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Charging NX30 with portable powerbank

Started Jan 14, 2015 | Discussions thread
viking79
viking79 Forum Pro • Posts: 14,157
Re: Charging NX30 with portable powerbank

Enixler wrote:

joellarsen wrote:

Hi,

Has anyone had experience with charging an NX30 with a portable powerbank? The bp1410 battery is 1410mAh. I am looking purchasing a Veho pebble 8400mAh powerbank. Does the capacity of the 8400mAh powerbank mean I can charge the bp1410 battery almost 6 times? 8400 ÷ 1400 = 5.95

Thanks

Joel

The bp1410 is 1410mAh at 7.4 volts, while the powerbank will be most likely 8400mAh at 5V. Which then makes a theoretical maximum of 8400/1410 * 5/7.4 = 4 times of recharging. As the efficiency of charging will be significantly below 100 percent, I would guess that even the 3rd time of recharging might be incomplete.

Exactly, and those aren't actually rated at 5 volts (rarely) they are usually rated at 3.7 V. Only way to know for sure is open it and look at the cells used, but usually they are lithium-ion which is 3.7 V per cell, and they put that rating on the unit.

So the rechargeable USB pack is 8.4 * 3.7 = 31 watt hours, and factory battery is 1.41 at 7.4 = 10.3 watt hours. Figure you lose 20% charging, and the 31 watt hours is more like 25 watt hours, or 2.5 full charges.

If you need to refill your battery 6 times you would need a lot more capacity.

The only issue with NX30 is the USB port is in the grip. I tried a right angle cable but it doesn't charge the camera very fast since it isn't very heavy gauge (it works, just not fast enough to keep the camera from draining some while in use). The NX1 is a lot easier since the USB cable is on the left side. With either you should be able to run continuously on USB power.

PS I use the battery pack only when I am shooting on a tripod since spare batteries are available.  When I first started using USB pack there weren't any other spare batteries available yet.  It still makes a lot of sense to charge camera in a bag or don't want to carry dedicated spares for some other reason (USB battery can charge your tablet, phone, etc).

Eric

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