Any thoughts on power packs?

[squee]

I live in New England, which means that in all probability I will lose power for some amount of time this winter. So I've started looking around for some sort of usb power pack. But they all seem to have different voltage outputs. I've got Halo Tritons and G6's, both of which also have different power needs - but since they each have a usb charger, I'm thinking if I could find something that has a similar output to a computer usb port, they'd both work right?

this is one of those things that makes you miss smoking. Last time we were without power for a week - but I had a couple cartons of smokes and a lighter - not something I had to worry about. Now? I'm gonna need power

 

[devauto]

Yeah, power is important! I don't have any recommendations, other than to say that the last time we lost power I used a car charger ... it worked for me.

 

[rico942]

I live in New England, which means that in all probability I will lose power for some amount of time this winter. So I've started looking around for some sort of usb power pack. But they all seem to have different voltage outputs. I've got Halo Tritons and G6's, both of which also have different power needs - but since they each have a usb charger, I'm thinking if I could find something that has a similar output to a computer usb port, they'd both work right?

this is one of those things that makes you miss smoking. Last time we were without power for a week - but I had a couple cartons of smokes and a lighter - not something I had to worry about. Now? I'm gonna need power

I bought a solar PCC on impulse, but its turned out to be very useful. Been leaving it on the windowsill during the day, and charging batteries with it at night. Haven't used a wall charger for weeks now ...

In a climate with real weather, I suppose you could survive with a car charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket. Kind of ironic ...

 

[stylezuk]

When i was using Ego with pass through i'd carry a cheap £6 1800mah power pack and a Duracell 900mah found no issues using since USB is generally 0.5A - 0.9A a charger normally provides 1.5A yes there are some that provide more like Apple chargers etc but as a standard you'll be fine with so many portable USB power packs available.

 

[zoiDman]

I live in New England, which means that in all probability I will lose power for some amount of time this winter. So I've started looking around for some sort of usb power pack. But they all seem to have different voltage outputs. I've got Halo Tritons and G6's, both of which also have different power needs - but since they each have a usb charger, I'm thinking if I could find something that has a similar output to a computer usb port, they'd both work right?

this is one of those things that makes you miss smoking. Last time we were without power for a week - but I had a couple cartons of smokes and a lighter - not something I had to worry about. Now? I'm gonna need power

I have a couple of Power Banks and they work Great for Camping or if the Power goes Out.

9,800mAh External Laptop Battery.

One thing I would suggest is to get one that has at least 1 USB Port with 2 Amp output. That way you could use something like this...

$5.58 Variable Voltage USB Passthrough for E-Cigarette at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping

Also, you might want to check to see what the Auto Time Off Time is. I bought a 12,000mah Power Bank off e-Bay for like 12 Bucks. It works great and can drive a Variable Voltage Passthrough.

But it shuts off so Quickly that unless you Chain vape, you have to push the On Button to turn it on about every hit. Kinda Annoying.

 

[Thrasher]

In a climate with real weather, I suppose you could survive with a car charger that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket. Kind of ironic ...

LOL same sentiment down here.


I have a solar charger from amazon, puts out 2 amps and a usb powered xtar charger for 18650 myself

just get one of the cheap 4 cell packs and toss in 4 3400mah batteries.

 

[MorpheusPA]

A USB output should always be between 4.75 and 5.25 volts. If it isn't, it's non-standard and I'd avoid it. I've built USB chargers and always pin them in this range--or even tighter to 5 volts if I can (and one usually can).

Amps will vary, usually from 0.1 to 2.0, and most e-cigs should be able to handle amperages anywhere in that range--but will charge much more slowly at 0.1. Personally, I'd consider 0.5 amps the minimum usable output but probably wouldn't sneeze if it were 0.4 instead.

Capacity is all over the place, from below 1,000 mAh to well over 10,000 mAh--and that's going to relate to how much time you get off your batteries. If you divide the mAh rating by 100 you should get close to the number of vaping hours stored in the battery (but it'll vary widely if you're a light or heavy vaper as opposed to average). So the 1,000 mAh will give you about 10 hours, the 10,000 mAh will give about 100 hours (assuming you're awake 16 hours a day, about 6 days). Not including charger inefficiency, which will also vary a lot and you probably won't know that.

Off the cuff, glancing at Amazon, USB packs at 0.5 - 1.0 amps output (fine) and around 5,000-6,000 mAh (50-60 hours) seem readily available and cheap enough to buy two or three if you want to be sure about backup.

For extremely extended outages like the Northeast had during Hurricane Sandy, solar power might be a better way to go--but the amps output usually won't be that high, and drops severely in anything but full sun. Still, some power is better than no power.

 

[squee]

Thanks for all the info! I hadn't thought about a laptop charger, shall have to investigate that further.

I guess what was making me confused or concerned is so many seem to say they put out like 1A or 1.3A or 2.1A, etc.. and I don't want to fry my charger or battery. But if I could use the 1A to charge a battery and maybe the 2A for a pass-thru (I have one from Halo that I'm using right now - have no clue what the power draw would be on that though).

Do you think this would be okay? Gorilla Gadgets Uhuru! 8400mAh External Portable Battery Pack Charger

 

[zoiDman]

Thanks for all the info! I hadn't thought about a laptop charger, shall have to investigate that further.

I guess what was making me confused or concerned is so many seem to say they put out like 1A or 1.3A or 2.1A, etc.. and I don't want to fry my charger or battery. But if I could use the 1A to charge a battery and maybe the 2A for a pass-thru (I have one from Halo that I'm using right now - have no clue what the power draw would be on that though).

Do you think this would be okay? Gorilla Gadgets Uhuru! 8400mAh External Portable Battery Pack Charger

You should be fine with a Power Bank like what you Linked to.

Your Charger should only take the Amps that it needs. But it can't take what isn't there. And some Cell Phones, GPS, Etc need more than 2 Amps. That and many Passthroughs need at Least 1 amp.

Before you buy, I would check out Amazon.com. It's nice to be able to read Lots of Views on something like a Power Bank.