah with a manufacturer rated sustained draw of over 60 amp. This means you can charge them around 10amp…
As soon as an ICR 22mm/26.2mm comes down in price I'll likely be ditching my old school lithium polymer batteries for the newer hybrid chemistry. Having a battery that charges in 15 minutes in town and packs 7000mah is pretty slick.
Its getting to the point where all we'll need is to hook up to an alternator with lithium ion batteries pretty soon (crazy sounding now but by end of year will be safe I'm sure).
Its getting to a point where running lower draw cells in series isn't going to even be necessary what so ever anymore. Gotta love li ion development. Gotta hate the trash its making to get to the goal.
Most of us have the junked electronics laying around to gut and build our own 5v regulator for micro USB charging purposes. I really think I'm going to get into the new 22mm/26.2mm cells and ditch my bricks very soon. I urge you all to consider DIY solutions. The circuits are so simple a third grader could build them. These consumer driven solutions are really using such out dated cells now, (from last year) , that they aren't even worth buying!
Apr 5, 2014 at 8:03 pm #2090143Specifications
Brand TangsFire
Type Rechargeable Li – lithium battery
Capacity 6800mAh
Voltage 3.6 – 4.2Vv
Dimensions 7 x 2.5cm / 2.76" x 0.98" (L x Dia)
Number of Charge Cycles 10000times
Color Blue
Weight 3.33oz / 94.5g
Model 26650
Plus Board Yes (2.78V – 4.25V)Package Includes
1 x TangsFire 26650 6800mAh 3.6 – 4.2V Lithium Battery with Board Blue
And that ain't even a name brand like sony, or panasonic… I'm still waiting for the Sony or panasonic version of this format to come out in a "protected high capacity" format.
I've got a couple of these batteries and my icharger is actually loading around 7400mah on them at 4.25v, versus the advertised 6800mah. I think within a few months maybe there will be some 10,000mah for around 3 ounces.
Apr 6, 2014 at 7:22 am #2090260I've got a couple of the 22650's on the way for a 1300 lumen flashlight I finally decided to pull the trigger on. They are Trustfire branded and rated to 4000 mah, but will actually store up to 4500mah each. Some if these larger batteries can really hold some juice.
Ryan
Apr 7, 2014 at 8:02 am #2090589FWIW, I ran the first loose test on my new FluxMob Bolt.
iPhone 5 (which has 1440 mAh battery)
Starting with fully charged FluxMob, I recharged the iPhone as follows:
1. From 8% to 96%
2. and then from 61% to 100%
3. and then from 14% to 23%, at which point the FluxMob is exhausted.Assuming the iPhone battery charge reports an accurate percentage, the FluxMob gave me 136% recharge of my iPhone 5. If the recharging was 100% efficient, with no loss of energy in the process, I should be able to get 208% recharge. As in life, nothing is 100% efficient. I'll run a second similar test to see if I get a similar result.
Apr 7, 2014 at 10:17 am #2090628I understand most Li-ion / Lipo battery chargers go thru a 3 stage process which charges the batteries at different speeds. First when the battery is low the charge is very slow, then once a minimum level has been reached it goes into a fast charging mode and then toward the end goes back into slow charging mode. I like to keep my "fast charging range" between 20%-80%.
So if you have several Li-ion batteries to charge (most modern gadgets with built in batteries have either Li-ion or Lipo batteries on them), and you need to make the most of your source of energy (i.e wall plug or solar) keep the above in mind.
Also, most rechargeable devices use a USB port to charge its internal batteries. It’s important to know what is the mA rating of the USB port you are using. I think most USB ports are 500 mhA, apple’s small devices (i.e iphones, etc) use 1000 mA and larger devices (i.e Ipad) uses 2100+ mA. If you plug a device that needs only 500 mA on a port that delivers 1000 mA that’s ok as the device will pull only what it needs. On the other hand if you plug a device that needs more mA than what the port delivers you will have a very slow charge, and sometime if it does not meet the minimum no charge at all. (this is particularly noticeable with apple devices)
A couple of little (light) and inexpensive gadgets I found useful are “USB Mini Charger Doctor” ($7.7 / 0.5 oz) and Goal Zero “USB Smart Adapter” ($4.79 / 0.2 oz). The first one tells me what is the voltage and mA being drawn from a USB port and the second one somehow tweaks the ratings of the USB ports on the source and allows you to deliver what the appliance being charged demands. (i.e I have been able to charge ipad mini thru USB ports that originally would not work)
Feb 21, 2015 at 11:57 am #2176368does anyone know if there is an updated version of this list? I think i'm going to go with http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EF1OGOG/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd_p=1944687642&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=B00CS38JSM&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=01033NFWGSXJ6W6S614F
6400mah at 4.8 ounces seems like the best i find do right now.
Feb 21, 2015 at 12:49 pm #2176384One of the other posters had a different list but around same time. The New Trent devices seem no longer available. Wonder what happened to those.
Feb 21, 2015 at 1:35 pm #2176409This one:
looks a bit better to me.
Feb 21, 2015 at 1:58 pm #2176416Feb 21, 2015 at 4:37 pm #2176459Thanks for the link.
Jun 1, 2015 at 1:35 pm #2203852Heres a new one: http://technicallywell.com/external-battery-review-aukey-3600ah-power-bank-with-lightning-input
The first to use a lightning adapter for both input and output. Looks like a winner at $15 on amazon.
Capacity:
3600mAh
Input:
DC 5V / 1A
Output:
DC 5V / 1.5A
Size:
4.9 x 1.8 x 0.5 inch
Weight:
2.98 ozJun 15, 2015 at 7:35 pm #2207562This is very helpful, thank you for sharing.
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