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Re: Power banks
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2020 8:21 pm
by Bob
#1 - I still gotta run the test on mine
#2 - Need to get a couple new Ankers. My rechargeable are getting weak...
Re: Power banks
Posted: Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:54 pm
by Bogart
Been busy with work and life in general. Just got a chance to try to charge using the panels. 6 hours on a partial cloudy day got me one bar. I got the week off so hopefully I can get a good day or two of sun to really try it out.
Re: Power banks
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 12:45 am
by David
Bogart wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:54 pm
Been busy with work and life in general. Just got a chance to try to charge using the panels. 6 hours on a partial cloudy day got me one bar. I got the week off so hopefully I can get a good day or two of sun to really try it out.
Did you get a chance to test it out?
Re: Power banks
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 9:13 am
by tom mac
Haven't found a power bank ( with self contained solar ) that is worth it yet... just not enough output from the small panel to be effective IMO.
Not when I have 2 100w panels on the shed and a couple of car batteries. Most of my items allow for 12v dc input.
Re: Power banks
Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2020 11:53 pm
by Bogart
I have easily 24 hours of very good sun and a day or so of cloudy weather trying to charge the power bank, total fail. The charge never passed one light or 25% or less, I'm leaning towards the less side. I had high hopes for this one.
At least I can still charge it using usb. At least it didn't cost me much and it is has a fairly large capacity.
Shine on!
Re: Power banks
Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2020 1:32 am
by David
Just seems this size of bank can’t benefit from solar well at all. Kinda sucks because it would really be a handy piece of gear. At least my Anker 14W panels do a great job.
Re: Power banks
Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2020 10:54 am
by David
David wrote: ↑Wed Jan 29, 2020 9:41 am
Received this one yesterday to try out:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000461 ... 4c4dW7imEH
After looking at Bob's EDC video I decided to get one and try it out. It has a five-bar power indicator. Came with four lights lit up so I'll peg that at about 80% charged. I'm charging my phone and Ipad right now to drain it so that I can see how long it takes to charge back up just using the solar panels. It was inexpensive but we'll see how well it performs and how long it lasts. I'll update as I'm able to offer input.
Getting ready to toss this one out. I can't even charge it by USB now. Pretty much a piece of junk. Glad it was cheap!
Re: Power banks
Posted: Fri Sep 18, 2020 9:04 am
by tom mac
As mentioned haven't found a small unit worth the time trouble...
Use to have a 10w flexible unisolar panel that strapped on my backpack when doing radio camping. It charged up a C cell pack I had made to run some of my 12v radios.
Now there are many backpacks with built in solar. Thinking of swapping out a couple of my vehicle backpacks to the newer units.
Many have power packs included
https://mysolarhome.us/best-solar-backpacks/
Re: Power banks
Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 11:40 am
by David
Bob wrote: ↑Mon Aug 31, 2020 8:21 pm
#1 - I still gotta run the test on mine
#2 - Need to get a couple new Ankers. My rechargeable are getting weak...
Have you ever run a test on how long it takes to charge up via solar Bob? I'm betting it will take days if it charges at all. But I'd like to see because it's a great idea if you can get one that actually charges on solar within a decent amount of time.
Re: Power banks
Posted: Sun May 02, 2021 12:47 pm
by David
If anyone gets or has a solar power battery bank that actually gets a good charge off the solar panel please sound off. It seems that, at least currently, the solar panels on these are just too small to replace the charge. Which really makes these things a total fail for what they're advertised for.