LHIABNN DIY Power Bank Box Flat Head Battery Charger Outer Case,2 USB Output Ports Plastic Shell Box with LCD Display,Micro/Phone/Type-c Input Port Power Bank Case (Black)

This battery bank is designed like early model battery banks I have bought in the past (early 2010-2014) Opting to use 18650 lithium style batteries cells rather than lipo bag style battery cells that are not as robust or have stability issues over time. Lipo bag style battery banks use a style of battery that is composed of thin battery cells in a foil bag. A common problem with this type of battery cell is that they are prone to failure. They are far more dangerous and in worst case situations. They can literally burst into flames with seemingly zero provocation. A simple search for “lipo battery fire” on YouTube will demonstrate what I’m talking about. Another more common issue is that the chemicals in the bags begin to off-gas which causes the bags to inflate and cause the case they are inside to crack open.This battery bank allows you to choose your own 18650 batteries and install them. So you choose the quality of the bank based on the quality of the batteries. What I like about this bank is that you don’t need to use all 8 battery slots. It can literally run off one cell or any combination between 1 and 8. However. The total amperage of the cells must not exceed 20,000 mah. I used 6, 3,000mah battery cells which brought me to 18,000mah total.This bank is not without its flaws. Once you lock the top and bottom half of the case together it’s very difficult to separate it agin. My guess it’s designed to be built once and used for the life of the battery cells. Much like a store bought bank. If you plan on using less than 8 battery cells like me. I have a few suggestions.You need to fill the empty section of the case so that a shock or impact to the case will not shake the batteries loose. Or secure the batteries in place. I opted to use extra thin 3m double stick tape on both sides of the inside case. This did not create any bulging or deformation once assembled.I tested out my build before locking the case together and I noticed that with fully charged and conditioned batteries that the percentage on the bank display showed between 81 and 84% when I first plugged the first battery into it. I tired this with sever batteries with the same result. Each time only inserting one different battery then the rest. After installing all 6 and letting the bank charge to 100% it would stay at 100%. Even after checking it via the side button 30 minutes later. However when I took out all batteries and reinserted them again I was at the 84% mark.My option. This is a general base line and the electronics package defaults to this 3/4 full mark so you will plug it in to charge. The bank needs to charge to 100% to get a “read”on the batteries that have been inserted into it. At first I felt like this was a bad thing but the more I thought about it. The more I consider it a good thing. The circuit board is not just blindly reading voltage and guessing a full charge. It is adapting to the cells installed and doing its best to determine what a full charge really is based on the fact that every battery and combination of batteries is slightly different and not all cells are created equal.High quality batteries like Samsung or LG (my favorite) will make for a better bank overall and it can be built for roughly 1/3 to 2/3 the price of a cheaper built pack with the same capacity.Just remember to not exceed 20,000 mah of total capacity in the batteries you use. Anything over 20,000mah will confuse the circuit board and cause it not to charge properly.A side note: the digital display has a plastic protective cover on it. Make sure to remove it before snapping the top half of the case together with the bottom. In my experience with other product that have this same kind of display, it will begin to peel over time and you don’t want to try to separate the two halves of this case. Trust me.Also looking at the case from the top. The left USB port is 2.1A output while the right is 1.0A output.

Of the three power packs I have this is my favorite. I use while I'm doing bike deliveries so it needs to be either cheap or sturdy. So far this has been both. When using all slots I get a lot of life. Footprint is minimal and clear. Appreciate the batteries in parallel so I can steal them for other tools that use the wonderful 18650 cells.The build quality is poor. When first purchased there was some plastic that needed to be removed. Even then the case did not fully close on all sides. Plastic is very brittle. Even on the first close a few of the clasps snapped off when trying to close. Different plastic or latch design would greatly add value.In my opinion this is aesthetic issue and I'd rather be able to open and close (clearly goes against the design). I used rubber bands to keep it closed. Ended up being a handy way to keep the charging cable nearby. Anticipate rubber bands will prevent future cracks as well. Had I spend more than $20 on this I would be disappointed.

I grabbed this and a generic laptop battery for an asus laptop (just because all 8 cells were in a straight line which makes it easier to rip apart for the cells.) And I stuffed them in this SLIM box, probably 2-4 mm thinner than my old 8*18650 box, whose ports are wearing out now after 5 years of reliable work! So i saw this looked as if it was from a similar company. Rolled the dice and it works great.The usb C is an input only but works well with 5v 2A cell phone chargers, just watch out it isn't Qc or QI so no quick charging it or you will zap it with 12v which is bad lol... anyway good solid micro usb which i thought would be handy i haven't tried the lightening input yet but if its like the other 2 its good to go. I did a test with two 5v testers and i got 4.3 amps out of the two outputs and it did warm up but it didn't over heat or drain faster than expected. So it maintains a good conversion even while running two 2amp outputs. while my old one only did 3 amps and would overheat after about 20 mins, so i rarely ran it over 2 amps so this is a massive upgrade for me.Id say the biggest downside is it doesn't reopen without a lot of shims and time. It has small D shaped clips that are about ever 2 cm's down the seem. So yeah, pick a new battery and don't expect to trouble shoot it after its together, but the descript explained that.TLDR:Great, works at 4 amps consistently. Can charge two newer phones but not Qc or QI not even to charge it. But It does a great job and will probably be a life saver in air ports post pandemic!

Bought it only to use the usb 2.0 outputs and don't plan to test the inputs. Sadly I could never get 2.1 A out of that usb port, however I can still draw 1A from both ports at the same time so... perhaps there is a wiring problem or I misunderstood the specs. Not sure cause it's cheap enough for my use.Yes the tabs broke right out of the gate on the case but that didn't make it unusable. I tool my wire snips and cut off all the tabs on the case and applied black electrical tape to act as a hinge. It's slick and closes perfectly now with the small modification. It's a tight power bank when chaulked full of 8, flattop 18650s but it does work. I might also recommend adding a small bit of foam or a small paper on the case that separates to push the batteries down, but all in all I am pleased.I should also mention I have used both protected and unprotected cells in this bank without issues. I charge my batteries only in my xtar 18650 vc4, vc2, or vc8 and put those cells in the this bank when ready. I have cycles many unprotected cells through this bank and I think it fits the bill for cheap, pretty good quality diy power bank.