Sunday, October 22, 2017

Facts you didn't know about power and power banks

Understanding Power Banks and  Power cables


Is it possible for a small battery to outlast large batteries?

Not all Power Banks (or External Batteries) are the same.  Power Bank capacity is usually measured in mAH or WH.  Most of the time you'll see the capacity measured in mAH.  The higher capacity the longer it will keep your device powered.  So, for example, a 52,800mAH battery will last longer than a 32,400mAH battery.  So...if you would like to keep an iPhone 6Plus running for about 11 recharges, you should consider a battery like our "executive" that is 34,200mAH.  I'll normally try to stay away from doing math but here you go :-)  (34200mAH / 2916mah = 11.11)

"Executive" Battery

As I am saying this, I bet you are thinking: "But I've seen a tiny battery on eBay and/or Amazon showing a 200,000mah how can that be?" In short, they are being mislabeled.  The best way to tell the difference between two battery capacities is simply to look at its size.  Think of batteries like a bottle of water or a gas tank.  If you have a small battery claiming to be 200,000mah and is the size of a pack of gum and a battery like our "executive" that is 34,200mah that is a size of a book.  It's quite obvious that the bigger battery will outlast the smaller battery!


Can all Power banks charge Laptops or large devices like powered coolers, etc?

Most small batteries have a small USB power port - normally only around 5v. They are intended for small devices like cell phones and tablets only.  They do not have the capability to power or recharge large devices like laptops.  MCT-Tech's main focus has always been to make batteries that can power both.  Even our "Little Giant" (which is our smallest power bank) can recharge a laptop, because it has both a USB power port and a high power port.  Keep in mind again, however, that the "Little Giant" will not last a long time with a laptop. It is only recommend when needing to few more minutes before your internal battery on your laptop dies.

What is the lifespan do you expect for your Power Banks?

Our Power banks are built to last approximately 500 cycles.  The more you discharge it from 100% to 0%,  the more you will 'wear' out the battery. Good practice is to recharge the Power bank before it fully depletes.

Will standard Power Banks charge all laptops?

No.  A lot of laptops these days employ a special sense pin that will not turn on unless a factory power adapter is used.  The most notable are Apple's MacBook line of laptops.  They have a "MagSafe" connector that Apple has a patent on.  In the early days, even if one was able to clone the connector, it would still not charge because it lacks the special IC built into the Magsafe connector (This was also part of Apple Patent).  We are actually the first to pioneered car adapters and batteries for the full line of  MacBook's by cutting off the MagSafe cable from the AC adapter and putting it on car adapters and batteries.  
Today, however, Chinese manufacturers have almost perfected the Magsafe cable and unless you have a trained eye, you would almost not be able to tell the difference anymore!

This same goes for the Microsoft magnetic cable too.

MCT-Tech has also helped many customers from HP, Lenovo, and Dell who are using special cables to be able to utilize our batteries well.  If you have a device that won't charge, contact us! This is our passion.

On this note, we would like to use segue to announce that we are shifting our business model to helping our customers get power from any number of sources.  We are going to be focusing on converting devices that are normally only AC power (household) DC power, like we have with The AppleTV (and hopefully if you ask for it) DC source for the new Apple HomePod.

In short, our motto will be "Engineering alternative efficient power sources for your Devices".

We will be discontinuing some of our batteries and Car adapters and only focusing on direct power solutions and would love to hear your thoughts on our ideas.

Until next time,



Stay powered up!  

Mike
MCT-corp.com