18650 power bank

So having got into 18650"s this year & getting some decent cells, chargers & DMM I am now thinking of buying an 18650 power bank enclosure to put my own cells in.
Any recommendations ?
I am thinking of getting this one by Soshine http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151752857352?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
It takes 4 x 18650"s & has 5v USB outlets of 1A & 2.1A.

i have Tomo V8-4 coming in, looks like a nice plasticky one with on/off switch. i can't recommend it yet, still need to test it. there are lots of reviews on the WWW, mostly positive.

http://club.dx.com/reviews/285415/656941

The Soshine looks very very similar to this Tomo power bank http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tomo-Port...109147?hash=item25b0451c1b:g:EiMAAOSwo0JWJyxi but a bit cheaper & white not black ?

Looks nice. Be aware that the total output of the power bank is 2A per the documentation, so that if you are charging an iPad on the 2.4A jack, that is all that is available. I don't know if that means the 1A jack would just be dead, or if whatever was being drawn from the 1A jack would be subtracted from the 2.4A jack. Also, that is my interpretation, you might want to ask the seller to make sure.

For any power bank, keep in mind that there is an approximate 10%-20% power loss due to the voltage conversion circuitry in the power bank. Then there will be a similar power loss in the device being charged as well. It means a big hit on the available charging capacity, but for the most part that is made up by the ability to have a portable source of power not tied to anything.

At that price, if I was buying it, I would buy one and put a single cell into it just to check how well it works and holds up. If it seems okay, I would buy a second, and fill both of them with 2300 mAh or 2600 mAh cells. That way I would cut down on the cost of cells compared to the more expensive 3400-3600 mAh cells, and have two power banks available. Just like with lights - "One is None and Two is One!"

These "1A" and "2.1A" jacks in reality, are just wired to same supply. They just difer by resistor dividers on DATA pins, so apple devices will know how much current to consume, that's all.

As has been said there is an Soshine and an Tomo version of the charger, I have the Soshine version, I have we think a newer version that shows the ma being used while charging a phone/tablet ect, the older version only shows the battery levels.

John.

bella-headlight said:

So having got into 18650"s this year & getting some decent cells, chargers & DMM I am now thinking of buying an 18650 power bank enclosure to put my own cells in.
Any recommendations ?
I am thinking of getting this one by Soshine http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151752857352?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
It takes 4 x 18650"s & has 5v USB outlets of 1A & 2.1A.

Click to expand...

TinderBox (UK) said:

As has been said there is an Soshine and an Tomo version of the charger, I have the Soshine version, I have we think a newer version that shows the ma being used while charging a phone/tablet ect, the older version only shows the battery levels.

John.

Click to expand...

Hi John, do you have a link to the Soshine one in your pic as I can only find the one I have already linked to, a Soshine E3 or the Tomo equivalent ?

kreisl said:

i have Tomo V8-4 coming in, looks like a nice plasticky one with on/off switch. i can't recommend it yet, still need to test it. there are lots of reviews on the WWW, mostly positive.

http://club.dx.com/reviews/285415/656941

Click to expand...

From what I can tell the Soshine E4 & Tomo V8-4 are the same power bank.
From what I have read they are not bad as far as 18650 power banks go.
It would be nice to have the digital read outs as on Tinderbox"s version though.

Hi.

This is the the guy i bough my Soshine from, but it`s been a couple of months and he only had two left, so this could be new stock, but is it the new version with the charging ma or the old version with just the battery gauge, maybe you can ask him to check.

My Sohine does not have an model or version number to help identify an new ma gauge version.

eBay item number: 151752857352



John

Thanks John, that is actually the seller & item number of the one I am looking at, I will message the seller & ask if he has them with the ma readouts as opposed to voltage bars.
Either way I think I will buy 2 as I have 18 laptop pulls & should get 8 serviceable cells from them hopefully.
12 are showing good voltage but I am waiting for a Liitokala Engineer 500 analysing charger to arrive so that I can find out their actaul ma capacities.

Yeah, That is the Guy i bought mine from, my listing is below, I got mine for £6.99 it was an auction and i was the only bidder.

As i said dont assume he is selling the newer version that show the charging ma, he might have the old version now, send him a message and ask, but speaking to an non English speaker can be fun.

One negative with the version that shows the "charging ma" is you cannot see how much power is left in the power bank, until the charge is finished or the power bank runs empty.

It is an Soshine E3

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/161876759354?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

John.

bella-headlight said:

Thanks John, that is actually the seller & item number of the one I am looking at, I will message the seller & ask if he has them with the ma readouts as opposed to voltage bars.
Either way I think I will buy 2 as I have 18 laptop pulls & should get 8 serviceable cells from them hopefully.
12 are showing good voltage but I am waiting for a Liitokala Engineer 500 analysing charger to arrive so that I can find out their actaul ma capacities.

Click to expand...

That listing you have put
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1618767593...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
shows the model with charge bars so maybe the one with the charge bars as opposed to ma readout is the newer version ?
The model with charge bars is an E3 model also & is exactly the same as the Tomo V8-4.
I have searched everywhere I can think & can only find the Soshine E3/Tomo V8-4 with charge bars not ma readout.

I did not know i was getting the newer version with the ma, I was just expecting to get the one with the bars.

Most seller are likely using the old photo`s, keep looking or ask the seller.

John.

Ok understood, I have messaged the seller asking him which version he is selling.
Thanks for all your help.

Interesting this box has pictures of the battery gauge and the digital output readout in the description
I wonder if you can switch between the displays.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item-img/Original-Brand-Soshine-E3-Mobile-Power-Boxes-4-Slot-18650-Charger-Free-Shipping/1666482914.html#

The Soshine shows the battery level bars until you connect a device you want to charge then the display changes to show the charging ma on the two usb ports.

John.

Lynx_Arc said:

Interesting this box has pictures of the battery gauge and the digital output readout in the description
I wonder if you can switch between the displays.
http://www.aliexpress.com/item-img/...-18650-Charger-Free-Shipping/1666482914.html#

Click to expand...

Right so the Soshine E3 shows both battery level bars & charging ma depending on whether a device is being charged from it ?
In that case I will order the one in my earlier link

It only switches to the charging ma on the newer version, so ask the seller before buying.

John.

bella-headlight said:

Right so the Soshine E3 shows both battery level bars & charging ma depending on whether a device is being charged from it ?
In that case I will order the one in my earlier link

Click to expand...

Ok I will wait for a reply from the seller before buying, although I will probably buy the item whether it shows charging ma or not.
Thanks again for the help.

Did you see the teardown of the tomo version, this one does NOT show the charging ma.

http://powercartel.com/teardowns/tomo-v8-4-soshine-e3-diy-usb-power-bank-teardown/

John.