Exploring an Anker power bank

Video Description

I think the most important knowledge to be gleaned from this exploration, is that Anker power banks may have a reset procedure if they crash or lock-out for any reason. That could be holding the button in for a suitably long time, pressing a concealed reset button in the bigger power brick units, or using a USB cable to connect the charge port to an output port. If you have a locked up power bank, then check online to find what works with your model. Be careful if attempting to open a power bank, especially if it is fully charged. The lithium cells inside can hold a lot of energy and release it very quickly when damaged. It's also important to avoid shorting the connections on lithium cells while removing/reusing them. Make sure they are stored with bare contacts taped up to avoid accidental shorts during storage. If disposing of a lithium cell, I strongly recommend fully discharging it down to near zero volts to make it safer. The circuitry in this unit is surprisingly complex. It has several distinct sections. The strangely complex boost circuit that steps the incoming power on the micro-USB port to a higher voltage to charge the series/parallel cluster of cells, the two cell protection circuitry, the efficient buck converter that regulates the lithium battery voltage back down from 6-8.4V to 5V, and the port identification and protection sections on each output. All managed by a microcontroller that also displays remaining capacity. Although I wanted to go deeper and do a full reverse engineer on it, the fairly packed double sided PCB would have made it very tricky probing on both sides simultaneously. Just the charge boost circuit on its own would have been very time consuming to reverse engineer, and may have been under software control anyway. Quite an interesting and sensibly designed unit though. The cells are marked as being made in Japan and have the code NCR18650B MH12210 If the markings are real then the cells are possibly in excess of 3000mAh. If you enjoy my videos, you can help support the channel with a dollar or two for coffee, cookies and gadgets, and keep it independent from the quirks of the YouTube algorithm by supporting me on Patreon. Which also lets me link to my content on other platforms if YouTube uses the ban-hammer (again!) I release content for critique and feedback on Patreon as soon as it has been made. https://www.patreon.com/bigclive Alternatively, for a single contribution you can use PayPal:- https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/bigclive #ElectronicsCreators