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CHARGING FROM A BATTERY BANK.

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tarsus

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Hello all, I have battery bank which I use to charge phone camera etc. I uses a usb cable which has four wires two for power and two for data. I would like to be able to charge small lead acid batteries from it. Has anyone got a way to do this as without the data cables the bank will not supply. I think that I would need to feed the data wires to the bank from a sensing circuit so that the bank knows the state of the battery. Anything on the market?. I must add that I am well over 80 and not fully up to speed on the modern electronics. Thank you all in advance.
 
I think you'll find your problem is not the data lines - powerbanks work with charging cables which don't have data lines. It is more likely that you're trying to charge a 12V (might be 6V - you don't say) battery from a 5V supply. If you can post links to both the battery and the power bank then someone may be able to offer a solution.

Mike.
 
Many power banks only test for a load at intervals, and will only fully switch on when a load is present.

Try connecting something that will draw eg. 100mA and check the voltage across that?
 
Thank you for the reply but the data wires in the usb cable must be in use. I have opened up a spare cable and find that with the data wires cut it will not charge my camera but on reconnecting them everything works ok. I did say that I was wanting to charge a small lead acid battery but in reality it is a set of four rechargeable batteries when connected together give 4.8 volts. AA type 1.2 volts each.
 
I did say that I was wanting to charge a small lead acid battery but in reality it is a set of four rechargeable batteries when connected together give 4.8 volts. AA type 1.2 volts each.
There is a BIG difference between a lead acid battery and AA cells.
What is the chemistry of the AA cells?
NiCd, NiMH, or ??

Incorrect information is worse than no information.

JimB
 
I'll just keep quiet as it's obvious that the information supplied will be drip fed.

Mike.
 
Check out Battery University for info on the correct charging procedure for NiMh cells. There's more to it than just connecting a power bank to the cells.
 
Pommie is correct, a power-bank does not care about data lines, ever. What you need is a module were you can select a precise output voltage matching your battery characteristics and also limit the current. Powerbanks are usually marked at the USB plug what current they can supply. The link shows a module with both voltage (CV- constant voltage) and current (CC=constant current) adjustments. that one will work from a 4 - 38V in and can put 1.25 to 36V out. You can also browse for other devices with LCD showing both voltage and amps, but they add an additional load.
 
Hello again, Thank you all for all the advice and help and although I am being told that battery/power banks do not use data wires I did say in a earlier post the one that I have will not work if the data wires are cut. Mine is made by Imuto. I would be most grateful if someone can tell me why it will only work if these wires are connected Thank you.
 
Mine is made by Imuto. I would be most grateful if someone can tell me why it will only work if these wires are connected Thank you.
That is definitely unusual.

This is a TI document listing the standard output control methods & none use the data lines...

You could try connecting the two data lines together, or add a resistor (eg. 10K) from either or both data lines to the ground or positive connection, to see if that enables the output?
 
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