Any PowerBank users out there?

“Half the power?” As long as it has more than a 10,000 mah I’ll be happy. I was originally going to go for 10,000 but the price wasn’t too bad on this one.
mAh (milli Amp hours) is not a measure of how much power the powerbank can hold.
Wh (Watt hours) is the measure of power.

While a 20,000mAh powerbank often has twice the capacity of a 10,000mAh powerbank, there is no guarantee, if the 10,000mAh powerbank operates internally at twice the voltage because the 2 cells are connected in series instead of parallel then they will both have the same power capacity.

So always check the Wh value to see how much power a powerbank, or any other battery, can hold. If they don't give Wh in the spec, it will be because they are trying to trick you!
 
I installed a low voltage cut off device instead of one of these. My camera has run 24/7 on my jeep battery with no issues. It will disconnect at 12.1v if need be but has not reached that if I drive everyday.

My calculations were the powr banks could not keep up all night and dangerous to keep charging litium ion in the hot car all the time.

As mentioned, a good quality power bank with adequate capacity will certainly run a dash cam overnight. Lithium-ion power banks really should not be charged in cars though for a variety of reasons, including temperature extremes, shock and vibrations and they should never be charged at the same time they are discharging unless they have specific circuitry that allows for that function which very few power banks have.

I bring my power banks inside at the end of the day, let them rest for a while then charge them to capacity. Lithium batteries that have been driven hard all day in the stressful environment of an automobile with temperatures changes, vibrations and occasional shocks will benefit from being allowed to settle down and stabilize to room temperature before charging. My oldest power bank, a 20,000 mAh generic I paid twenty two dollars for is now four and one half years old, has been in nearly daily service throughout the whole time in all kinds of extreme hot and cold weather and still has about a third of its original charge capacity left on it. I recently took it out of service for running dash cams in parking mode in my vehicle out of an abundance of caution thinking that if ever there might be an issue with a power bank in a hot vehicle it might be with one that has seen this much use. As lithium cells age they develop dendrites within the electrolyte which is one of the primary contributing causes of batteries losing their capacity and the ultimate cause of lithium battery fires and explosions. https://www.electronicproducts.com/...do_they_cause_fires_in_lithium_batteries.aspx

For many folks a battery discharge prevention device is a good or even better alternative to using power banks. I had originally planned to go that route but found that power banks work well for me and I don't mind charging them once every day or two. I also live in a climate that experiences extreme low temperatures during the winter months and prefer not to put additional load on my truck's battery running four cameras full time.
 
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This is what a battery bank can look like siting in a car. This was in my wife's car and it was in a the center compartment. Granted here in San Antonio, TX the temperatures are the kind you dance with the devil at the moment. Notice the bulge in the case in the middle.
cba7981e1c44f6f70c2d148bce683c35.jpg
901dbafbbad6b36189120cf384c5db13.jpg


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If that power bank was in an enclosed center compartment in a hot car, that probably contributed to the battery's swelling. When it gets really hot out I put my power banks under my seat in such a way as to allow air to circulate over them. I crack the windows open a bit and also have a thermometer in my vehicle and keep an eye on the temps. On a few rare occasions on very hot days I've taken the banks out of parking mode service until I am under way again with the air conditoning on.
 
Great posts guys thanks, I will read all those links in a bit but I am curious about another thing that I don’t think anyone mentioned but it is a more specific question. I noticed that my new power bank, when you plug in something like an iPhone you then have to press the button on the power bank and then the digital readout for percentage pops up and then it starts charging. But I’m wondering about when I set my dash cam on motion detection (which it always is anyway)or parking mode overnight, each time the dash cam will shut off after 3 minutes, it should not turn off the power bank right? It SHOULD be still feeding power to the dashcam after motion detection detects nothing? Just wondering if these Powerbanks turn themselves off if they detect no need for current?

Just want to be clear on that. I am not able to test this yet because I am visiting family on my hometown and not driving much this week.


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Great posts guys thanks, I will read all those links in a bit but I am curious about another thing that I don’t think anyone mentioned but it is a more specific question. I noticed that my new power bank, when you plug in something like an iPhone you then have to press the button on the power bank and then the digital readout for percentage pops up and then it starts charging. But I’m wondering about when I set my dash cam on motion detection (which it always is anyway)or parking mode overnight, each time the dash cam will shut off after 3 minutes, it should not turn off the power bank right? It SHOULD be still feeding power to the dashcam after motion detection detects nothing? Just wondering if these Powerbanks turn themselves off if they detect no need for current?

Just want to be clear on that. I am not able to test this yet because I am visiting family on my hometown and not driving much this week.


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Most if not all power banks will turn themselves OFF when they no longer detect current being drawn from them. Many, but not all will turn themselves ON as soon as you plug a device in. Some require you to press the power button. When a dash cam is set to record with motion detection it is still "ON" and drawing current from the power bank even when it is not actually recording, so you should be fine. Of course, it would be a good idea to do some testing to confirm how your particular set-up is functioning.
 
This is what a battery bank can look like siting in a car. This was in my wife's car and it was in a the center compartment. Granted here in San Antonio, TX the temperatures are the kind you dance with the devil at the moment. Notice the bulge in the case in the middle.
cba7981e1c44f6f70c2d148bce683c35.jpg
901dbafbbad6b36189120cf384c5db13.jpg


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Yup I plan to only use my power bank when I’m in the underground Parkade and all night long so it should not be too hot even in the summer but I’m wondering if the trunk would be a better place to leave it when I go driving? Under the seat might be a good idea as mentioned above, provided there is room ha ha you can’t believe how many cables and stuff are under a seat now on a newer car. I have lost change under my seat I can’t even get at it :p

During the day I will run the direct current to the cigar lighter socket. But I dont want to run upstairs when I want to drive somewhere so I would like to keep it in the car somewhere until it needs charging again.

Hopefully I can use the centre counsel overnight as it slowly discharges to power the dash cam and it won’t get too hot. I will definitely check to see how much room is under my passenger seat when I set this up because I did a pretty good job of hiding my dashcam cable with clips under the dash and around my windshield, etc and the USB end comes out near the side of the passenger side.

I will make a video of all this next week.


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Most if not all power banks will turn themselves OFF when they no longer detect current being drawn from them. Many, but not all will turn themselves ON as soon as you plug a device in. Some require you to press the power button. When a dash cam is set to record with motion detection it is still "ON" and drawing current from the power bank even when it is not actually recording, so you should be fine. Of course, it would be a good idea to do some testing to confirm how your particular set-up is functioning.

That’s what I wanted to hear!!! Sure will. In fact I might try to get outside right now and test it out. Will make that vid of the dashcam and how I might rig it up.


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Ok here it is. I forgot to show under the car seats that there is NO ROOM for anything. Steel bars, cables and electric power seat motors would make it impossible to put it there.



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Ok here it is. I forgot to show under the car seats that there is NO ROOM for anything. Steel bars, cables and electric power seat motors would make it impossible to put it there.



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Looks great! If you are only going to use your power bank in an an underground garage you should be fine with it inside the enclosed center "glove box". Perhaps during the daytime when you are out and about it would be best to find a cooler, unenclosed spot for storing the power bank though?
 
Looks great! If you are only going to use your power bank in an an underground garage you should be fine with it inside the enclosed center "glove box". Perhaps during the daytime when you are out and about it would be best to find a cooler, unenclosed spot for storing the power bank though?

Ya agreed. Might not always feel like running upstairs though before I drive ha ha so if I don’t I’m thinking the trunk but I would always leave the windows down a little if I’m parked and I have to leave in the counsel, but will try to bring it in the house.

Just did a review of the dashcam itself, as well as a sample video....

If you don’t have Tapatalk it is in the Dashcam Review section

RSC Nano
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...dex.php?threads/RSC-Nano-.35525/&share_type=t



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May as well post the sample vid here as well. Pretty good quality. It is a Sony CMOS sensor, 160 degree view at 1080p and 30 frames a second.

In the review for the dashcam I did mention that if you are near your home wifi or a friends house signal, the iPhone has to be off or away from that home wifi signal to start recording. I know when it starts to record because it beeps 3 times. Odd.



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Yeah, Zendure is one of the few companies that offers power banks with the appropriate circuitry for true pass-through-charging. The only drawback is that they are very costly when compared to other power banks with similar capacity.
Then again, for many the extra cost may be well worth it to have that capability. The one thing to consider though is that even with pass-through-charging, no lithium-ion power banks should be left in a vehicle permanently. Power banks can NOT be charged when they are in sub freezing temperatures and should never be left full time inside a hot car, even when they are not in use.
 
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Yeah, Zendure is one of the few companies that offers power banks with the appropriate circuitry for true pass-through-charging. The only drawback is that they are very costly when compared to other power banks with similar capacity.
Then again, for many the extra cost may be well worth it to have that capability. The one thing to consider though is that even with pass-through-charging, no lithium-ion power banks should be left in a vehicle permanently. Power banks can NOT be charged when they are in sub freezing temperatures and should never be left full time inside a hot car, even when they are not in use.

That what i call one sound advise, luckily here in BC sunshine cost we are blessed with a nice weather, but never the less you are 100% correct, in my case they the Zendure being used frequently as i do not plug in the battery charger most of the time.
even that i should consider unplug it more frequently and let it discharge to say 30%
as for the price amazon had a sale few month back and it was sub 40 USD for the A8
 
That what i call one sound advise, luckily here in BC sunshine cost we are blessed with a nice weather, but never the less you are 100% correct, in my case they the Zendure being used frequently as i do not plug in the battery charger most of the time.
even that i should consider unplug it more frequently and let it discharge to say 30%
as for the price amazon had a sale few month back and it was sub 40 USD for the A8

In Sask. we can easily get down to -35 or colder so I wouldn’t leave it in the car. Even fanbelts, hoses and brake components can break when it is that cold. The good thing is my underground Parkade never gets colder than about -15c and because it would be out of the wind (Canadians know a lot about how windchill can make all the difference) I wonder if an average of -10 to -15 would be bad for it?

I think heat is the real killer of batteries isn’t it? I know it would never accept a charge in extreme cold and that’s why people here use electric heated battery warmers on the car battery so there is cranking power and it accepts a charge right away also.


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Also I was wondering about conditioning this Battery Bank. I have done one cycle of full charge, took it down to 5% (it starts flashing at 5%) then to 100%.

Is ONE full charging cycle enough to get it to full efficiency of should I repeat this process a few times?


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In Sask. we can easily get down to -35 or colder so I wouldn’t leave it in the car. Even fanbelts, hoses and brake components can break when it is that cold. The good thing is my underground Parkade never gets colder than about -15c and because it would be out of the wind (Canadians know a lot about how windchill can make all the difference) I wonder if an average of -10 to -15 would be bad for it?

I think heat is the real killer of batteries isn’t it? I know it would never accept a charge in extreme cold and that’s why people here use electric heated battery warmers on the car battery so there is cranking power and it accepts a charge right away also.


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I know , trust me i lived in goosbay labrador , jan/01/1990 was a bombing -75 C with the woind chill factor !!!!
 
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