Portable USB power

[elise2000]

Hi all

Is there a power bank that can power 5 usb devices (4 LED lights and a digital recorder) then be recharged at home? Needs to hold enough power to power these for an hour or so max

Can’t quite find anything quite right on Google

Thanks in advance

[indigochim]

There are power banks that have 5 outputs on amazon but I dint recognise the brand names.

What power draw are the devices you plan to run? It sounds a peculiar setup. Would 2 3 port banks not be acceptable it will likely be as cheap?

[hiccy18]

Get a decent power bank and a USB hub.

[OutInTheShed]

There are all sorts of things out there, including 12V power banks, things that will start cars etc etc.

Loads of things on ebay which are described as being a gazillion mAh, which is clearly a lie, but they probably do a job.

Have a look at 'jackery'.

I put a LiFePO4 battery in a box with a few 12V > USB converters for a mate.

Many options!

[Mont Blanc]

Akner have loads of options for this sort of big capacity USB hub stuff:

https://www.anker.com/uk/products/a17260z1?variant...

As said above, you need to work out the wattage drawn by your equipment, but I would be surprised if something like the Anker C200 or C300 wasn't way more than enough. Both have the number of USB ports you require.

Unlike unbranded stuff, the Anker stuff will actually do what it says on the box. If it says the battery is 288Wh, then it will be.

Edited by Mont Blanc on Sunday 2nd February 20:44

[elise2000]

indigochim said:

There are power banks that have 5 outputs on amazon but I dint recognise the brand names.

What power draw are the devices you plan to run? It sounds a peculiar setup. Would 2 3 port banks not be acceptable it will likely be as cheap?

It’s to power:
X4 of https://www.bandm.co.uk/k-m-concert-light-12248.ht...
X1 of https://zoomcorp.com/en/gb/handheld-recorders/hand...

Yes two separate banks would be fine

[paralla]

elise2000 said:

It’s to power:
X4 of https://www.bandm.co.uk/k-m-concert-light-12248.ht...
X1 of https://zoomcorp.com/en/gb/handheld-recorders/hand...

Yes two separate banks would be fine

The concert lights are not USB powered. They are either mains powered or can use AAA batteries.

[biggiles]

elise2000 said:

indigochim said:

There are power banks that have 5 outputs on amazon but I dint recognise the brand names.

What power draw are the devices you plan to run? It sounds a peculiar setup. Would 2 3 port banks not be acceptable it will likely be as cheap?

It’s to power:
X4 of https://www.bandm.co.uk/k-m-concert-light-12248.ht...
X1 of https://zoomcorp.com/en/gb/handheld-recorders/hand...

Yes two separate banks would be fine

All of those devices run off AA/AAA batteries. In the case of the H6 audio record it will run for 20 hours off AAs, which is well beyond your requirement of 1 hour. Why not stick with AA/AAA batteries and avoid lots of wires everywhere.

Alkaline AAs are easy, but if you are recording every day, then look at NiMH rechargeables: Get a big 12-wide charger which plugs into USB-C (I have a couple of "hiQuick" ones off Amazon which work fine), then you can easily charge up a spare set in the car/house if you are concerned about running out.

[elise2000]

paralla said:

elise2000 said:

It’s to power:
X4 of https://www.bandm.co.uk/k-m-concert-light-12248.ht...
X1 of https://zoomcorp.com/en/gb/handheld-recorders/hand...

Yes two separate banks would be fine

The concert lights are not USB powered. They are either mains powered or can use AAA batteries.

They are- it’s a usb cable that goes from the battery pack and plugged into the plug.

[elise2000]

biggiles said:

elise2000 said:

indigochim said:

There are power banks that have 5 outputs on amazon but I dint recognise the brand names.

What power draw are the devices you plan to run? It sounds a peculiar setup. Would 2 3 port banks not be acceptable it will likely be as cheap?

It’s to power:
X4 of https://www.bandm.co.uk/k-m-concert-light-12248.ht...
X1 of https://zoomcorp.com/en/gb/handheld-recorders/hand...

Yes two separate banks would be fine

All of those devices run off AA/AAA batteries. In the case of the H6 audio record it will run for 20 hours off AAs, which is well beyond your requirement of 1 hour. Why not stick with AA/AAA batteries and avoid lots of wires everywhere.

Alkaline AAs are easy, but if you are recording every day, then look at NiMH rechargeables: Get a big 12-wide charger which plugs into USB-C (I have a couple of "hiQuick" ones off Amazon which work fine), then you can easily charge up a spare set in the car/house if you are concerned about running out.

We’ve been using alkaline batteries, but the trouble is some players use the light the whole time, some barely at all, some on low brightness, some on high, so they don’t last the same amount of hours. Therefore we end up changing batteries every couple of concerts just in case, which is wasteful and the cost adds up.

Fair point about the wires, although these could be nearly tied to stands.

Rechargeable batteries not a bad shout.

Thanks

[paralla]

elise2000 said:

They are- it’s a usb cable that goes from the battery pack and plugged into the plug.

So they are. It's not mentioned on their web page.



Rechargeable AAA batteries is probably the neatest solution with a big battery charger, something like this.
https://amzn.eu/d/fpGm9L2

[PugwasHDJ80]

Depends how much you want to spend....

you could just buy 5 of these:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-10000mAh-portable-...

and each light could have its own bank- you'd just need to charge 5 units back up again (which could be done off a powered USB Hub)

Or you could go a bit left field and use one of these and a hub:
https://gooloo.uk/collections/frontpage/products/g...
I've used one on a camping trip to power the camp lights and recharge phones

or if you wanted more flexibility, you could invest in multiple batteries along with a USB inverter from Ryobi- this would allow you to have spare emergency batteries, and you can recharge the batteries much faster:
https://uk.ryobitools.eu/garden-tools/lifestyle/po...

Or if you want to do it really properly you can go for a portable power pack..... these are often used by overlanders and expeditions, something like
Anker 767 https://www.anker.com/uk/products/a1780
a jackery explorer https://uk.jackery.com/products/explorer-500w-port...
or an ecoflow https://uk.ecoflow.com/products/delta-2-max-portab...

The latter options are way more expensive, but you are buying a proper tool for the job- they are utterly reliable, and the battery tech means they can be charged and discharged over and over, safely and without losing any cells.

[indigochim]

I'd say as all the devices take AA cells then rechargable batteries are a good shout it removes having anything extra to manage and a tangle of cables. If any of the devices struggle with the 1.2v most rechargable AAs provide then you can get lithium based rechargables that provide 1.5v although they're not cheap and may require a specialised charger. I have some which have a usb c port to charge for a fireplace as it won't work with 1.2v cells and it's a bit messy recharging the 6 batteries plugged into various USB power supplies.

[Griffith4ever]

Those all have piddly power requirements. I used to run a firework business where all my firing modules had batteries and/or USB power and were mission critical. I just bought a load of Eneloop rechargeable batteries and a big charger that takes 16 at a time, AA and AAA, and the replace ALL the batteries in every device after every display. Charging them ALL after every display. I had the same issue, some modules would be at different charge levels than others.

If I were you, I'd do the same.

Its not wasteful, you are not adding points of failure (cables, power bank) and you are not making yourself dependent on one single device. Eneloops are a game changer in terms of rechargeable batteries, in case you didnt know.

Dont add complexity.

[elise2000]

Thanks all

Rechargeable batteries ordered!