Can I use Power bank that uses 18650 li-ion batteries

mark17

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I wanted to set up power bank that use 18650, can I use that to power dash camera in parking mood.
I think one power bank is enough to power the dash cam for 48 hours
for example the one that is below.
 

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Depending on the dashcam and it's parking mode specs. Some run their parking mode on 5V and some on 12V.
 
The vast majority of power banks on the market use 18650 li-ion batteries. Some use large lithium polymer packs. All of them will power any dash cam that requires 5V.

There are also a number of similar power banks that offer 12V output available nowadays if you should happen to have a dash cam that requires 12V.

I find that a 20,000 mAh power bank provides the best all around run-times for general use. This should provide 48 hour run-time for most dash cams, or at least close to that.
 
Thank you very much for your respond!
I was planning to install Viofo A119s in the front, and the back will be Blueskysea B1W.
The reason I wanted to have a dash cam because, I had hit and run that damaged my front pumper.
 
I regularly run two dash cams off of a single 20,000 mAh power bank when parked. I've tested a single camera (SG9665GC) for as much as 54 hours. Two cams might run for half that time on a new power bank but as the banks age expect to get less run-time.

NYC can be a tough environment for car bumpers, especially when parked. I know because at one time I used to live there.
 
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Depends on the watt hour of the pack. The Viofo cams use 5 volts at 1a from what I read so almost all power banks will handle it without issue. As for how long it runs is another story. I I look up watt hour (Wh) ratings and pay no attention to mAh ratings on packs as many manufacturers list the mAh ratings at 3.7 volts and some go as far as counting the cells and then adding up all the mAh of each cell which results is a WILDLY inflated value. There is a reason why my Backup battery + diy battery which is properly rated at under 18,000 mAh gets 60+ hours on my dual camera dash cam. It is more difficult to lie about the Wh ratings though and they usually list that correctly.

A 228.5 Wh battery gave my dual cameras approximately 63 hours of runtime. A single camera might get close to double that time. With some quick math, I get 1 hour for every 3.63 Wh of capacity. Since I am using LiFePO4 cells, no converter is needed though and that does prevent any conversion loses so your results may vary. 3.5 Wh should be more accurate if using regular LiIon cells as they usually run the cells all in parallel and boost the voltage to 5v.

If you don't have any cameras, I highly suggest you get a dual channel one as it does increase the efficiency, installation is easier, cost less, and using a single memory card is more convenient vs using two cameras. If you already have a 1 channel, it's fine.

Sorry for the wall of text :sleep:
 
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I bought a couple of cheap 26800mAh battery packs off amazon, they seem to run down a lot quicker than expected, I wonder if the the mAh rating is based @ 3.7v as they seem to peform worse than my 20000mAh anker pack.
 
I bought a couple of cheap 26800mAh battery packs off amazon, they seem to run down a lot quicker than expected, I wonder if the the mAh rating is based @ 3.7v as they seem to peform worse than my 20000mAh anker pack.
Nearly all USB powerbanks measure capacity at 3.7V, the decent ones also give a Wh figure, and that is the one to use, not mAh, a 20000mAh bank should be around 74Wh.
Might need a few charge cycles to get to full capacity.
If they weigh less than 400g then they are fake.
 
I bought a couple of cheap 26800mAh battery packs off amazon, they seem to run down a lot quicker than expected, I wonder if the the mAh rating is based @ 3.7v as they seem to peform worse than my 20000mAh anker pack.

Many of the cheap generic Chinese power banks sold on Amazon make bogus exaggerated claims for their capacity and often use inferior quality, poorly manufactured battery cells that don't perform well or last long.

In the "old" days (6 years or so ago) these cheap banks were just about all that was available with few exceptions but now with the rise of companies like Anker, RAVpower, PowerADD, etc, we have excellent quality power banks available with quality electronics and good cells that also come with warranties and worthy customer service. It's best to stick with those brands.
 
I made a little power switching device that switches power from the car to the power bank when the car is turned off... check out my posts if you are interested.
 
 
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