Hello everyone - I've used CPF for a while for info on batteries and flashlights. I thought it was about time I gave something back / contribute.
I bought the Nitecore F4 from Amazon in the UK and overall I think it's a good powerbank for 1 to 4 protected/unprotected 18650 cells which are replaceable. I use it to charge batteries from a portable solar panel. The main point I want to make here is that the current draw whilst it is off is quite high. I saw an in depth review elsewhere on the internet that stated that the current draw whilst off was 4mA from a single cell, but this load was shared with other cells if the other bays are populated. My testing suggests that this is not the case - I see around 4.5mA current draw when the bank is 'off' from ALL inserted cells regardless of how many 18650 cells are installed. Maybe there is an issue with my setup - I'm happy for someone to point this out.
When the F4 is on I see the current draw as 119-137mA when the backlight is on, around 93-118mA when the backlight is off (across all cells). When the F4 is off, around 4.5mA current draw across all cells. I think this is high enough to not keep cells in the powerbank for more than a few days. 4.5mA = 108mAh per day = 756mAh per week. This is on all installed cells. This does seem a bit strange to me, maybe there's something in my setup that I'm doing wrong...
(PS - I want to say thank you to HKJ, I've used lygte-info for a long time and never realised it was your website until I registered on CPF! Really appreciate your reviews, thanks.)
I bought the Nitecore F4 from Amazon in the UK and overall I think it's a good powerbank for 1 to 4 protected/unprotected 18650 cells which are replaceable. I use it to charge batteries from a portable solar panel. The main point I want to make here is that the current draw whilst it is off is quite high. I saw an in depth review elsewhere on the internet that stated that the current draw whilst off was 4mA from a single cell, but this load was shared with other cells if the other bays are populated. My testing suggests that this is not the case - I see around 4.5mA current draw when the bank is 'off' from ALL inserted cells regardless of how many 18650 cells are installed. Maybe there is an issue with my setup - I'm happy for someone to point this out.
When the F4 is on I see the current draw as 119-137mA when the backlight is on, around 93-118mA when the backlight is off (across all cells). When the F4 is off, around 4.5mA current draw across all cells. I think this is high enough to not keep cells in the powerbank for more than a few days. 4.5mA = 108mAh per day = 756mAh per week. This is on all installed cells. This does seem a bit strange to me, maybe there's something in my setup that I'm doing wrong...
(PS - I want to say thank you to HKJ, I've used lygte-info for a long time and never realised it was your website until I registered on CPF! Really appreciate your reviews, thanks.)
