Last year the power banks became popular, even though they’ve been around for awhile.
For the last month or so I’ve been assembling my own 5v power banks mostly from stuff I got from Goldmine Electronics. Last year I got some green 6 volt NiMH battery packs from them and I hadn’t found a use for them. Then this year they sold some power banks so I got ten of them for a few dollars each. They’re Zap! model RX-4 and come with a pouch with a cable and interchangeable tips. They take four AA rechargeables (not included). I had to cut off the green shrink tubing and remove one of the 5 cells (5 cells = 6 volts).
The cells were slightly larger diameter than a AA cell, so four of them were about 3/8 inch or 9 mm wider. I had to cut out one side of the battery pack and lid to get them to fit. I soldered them in and held them and the lid to the pack by wrapping the pack with black electrical tape. Looks ugly but it works!
The reason the packs were cheap is that they don’t have a micro USB connector to charge them. Instead they have a mini coaxial power jack. Coincidentally Goldmine sold 5 volt 1/2 amp AC adapters with the matching plug. I bought a bunch of those so I was all set to charge the power bank!
I also installed four AA rechargeables in another one and it works just fine with the adapter. The power bank has four green LEDs to tell if it’s charged or needs to be charged. I think they went out once when the power bank was fully charged, but I haven’t always seen them go out, even when charged overnight.
I have also taped two battery packs together to get 12 volts. I connected them to a 12 volt to 5 volt converter and put them in a plastic soap dish. It works good, too, but it’s too big to fit in my pocket. The 4 cell power bank fits just fine.
I have also bought several other power banks, but my friends have talked me out of a few of them. Last week I went to Fry’s Electronics and as I walked down the checkout aisle I saw single cell power banks for $5.00 each, so I grabbed five of them. This week I had to go back for some micro SD cards and saw they had raised the price from $5 to $12! Last week the Samsung 32G EVO SD cards were $14.99, this week they are $29.99. Glad I bought them last week!
I have to assemble a few more of these so I can use up the batteries. If I don’t they will lay around until they go bad.
I realize that this is a labor of love, because I spend more time and money than if I just ordered power banks online. About the only advantage is I can easily identify them if they get misplaced or stolen. Like, how many people have a power bank with a green battery bulging out the side and taped up with electrical tape? 😛
Update Mar 5 – I put a second one together. It only took about a half hour, mostly the cutting off the plastic case. Works, but I need to charge it up overnight.
