Category: Batteries – Lithium ion and LIPO

This review of the C16-PD-QI Removable 16-section Power Bank Shell Mobile Power Bank Assembly Kit Diy18650 Battery Box Wireless&Quick Charging Version also serves as a guide because I am not very good at keeping user’s manuals and data about the hardware I have.

Experiment number one, at what voltage does it stop charging, most chargers would stop at 4.2V which is the full voltage, while better chargers stop before that voltage, which is better for battery longevity !

Result: I had a few similar power banks that overcharged the batteries (Not good for the batteries), the C16-PD-QI bank stops charging at 4.2V on the dot, which is the maximum most batteries can handle, it’s not great, I would rather the charging stops at 4.18 for example (Or even lower)

Experiment number two, The wireless charger

Experiment number three, do any of the chips overheat

Does it accept a charge in QuickCharge

we already know it can quick charge devices, but also, on the box, multiple voltages are stated as input, so here I’m checking if it can get charged in quick charge

Specifications of the power bank !

The power bank specifications on the website seem to be different than the specifications on the back of the charger ! Close enough though

* Model: C16-PD-QI
* Wireless & Quick Charging Version: maximum power: 5V-3A 9V-2A 12V-1.5A 3.4V-5.5V-5A, wireless charging 10W
* Applicable battery: 18650 battery (length 6.5cm, straight down 1.8cm) But you could adapt other types of batteries as long as they are Lithium with similar chemistry !
* Note: The appearance of the battery should not be damaged, and the voltage should be between 3.2-4.2V. (Not sure what this is supposed to mean)
* Size: 44*80*186 mm

Backside of power bank

Power Bank
Model: C16-PD-Qi
OUTPUT: 9V-2A , 12V-1.5A , 4.5V-5A 5V-4A
WIRELESS CHARGING : 10W
INPUT: 5V-3A 9V-2A 12V-1.5A

Maximum charged battery voltage

I have previously bought power banks that are for laptops from this very same website, there was a little problem with those power banks, they charged the batteries above 4.2 volts, which is not good for the batteries, I would rather a power bank that charges my batteries a bit below the absolute maximum of most batteries, So here is my experiment with this power bank

The problem with used batteries connected in parallel

The best practice is to use factory matched batteries for this power bank, even though the actual capacity and internal resistance of the batteries is irrelevant (You can mix and match since they are in parallel), this does not apply to charging, lithium batteries are charged with a variable voltage depending on the current state of charge, batteries with less capacity will artificially deceive the chip into thinking we are at a higher state of charge, forcing the charger to up the voltage, where the better higher capacity batteries will suffer (The will produce more heat than designed, and cook themselves slowly to the capacity of the lower ones)

Phone manufacturers are leaning towards non removable batteries on higher end phones , the reason for that is that they can save space and use it to install a slightly larger battery making use of space previously lost in plastic holding the battery, with that , there seems to be interest in prolonging that battery’s life to avoid having to send it to a repair shop to crack it open and install a new one.

Their concerns are very understandable , sometimes repair shops cause some harm to your device , other times they install cheaper grade (or old stock) batteries that will need to be replaced again within months. So here is how we make sure we get the longest possible life out of a lithium battery. The first of the two sections below are for the average user, the second is for the more curious.

Side note: – An optional addition that can be very useful in your quest to keep your phone’s battery healthy (Adding convenience to the methods you will learn here) is a phone cover with a built in power bank, usually selling for $10 or so, or even a $5 mobile power bank, otherwise you will need to have a nearby charger handy at most times. So, that whenever we say connect a charger in this article, you could simply switch on the battery bank (Embedded in your phone cover)

Section 1 , how to use your phone to prolong the phone’s battery life.

1- – Charge your phone while it is switched off when possible.

This is probably not very important but here is he justification, when you recharge a battery, the charging circuit needs to measure the voltage of the battery to provide the right voltage , this is not possible in an accurate manner with the phone itself acting as an electric load , so the charging circuit will have to be cautious but not actually going through the last phase of the charge, while this will not deteriorate your battery’s life expectancy it will leave you with less power during the day which could sometimes mean going below 20% level of power by the end of the day, now that could do your battery some incremental damage (Internal corrosion) , to maintain your battery, you should avoid letting it go below 20% at all times.

2- Connect your charger/Battery bank while using the phone for power intensive tasks such as watching video or browsing the internet.

it is well known that lithium batteries suffer when discharged quickly, the exact reason is unknown , some claim it is related to ions getting trapped at higher rate, others believe it has to do with heating of either the phone’s CPU (close to the battery) and heating of the battery itself, we don’t really know why for 100%, all we know is that it is certainly bad for your battery but if your phone is plugged in during those activities , your phone will draw the current from the charging circuit instead of the battery, simply because the circuit will have to provide higher voltage than the battery, and from electricity 101 we know that your phone will draw electricity from the higher voltage source.

3- Recharge often. while your phone’s battery still has 40% – 60% of the charge , try to keep it above 15% at all times

– Older phones had nickle based batteries that forced full cycles, so it was best to fully charge your batteries, then drain them all the way down to zero, then recharge them again, people read those words in those manuals back in the nineties but no one actually told them that this is no longer the case , in fact that is terrible advice if ever applied to lithium batteries , most lithium batteries are happiest when they are charged between

40%-90% , the longer they stay at those levels , the longer they live

4 – Charge slow while you sleep, using a smaller capacity charger

phone manufacturers try to provide faster chargers to make your life easier, because no one likes to get tethered to a wall for long, but while you sleep , charging slow is in fact better for your battery, batteries have ratings for the maximum speed they accept a charge ( 0.5 c , 1 c , 1.5c etc.. ) but the rule thumb of the is that the higher the current the more exhausting it is for the battery’s health.

5- to conveniently use this advice without owning that battery bank case, i need a long charging cable right?? is there anything wrong with that??

well yes, and no , slow charging a battery is not a bad thing at all , but charging cables are usually thin for obvious reasons so the longer the cable the higher the resistance so you are actually.

A- wasting power that the wall adapter sent to the phone in form of heat generated by the cable

B- consuming your power adapter making it work harder for nothing

but it is generally okm, now if you are a perfectionist, a work around can be an electric extension cord between the charger and the wall socket, simply because the higher the voltage , the lower the amps, the thinner the needed wire, i will avoid getting into details now but that is one solution you can use

Also note that:

A mobile phone cover with built in battery bank will also help you avoid wear on the charging connector.

These connectors on your phone are rated for a finite number of plug/unplug cycles, what amplifies that wear on the connector and wire is the fact that i am actually recommending that you charge the phone while you use it in certain circumstances now while this is good for your battery it is certainly bad for the socket on your phone, the aforementioned cover will keep your phone charging  socket from wearing out.

right now you are probably thinking that I’m affiliated with some sort of manufacturer , well , I’m not , and that is why i am forced not to recommend one any phone cover with a power bank built in , but please do read customer reviews before you buy one. Some of them have very cheap quality bateries inside.