Exploring an Anker power bank

[@RandomAFP]

You know how a dog will sit and listen intently to a person talking to them, even though they don't really understand? That's how I feel watching these. Still, what little I do understand is interesting.

[@tncorgi92]

Same here. I studied electronics in the Navy but it was decades ago and not really in-depth. Some of this stuff I pick up by osmosis just repeatedly watching Big Clive videos.

[@nickye2864]

Good boy

[@andrewdavies877]

Yes, yes... I recognize some of those words.

[@Rob.DB.]

Yeah me too. I think he could make just about anything sound interesting.

[@MJ-wd7oh]

Yes, shipping forecast vibes

[@WOFFY-qc9te]

"This is going to be hard to get into, One moment please" cuts to Clive sitting with six firemen asking where they got there workwear.

[@ianhosier4042]

Everything will be just fine if Clive has his pie dish handy

[@diffmull]

Unrelated, but note that some Anker powerbanks have a useful trickle output option: normally, they turn off if the load is less than, say, 50mA. To charge things like headphones and earbuds you can press the "on" button twice or hold it for 2 seconds and the powerbank will then stay on for about 2 hours, whatever the load. On one I have, one of the blue leds turns green to show this state is selected.

[@Mcg-80]

Ahhhhh, that's what that is for!

[@GraysonZimmer]

Yo! This is awesome! I just tried a double press on my newer Anker Zolo 10000mAh and a little *green* light pops on. I'll be testing if this is the same function but I assume it is. Thanks for the tip!!

[@SteveEfromStevesSidecarPlace]

just tried on my 20000mah and one of the blue LEDs turned green and stayed on. I didn't know this was there, I had some small USB LED xmas lights that would run for about a minute and then stop, I bet this would have cured it. Thank you!

[@cypeman8037]

I have that ^^^^ power bank, best I've had over the years.

[@JessicaFEREM]

it is cool that anker hides these smarts in their power banks. I'll have to look up if my other brands of power banks have these hidden features

[@NotJustBikes]

I had an Anker 537 powerbank that exhibited a similar issue. The reset instructions on my model were to connect the input to the output, but unfortunately it didn't work. Regardless, Anker replaced it under warranty and the replacement has been good. Otherwise I've found Anker powerbanks to be pretty reliable and, after watching this teardown, I have some assurance that they're not cheapening out on the circuitry. It must be good if Big Clive can't do a full schematic. :)

[@Zerbey]

I've owned a bunch of Anker charging bricks over the years in various shapes and sizes and found them all to be extremely reliable, I never heard of the reset trick but I've also never had to do so. Very interesting teardown, I've never ventured to do so myself for the same exploding potential you mentioned.

[@TrapShooter68]

I'm yet another huge Anker fan. The only room in my house that doesn't have some kind of Anker product is the kitchen. Cables, wireless chargers, powerbanks, USB adapters, Soundcore headphones, etc. Never had anything fail or malfunction. Whenever I look for anything electronic, Anker is my first place to look. (Not sponsored by Anker!)

[@Lumibear.]

Agreed. Just always go to their official website or a trusted seller as the fakes abound!

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

​@@Lumibear.good advice. still reluctant here because of all the crash videos. the issue with Internet, you always find equal good and bad experience vids....

[@ashkan_1339]

Same

[@KaufDirGeld]

as long as its not a cloud webcam...

[@Ozlav]

Have been using that model for many many years, still works great. Really nice to get a guided tour of its internals!

[@MrNeocortex]

Have the same also. First Anker product I ever bought and it wasn't the last.

[@shuggiemcg1]

Had this one about 10 years and still going strong apart from one led not working, been dropped loads as well

[@zebrasprite]

Anker battery banks have always been extremely reliable and well built for me - I still use mine from over 5 years ago! Excellent tear down, my battery banks are one of the few things I don’t tear apart, and instead leave to professionals like yourself ;). Cheers Clive.

[@JessicaFEREM]

I have a 6 ft usb c to a cable from them that was given to me over 10 years ago. it's USB C and USB 3.0 compatible. other than the braided sheath being shreded and has bite marks from my pug as a puppy, it still works perfectly. I won't lose it either because it's bright red.

[@Sally4th_]

Another big fan of Ankers here. I've got several in different sizes, the oldest 10 years old this year, and they've never let me down.

[@igelbofh]

Their newish product since 2022 are hit and miss compared to their older 10-ish years products

[@CyberBeep_kenshi]

do you guys have advice on something lightweight? used for dayhikes and basically an emergency charge for a phone or tablet? cheers! ​@@igelbofh

[@ashkan_1339]

Yep same here 🙋

[@zybch]

I mostly use anker products if available for my needs. Especially compared to the brandless amazon/ebay slop they're just so much better, and in my shop we never get anker items brought back.

[@stevenholman7158]

I've had mine since 13th June 2020, the 20,000 mah bank has never let me down, I love it. I went camping last year and I managed to charge my phone all week, 😀

[@SantaClause-m9h]

NO EXPLOSION CONTAINMENT PIE DISH! I AM SHOCKED! BLATANT NEGLIGENCE! lmao

[@TrapShooter68]

Came to the comments to post this!

[@srenhansen1983]

Yes exactly! I was missing it as well. SAFETY FIRST!

[@okaro6595]

I first read "exploding".

[@jimurrata6785]

I'm disappointed that we didn't get the vice of knowledge when Clive was having trouble opening it. 😂

[@ianhosier4042]

Hopefully its off camera

[@DynamixWarePro]

I live in Northern Ireland and when I was looking online for power banks, most won't ship them here but I can get Anker power banks so I have a number of them, including the one you showed and some 20,000mAh PD banks. I have used them to power my camera and audio recorders for hours on end and still had charge left. They have been very reliable so far and I have dropped them a few times and didn't damage them. They came in very useful over the past week when I had no electricity in my area due to recent storm damage and without them I couldn't have charged my phone or the torches I needed so I could see in the dark.

[@turokforever007]

One thing with shipping is if the cells are over a certain mah they need a different safety licence. That's why most things from China have smaller cells.

[@GraysonZimmer]

I have had so many of their banks and always been high quality and long lasting. In fact, some of them have *far* exceeded their service life. I appreciate their capacity can be trusted and over all, their support is great. I only had concern for an older model that had dual micro USB in for charging and it got quite hot at the ports.

[@kittytrail]

could you elaborate a bit on the "so many" and what you consider "long lasting" and their "service life" please? 😉

[@GraysonZimmer]

@@kittytrail I have a lot of reasons to have many power banks. I've personally had 8-9 different models of Anker banks alone along with many other cheap and expensive brands. Your typical power bank with regular use of charging to 100% and discharging to 0% will usually last you 2-3 years. They either die from a broken port, charging/output circuit malfunction or enough battery degradation to retire it. My Anker PowerCore 26800 (my 15600 even earlier than that) was purchased in mid 2018 and while I haven't done a discharge capacity test in a while, it still holds enough of a charge to not warrant that test (now I might test it just because I'm thinking about it). The 15600 was lost for about a year and a half, totally dead and I put it back on the charge and it sprung back to life with no complaints. I've done that with another generic brand and it did not come back to life. Anker has always been quality for me, along with Omnicharge. These are the two I trust when it's mission critical. TL;DR over about 9 Anker banks, I would say a 6 year service life is pretty good lol. Long lasting being that they use high quality cells that are are rated for exactly what they advertise (not many brands do that in my testing), as well as outlasting their expected service life of 2-3 years.

[@GraysonZimmer]

​@@kittytrail I've owned 8-9 Anker banks over the years along with many other name brand and generic banks. Expected service life of a battery bank is about 2-3 years. They usually die to broken ports, charging/discharge circuit malfunction or enough cell degradation to take it out of commission. I purchased an Anker PowerCore 25600 back in 2018 and while I haven't done a discharge test on it in a while, it holds its charge so well that I haven't needed to (though I might now that I'm thinking about it). My PowerCore 15600, same model featured in this video, was also purchased in 2018 and I even lost of for a year and a half. Got it back flat dead, plugged it in and it sprung back to usable life. I would say a 6+ year service life is pretty good lol. Long lasting being that they use high quality cells, ports, circuitry and plastics as well as provide accurate capacity metrics. When it's mission critical, I choose Anker and OmniCharge. Already had one UGREEN die on me after just a year due to a bad port.

[@robertbass9032]

Could those be Anker Power Core 26800 units ? If so, I have 2 of them. One in 2016, the other 2 years later. Excellent units, although not used as much since additional newer Power Banks were purchased.

[@ninjarobotmonk3y]

I've had this exact powerbank for about a decade now, and it's never skipped a beat, I'm sure the capacity isn't quite what it once was, and it takes a good while to charge, but it's been incredible value for how well it's performed

[@kbjerke]

I have several Anker power banks, I think they're great! Thanks for the peek inside!

[@judasdedalosson8105]

Anker Powerbanks are some of the best powerbanks I ever had. Even got a high power output bank to use a small extra monitor for a laptop on train rides.

[@Quiche81]

Anker are gonna love the comments section, I have this power bank and I’m joining the bandwagon in saying how excellent their battery banks are 👌

[@UNICORN69HO]

Yeah Anker, send the man something else to inspect :)

[@tyklink]

yea i have had this exact one for like 8 years and it still works like a beast. dont let this discourage anyone anker makes great stuff!

[@InsideAlan]

Ive had one of their originals from new (2011) still in use weekly, and another lives in my camping bag gets discharged and recharged roughly every 6 months. Both still in really good health. Anker originally made 3rd party replacement laptop batteries for Dell and HP and had a fantastic reputation in the refurb industry.

[@tyklink]

seriously!!!! i remember i had this thing "fully" discharged for like 2 years when i lost it... plugged it back in to charge and it was like nothing happened 😎

[@phonotical]

Plugging the power pack into itself, a mistake I would never make twice... Ask me about my gameboy 😂

[@ianhosier4042]

Yeah what does happen if you plug a power bank into itself?

[@NicholasDeLisi]

​@@ianhosier4042 well after the manufacturing date of March 2020 it's a black hole, it starts collapsing in on itself. before that, it's infinite energy. check your model, serial number and manufacturer date before proceeding.

[@s4494r]

​@ianhosier4042 you rip a hole in space and time

[@phonotical]

@@ianhosier4042 hopefully nothing, but 25 years ago it had no protection and so was a dead short, the plastic got hotter and hotter that I could not touch it before melting with the heat, I think the wires burnt clear and stopped the reaction

[@LuciousDeMorte]

I have one of these! Got me and the wife through 3 days in hospital during the birth of our second child, charging our phones and such.

[@egg99]

9:58 comp is the feedback compensation pin.

[@rgbseaaa]

what a distinguished gentleman

[@mattgayda2840]

Misread the title and thumbnail, was super gitty about the explosion but stayed for the education

[@LawpickingLocksmith]

As a frequent traveller I have never seen 2 airport security screenings doing the same. Anker accessories seem to be the most widely known causing the least delays.

[@UnCoolDad]

Have quite a few Anker power banks - some many years old. Still going strong. Reliable brand.

[@Hastings1066TV]

Lol "scary bit" ! Come on BC, this is YOU. It's 50:50 for fire so either way, we're happy and enjoy watching your videos 👍

[@tiffanyganton550]

ah, goodness thats an expensive power bank to take apart. never fails to amaze me how easy you make this look !!

[@AmanHalai]

I have this exact same power bank. Misread the title (as “Exploding Anker power bank”) and panicked. Glad no explosions, Clive!

[@Dysiode]

Well now I have a new respect and appreciation for Anker. Actual serious engineering is involved here. I'd love to know how other bands compare

[@ElvenSpellmaker]

I have one that's pretty much like that, it's not reliable, but if you charge it it works for a "bit". Safe is another matter. But it's still fine. Let me guess the next step of Starmer is to regulate batteries, we'll only have ones that report the safety number back to them?

[@markthintie5132]

@0:59 do you know what has happened to Photonicinduction channel?

[@Farlig69]

yeah, I wonder too, he came back for a small stint then dissapered again almost as quickly...

[@GauBan2501]

I've have the same battery for many years now. I carry it everyday, I'm a big fan of Anker's stuff. Thanks for letting me know to reset mine battery if it ever plays up.

[@worawatli8952]

I have this exact model but with 3cells, it's still good after 6 years. Thanks for your teardown, I always want to see what's inside it.

[@dirindirin3983]

I had an Anker power bank that had exactly your initial description, it turned out that one of the 18650 batteries was defective.

[@j0hnny_R3db34rd]

I thought the title said explosion, imagine my disappointment.

[@actuallyusingmyrealnameher5061]

Anker do make good quality gadgets, still using a speaker/power bank for 6+ years and have passed it on to my son who gives it a good workout.

[@InsideAlan]

Ive had one of their originals from new (2011) still in use weekly, and another lives in my camping bag gets discharged and recharged roughly every 6 months. Both still in really good health. Anker originally made 3rd party replacement laptop batteries for Dell and HP and had a fantastic reputation in the refurb industry.

[@ashleyward9886]

Ermahgherd!! Finally you’re dismantling something I actually own!!! This is a momentous day!

[@ShockburnVR]

Great to see this, i got 2 of these powerbanks for my vr setup Also the default ouput in the banks is 5V but it can go up to 12V 2A if the device supports the fast charging protocol

[@gregorythomas333]

The reset information is very much appreciated...I didn't know that they had that feature :) I love my Anker products...they have been well worth the investment as they are still working many years later.

[@cherryleafy101]

I have an anker power bank that stopped working after several years of frequent use. I had no idea you could reset them. I'll have to try and see if it works again.

[@zanderboy]

my wife has this exact model and has had it for 5/6 years and its worked brilliantly, good capacity

[@fuller9x]

I have a similar unit that does something similar, so I'll have to give the long hold "reset" a go. But using a lower power charging brick eventually gets the LED's to light and eventually gets the power bank to a full charge. The faulty one takes forever to charge, while its partner is pretty quick.

[@robertgarrett5009]

I've owned one of these for close on 10 years, and it still functions, and holds a charge. These where the first too have fast and qi+ charge. I've had a lot of packs over the years, this. One is one of the best, and is able to be taken on a aircraft as well.

[@JoyClinton-i8g]

The TS1720 COMP pin has two functions. It provides a shutdown function when held to a low voltage. During normal operation, it provides control loop compensation. The buck has an output inductor in series plus an output capacitor, these cause a two-pole frequency response. The internal error amplifier is a transconductance type, which means the two capacitors to ground provide two zeros in the loop response to improve behavior.

[@DanielTekmyster]

I LOVE my Anker products!!!! I have that battery bank and it just works!!!

[@OregonBeaver]

The reverse engineering probably would have given us both a headache. 😅

[@deangtspecial]

You fought the good fight off camera. Must have been brutal!

[@mirrorsandstuff]

I've got that exact model - nice to see it's guts! I'm surprised how long mine has lasted whilst still having useful charge.

[@billtheunjust]

I have that model of power bank. It might be considered outdated by today's standards but I've been very pleased with its performance.

[@stephenwinter1152]

I had the same exact model Anker powerbank and it did the exact same thing! I'm happy to see it wasn't just one off thing

[@Winterwolfmage]

I was just looking into buying one of these yesterday, it's interesting to see how these things are made.

[@NiyaKouya]

Also part of the Anker fan base. Still have the smaller (10Ah) brother of the beast you dissected in use, and it has been working fine for almost 10 years now. And I also have a USB charger and several cables from them around. As many others already said, they are one of the few reputable Chinese brands that has very high quality products at decent prices. Recently persuaded my boss to get an Anker USB charger as a replacement for a no-name one that failed. Took the failed one apart, and it had a 10g iron weight inside that was just attached to the central transformer with double-sided tape and rattled free over time. Guess it might have shorted something on the board and caused the failure...

[@uhtredthebold2]

I have this exact model. I actually bought it by mistake as it was far bigger than I wanted, but it's come in very handy over the years. Recently I've been running my seestar s50 telescope with it all night in freezing temperatures. It's also the thinnest powerbank I own and fitted inside my Christmas lego model base to power the lights. it chargers extremely slowly and it doesn't support any of the quick charge standards, but it's still useful.

[@amorphuc]

WOW! Thanks Big Clive. You know, it's been a while since we've seen the "Vice of Knowledge" Anyhow, that must have taken quite a while. I had no idea you could reset these things. Wild!

[@explosivegardenreboot]

Can I send you a faulty 48v e-bike charger for diagnosis, I don't want it back, just thought would be a good video for you. The mains side capacitor does charge up as I found out the hard way, still I changed it anyway thinking that could be the issue, checked the rectifier but is fine. It did start charging for bout 10 mins but then died again. Lost my patience after that and gave up as couldn't be bothered and new charger on way from ebay. Interesting note on the charger, I run a powerline adapter to get internet in my mancave, if I charged my bike I would loose all internet connection, If radio was plugged in I would just get no signal and that was at home or at work. A strange charger this one as my new one has no effect on internet or radio.

[@_challis86]

Anker is a prime example of good quality Chinese products at a reasonable price I own headphones, speakers, power banks, cables from them they are all excellent quality I can't fault the company I recommend there stuff highly

[@harakiwi]

I have the exact one. It was my first powerbank. Still working but I stopped using it to charge USB-C devices. Mostly because phones complain how slow it charges. I bought some of the little USB-A cubed LEDs you showed in a video. Now it's a emergency light or used to light up some stuff. Like seasonal decorations or building block (Lego and non Lego) models.

[@FIGHTTHECABLE]

I have a 2015ish giant ANKER powerbank and it is still rocking!

[@GreenJimll]

The board seems to have a 2015 date on it. Were there decent, cheap, small boost ICs available then? If not, that might explain their use of discrete components.

[@bigclivedotcom]

The design does appear to have a date of 2015 on it. But I'm sure the generic boost circuits would have been around back then. Maybe there was still a cost advantage to using discretes.

[@nicholaspratt7934]

I have had one of the smaller Anker power banks for 8½ years, it feels a quality bit of kit and has been very handy. Mine probably has 3 batteries in and is marked at 10,000 mAh.

[@terrym1065]

The USB to USB bridge sounds destructively dangerous, even if it's just for a short time, IDK. None of my present power banks have a tiny reset button hole so I "assume" the regular power button must be held down for an extended time to enter reset. Research mode on! Thanks Clive, very interesting.

[@NobrainzTwoStar]

Thanks! This was extremely interesting and informative- Thank you for making these videos.

[@bobahnjr]

Clive, I believe those two packs of 3 cells are approximately 12 volts per 3 pack which are then paralleled for a 12 volt pack at double current density. This would make sense with the supply for the TD 1720 to be at 12 volts.

[@InsideOutElectronics]

Have the same one, bought it in 2016! Still works and keeps about 80% of the charge

[@chinnyvision]

I have a number of Anker power banks for work and they seem to be the most well built and reliable about. Also lots of attention to detail. My largest one has a screen which gives useful information and it can really whack out the power across its ports. Useful for me on location when I am needing to recharge camera batteries and the like,

[@CoolJosh3k]

Actually no, Clive, I don’t want you to stab the lithium cells. Plenty of footage of that exists already and I’d rather you be safe.

[@Lumibear.]

I’m a big fan of anker products generally, they do some good stuff for surprisingly low prices.

[@dragade101]

Thanks for the PSA that you can reset Anker power banks.

[@johnnorth9355]

I had the exact same model. Sadly my wife borrowed it and was so impressed it has never been returned !

[@compzac]

I had a anker power bank just like this one, except mine was equipped with quick charge so the ports were blue, I always wanted to know what it looked like internally. so this will be an interesting watch. A little note for your info section, anker power banks, at least that one and a couple others have an interesting reset sequence where you plug the input into the output until the lights flash, about 15 seconds then it should have been reset successfully

[@HaroldWilsonsGhost]

I have one of these, bought back in early 2017, so coming up on 8 years old. Still works, though don't use it very often anymore on account of it being USB Micro-B. Can't fault Anker on the service this thing has given me

[@TonyHolmes-e4h]

The classic line ‘ermm one moment please’ must be your punch line. Reminds me of a radio 2 voice from late 1970s. Classic. I realise at this moment a large hammer is required but your channel is more about the electronic bangarang and related componentry but a little brutality once in a while would show your human side😄 More please 👍

[@RFC-3514]

They've release some updated / bigger models, but when I went into a shop and asked for "a new Anker", the guy behind the counter punched me.

[@BartManNL]

I have one of these, still working after many years. Takes forever to charge but has a lot of power.

[@Slugbunny]

Only have one Anker wall wart, plays real nice with everything (dual outputs, too) except my DualSense/PS5 controller. Nice to see a teardown and analysis!

[@UNICORN69HO]

See the first comment about trickle mode

[@pear7777]

"Individual cell protection chips" wouldn't surprise me, Anker costs a lot, but is all very good.

[@armchairwarrior963]

Anker unlike other companies build good battery related stuff.

[@FlyingShotsman]

The COMP pin is used for both enabling the output and control loop compensation. Q3 pulls the COMP pin to ground to disable the controller, and C1, C2 and R2 provide control loop stability so the controller can respond correctly to load steps and changes in input voltage without causing over or undershoots at the output. The inductor, L1, is suspiciously low value (0.5uH). That thing must be switching at very high frequency to move any significant current through that small of an inductor.

[@n4thb4dc0]

I have one of those Anker battery packs and has it since 2015, it's probably not got the same power output that it used to but it still works, and I have also got a newer one with PD to charge my phone, ANKER power banks and usb chargers are great and are the best in my opinion

[@circuicitis]

Whenever Clive opens lithium banks with a spudger, I think of a new British nuclear programme

[@nate_0723]

I have two Anker power banks, one older with micro usb and one newer with usb-c. I assume the usb-c one uses pouch cells because it is thinner. Both are going strong. I had no idea they were this complex inside.

[@FastAsFunk]

Thanks for the teardown Clive. I have two of the larger versions of this power bank (26'800mAh ones) for powering my livestream rig and have experienced the non-charging issue a few times. The reset that worked for me was bridging the input and output sockets as you mentioned followed by a good long charge. It's happened happened 3 or 4 times over several years but eaach time the reset trick has worked. Despite this issue, I'm very happy with the performance of these units and their very sturdy build. You mention the two sets of 3 cells in series, so wouldn't that make it 9-12v rather than 6-8v...? I'm then guessing they are configured as 3S2P...

[@dragade101]

@3:13 I'll speak for myself, I'm not planning on a swim, bath or dive with my #Anker power bank. So in this vein. Can we just have a normal reset opening that you can press the reset with a paper clip or a 2mm allen key? Asking for a friend here.

[@madcat789]

Ive had my anker sincer 2014. Its been dropped. Submerged. Used as a hammer. Powered my laptop during a thunderstorm, and helped me fend off a racoon and a mugger. Fucking love this brick.

[@simontay4851]

"I love my brick!" Father jack.

[@Jimmyfisher121]

Now this is good and very useful Clive thank you so much. Jim from Scotland

[@BaronVonBeef]

I've always been impressed by Anker products, Haven't had an issue yet

[@JJayzX]

My most viewed video is of taking apart this same power pack. I still have it and it still works.

[@m.c.b.2022]

In my experience in opinion the anchor power banks have been the best I've ever had. Lasting for days in some cases and charging multiple devices

[@TechyBen]

Hey! I've got one of these. It's survived years and I've dropped it a couple of times too. That model has to be like 4 years old by now.

[@marinamarinx7655]

We have that PowerCore, but it's broke. It need half a day to charge. Nice to see how to open.

[@billcIintonvevo]

I have had one of these for years, the leds died but the pack still works great.

[@Paxmax]

Aaaaw, my brain wasn't decoding properly "Exploding an Anker power bank". Mixed emotions followed 😂

[@GiddeonG]

Aw, was looking forward to thermal images. Ah well. Wanted to see what was taking the Amp when charging.

[@terryloveuk]

I have a couple of Anker power banks and they have proved to be the best value for money and reliable ones - including 2 that cost me twice as much but don't seem to hold their charge as well. I usually look for Anker brand items when browsing on Amazon - I ignore the cheaper things.

[@hadibq]

Wow impressive circuit for a power bank. Anker is a serious brand 👍

[@DirtyPlumbus]

Anker makes pretty good stuff.

[@yohojones]

I'm always impressed by your circuit picture print outs. DO you mind sharing what printer you use Clive?

[@R520]

connecting the input & output to reset has been told to me by anker support, for both a power bank and a power supply

[@mfx1]

Funnily enough I had one of those go faulty a few weeks ago, mine in completely dead though, shame as they seemed to last for ever without needing charging.

[@hankwangn]

I had an Anker powerbank similar to that one. It died under warranty with similar symptoms. I got it replaced by a different brand - the web shop (a large retailer) was no longer selling Anker gear - I wonder whether they got too many warranty claims...