Power bank charging?

[Ordnas]

Is it possible to purchase just a charging lead to plug into a power bank?

 

[bryanthebold]

Mikegyver sells custom solutions from oem MS cables. I have also seen adapters on Amazon but the quality seems to vary a lot. I've been thinking about doing this myself with a Goalzero Sherpa 50. It could come in handy on a long flight

http://www.mikegyver.comwww.mikegyver.com/Surface-Battery-Car/Surface-Car-Accessories/

http://www.amazon.com/Portable-Charging-Charger-Microsoft-Surface/dp/B00O6UCGS4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1429158686&sr=8-2&keywords=surface+pro+3+charging+cable

http://www.goalzero.com/p/151/sherpa-50-power-pack

 

[Ordnas]

I found something similar on Amazon UK, but was hoping someone had created a cable that has usb on one end so it could plug into any power bank. I suppose it has to do with voltages, etc?

 

[hughlle]

I found something similar on Amazon UK, but was hoping someone had created a cable that has usb on one end so it could plug into any power bank. I suppose it has to do with voltages, etc?

Correct. USB simply cannot push the volts and current (or whatever the scientific term would be). You'd need to get something designed for DC output for laptops, like the ianker astro pro 2.

 

[Ordnas]

Correct. USB simply cannot push the volts and current (or whatever the scientific term would be). You'd need to get something designed for DC output for laptops, like the ianker astro pro 2.

Oh ok, that's a shame. Thanks anyway.

 

[hughlle]

Oh ok, that's a shame. Thanks anyway.

Indeed. Alas external power banks for the sp3 makes for a hefty investment compared to $5 power banks available for phones and tablets. Also the question over quality of the sp3 DC cable.

 

[Ordnas]

Indeed. Alas external power banks for the sp3 makes for a hefty investment compared to $5 power banks available for phones and tablets. Also the question over quality of the sp3 DC cable.

Was just checking the price of the anker pro with dc inputs over here in the UK and the cheapest price on Amazon is £49.99 which is quite a bit more expensive than I was hoping, but a possibility for the future. Then finding a decent quality dc cable.

 

[hughlle]

Was just checking the price of the anker pro with dc inputs over here in the UK and the cheapest price on Amazon is £49.99 which is quite a bit more expensive than I was hoping, but a possibility for the future. Then finding a decent quality dc cable.

I bought mine for camping for £80. Was expensive but does the job well. A lot more versatile than a little lipstick battery, especially for phones, knowing i can charge my phone multiple times is great. It's finding a reasonably priced and reasonable quality cable that is the tricky bit. Many horror stories of 3rd party cables for the previous surface models.

 

[leeshor]

I purchased a fairly inexpensive inverter several years ago that plugs into my cigarette lighter in my van. So far it has powered everything I've plugged into it.

 

[Jason Cliche]

I use Anker Astro Pro2 20000mAh and I get a full charge with about 20% left on the battery to spare. However I want to charge this battery with a solar panel of some kind but can't find any reasonably priced options.

 

[bryanthebold]

I use Anker Astro Pro2 20000mAh and I get a full charge with about 20% left on the battery to spare. However I want to charge this battery with a solar panel of some kind but can't find any reasonably priced options.

Do you know what the power requirements are for charging the Anker? I suspect you can find many cheap panels out there but without a charge controller I'd worry you risk damaging the battery. I bought a cheap PWM controller from amazon and have it hooked up to a 11.1 v lipo battery. It works well and provides plenty of power but isn't very clean. I imagine the TSA would find it fightening Goalzero has solutions for this that have built in charge controllers and are designed to work with panels (try Sherpa 50 and 100).