USB Battery Based Portable Power Options

[teddy12b]

Here's a work in progress that I've been poking around at for some time now. Ultimately the goal is to see how many useful items can be charged off a USB battery backup. Everything you see in the picture either charges the battery backups, is a battery backup, or can be charged off of a battery backup. The only key item missing from the photo is my cell phone that I used to take the picture.

The goals/reasoning behind this are:
1.) Commonality of spare batteries when out in the field. I'd rather not have one device that needs 2-AAA's, and another that needs 2-CR123's etc.
2.) The ability to recharge my primary communications devices (phone & radio) on extended outings. I've take first timers out and it gives their wives peace of mind to know their phones will be charged if they need to get ahold of them for an emergency.
3.) For power outages at the house, an easy means to recharge phones and have some amount of light. This is where I've really gotten the most use out of the battery banks.

This picture is everything I have that's usb power based:


This picture is everything I have taken out on overnight hikes:


This picture shows how much that stuff weighs before it gets stuffed in a pack:


Now obviously, not everything in every picture is going to be going out on hikes, and not everything in every picture is going to be as useful at the house when the power goes out, but what's really been nice is the commonality of the usb powered devices and having the little battery backups right there to keep them going if needed.

I'm curious if anyone else out there has given this kind of thing any thought.

 

[shibumiseeker]

All of my 18650 chargers run off USB, and one of them will then run a USB output off an 18650. Most of my flashlights and many of my headlamps run 18650 and I have several folding solar panels with USB outputs. I do a lot of hiking so having it all common is important. The only thing I wish I had was a way to charge my camera battery off USB without having to have a separate charger.

 

[igotdiesel2]

I am a huge fan of USB chargeable tools/devices. Most of my flashlights are 18650 battery equipped. I'm going to look into the USB power bank for 18650 batteries, that is something that would be quite handy. I am also a fan of ANKER products. That is the only charger, cables, and external battery we have in our house. -Jason

 

[teddy12b]

I'm not familiar with the 18650 batterys at all. I'll have to check them out. Most everything in the photo's is made by Anker and I'm a big fan of their products. All our wall chargers, cables, and every else that can be is made by Anker.

 

[lonehoosier]

I love this little 18650 charger. It uses a mini usb to charge the battery and has a usb on the other end to charge a devise. My EDC flashlight and headlamp uses 18650 so I always have a way to charge my phone.



Klarus CH1 Li-ion Ni-MH Battery Charger w/ LED Function Indicator Power Bank For 18350 18500 18650 18700 14500 16340 17500 26650 Li-ion Battery(Without Battery) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VHVP5N8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_tSHFybYV2HGEQ

 

[JayPea]

What kind of camera battery? A lot of the point and shoots and action cameras can charge via USB. Most DSLR / higher capacity batteries can't.

 

[ghitch75]

this is a great portable charger.....i have charged my cell phone 8 times on one charger......bought one for the SIL that does a lot of hiking and he really likes it.....


12V 15000mAh Multi-Function Car Jump Starter Battery Charger Power Bank Booster | eBay

 

[indyjoe]

One thing about these, try to find one with LiFePO4 Chemistry.

My day job is designing and building rugged tablets that we ship to 3rd world countries. Most Lithium cells in phones and tablets have a 50% capacity in 18 months. LiFePO4 hits 50% capacity in 10 years. It also has very high current dump capability. These are what are typically used on car jump start type packs (LiFePO4 can be hooked up with 4 in series without complex balance circuitry, to replace SLA or Lead Acid 12V batteries).

The disadvantage of them is initially about 30% more volume than higher density Lithium batteries. But this quickly changes with time.

I don't know of an easy way to find out chemistries, other than disassembling and testing. LiFePO4 cells have 3.0-3.6V range, where typical Lithium are 3.7-4.2V.

The USB power pack I use is microUSB charged. This is a disadvantage in charge time, but I really like having one charger to charge devices and packs. Since I switched to my Olight S1R and 4Sevens 18650 USB charged light, I can top those off too.

I'm curious how long it will take to get to USB-C with things. This allows much higher power and voltages.

 

[indyjoe]

What kind of camera battery? A lot of the point and shoots and action cameras can charge via USB. Most DSLR / higher capacity batteries can't.

You can often find third party chargers that can run off of USB. I know I got one for my Fuji mirrorless. I didn't look at getting some for my Nikon DSLRs, because I'm not going back to them after shooting mirrorless.

 

[shibumiseeker]

You can often find third party chargers that can run off of USB. I know I got one for my Fuji mirrorless. I didn't look at getting some for my Nikon DSLRs, because I'm not going back to them after shooting mirrorless.

My aftermarket SLR camera battery charger runs off USB, but when I am backpacking having to carry yet another charger with me sucks. For the weight of the charger I can carry four camera batteries.

 

[ghitch75]

One thing about these, try to find one with LiFePO4 Chemistry.

My day job is designing and building rugged tablets that we ship to 3rd world countries. Most Lithium cells in phones and tablets have a 50% capacity in 18 months. LiFePO4 hits 50% capacity in 10 years. It also has very high current dump capability. These are what are typically used on car jump start type packs (LiFePO4 can be hooked up with 4 in series without complex balance circuitry, to replace SLA or Lead Acid 12V batteries).

The disadvantage of them is initially about 30% more volume than higher density Lithium batteries. But this quickly changes with time.

I don't know of an easy way to find out chemistries, other than disassembling and testing. LiFePO4 cells have 3.0-3.6V range, where typical Lithium are 3.7-4.2V.

The USB power pack I use is microUSB charged. This is a disadvantage in charge time, but I really like having one charger to charge devices and packs. Since I switched to my Olight S1R and 4Sevens 18650 USB charged light, I can top those off too.

I'm curious how long it will take to get to USB-C with things. This allows much higher power and voltages.

i have had mine for about 4 months and holding charge........i guess i'll see in another 16 months or so....

 

[Sailor]

One thing about these, try to find one with LiFePO4 Chemistry.

My day job is designing and building rugged tablets that we ship to 3rd world countries. Most Lithium cells in phones and tablets have a 50% capacity in 18 months. LiFePO4 hits 50% capacity in 10 years. It also has very high current dump capability. These are what are typically used on car jump start type packs (LiFePO4 can be hooked up with 4 in series without complex balance circuitry, to replace SLA or Lead Acid 12V batteries).

The disadvantage of them is initially about 30% more volume than higher density Lithium batteries. But this quickly changes with time.

I don't know of an easy way to find out chemistries, other than disassembling and testing. LiFePO4 cells have 3.0-3.6V range, where typical Lithium are 3.7-4.2V.

The USB power pack I use is microUSB charged. This is a disadvantage in charge time, but I really like having one charger to charge devices and packs. Since I switched to my Olight S1R and 4Sevens 18650 USB charged light, I can top those off too.

I'm curious how long it will take to get to USB-C with things. This allows much higher power and voltages.

This is the route I have taken. I use this for my ham radios in the field. It comes with anderson power poles, and dc connection that works with my existing charge controller and 60w folding solar panel. Includes, balancing and pcm protection. https://www.bioennopower.com/collec...products/12v-6ah-lfp-battery-black-w-pvc-pack
I still have an anker battery pack like above for less power hungry applications.