First thoughts, Floureon 7800 mAh USB power bank

davidj72 2014-7-27 6:13 AM

Because I have a need to keep my Moto X fired up for several hours at a time, I looked into USB power banks, AKA external battery packs.

Of course, I asked here and got 2 recommendations:

Anker 5600 mAH

EasyAcc 10,000 mAh Brilliant Dual

After scouring eBay and Amazon, I went with the Floureon model HQM-304 7800 mAh power pack. Basic specs:

2 USB power out ports, nominally 1 A and 2 A @ 5VDC
3 Samsung ICr18650-26F, 3.7V, 2600 mAH, Li-ION cells for a nominal 7800 mAH. Maybe.
4 x 2-5/8 x 7/8 inches
6.155 oz (for comparison, Moto X is 4.59 oz.)
4-LED power level indicator (25, 50, 75, 100%)
LED flashlight (press button for >3 sec. to turn on or off, prevents accidental deployment)
Lightweight USB std to USB micro cable
Tiny instructions sheet in tiny type

Why this one?

Floureon actually has a web site, http://www.floureon.com – leading to the irrational thought that there might be someone I could complain to if it konks out (there is no warranty)
I could see the innards, which looked okay, in a YouTube review:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmCGo3t4nNM
It is packaged in a real box with real packing, see user video here:http://www.amazon.com/Floureon-Portable-Ultra-High-Capacity-External/dp/B00G0MZQGU/ref=cm_cr-mr-title

Everything at this point in my ‘review’ will be like sliding around on a muddy hill in dancing shoes.

Are those really Samsung cells? Or Chinese knock-offs?
Is the output really 1A / 2A? The YouTube review shows ~0.5 and ~0.7… but you can’t tell what the test load is, and the power bank won’t pump out more amperage than the attached device accepts.
Will it last longer than a week? (I’ll update this thread with any later info on that front)
Why is the name “Floureon,” as in ground-up grain you use in making bread? Were they trying for the somewhat more modern-sounding Fluoreon?

Recharge capacity:

Nominally, if all 7800 mAh were available for recharging, you’d get ~3 recharges for the Moto X’s 2200 mAh battery. But energy is lost to circuit consumption and heat during recharging in both the Floureon and the Moto X.

In reality, I was able to milk just under 2 full recharges in partial increments (based on percentages reported by Battery Notified BT Free on the Moto X) :

20% top off (IOW, plugged in the Floureon when remaining % = 80)
41% top off
52% top off
80% top off
a final partial top off that netted another 4% before the Floureon cut out

With the Floureon at the now-depleted state, it took 7+ hours to charge it using the Moto X 1200 mAh charger. The Moto charger ran hot – Floureon’s input spec is 5VDC @ 1A.

How long can I use the Moto X with the Floureon plugged in?

Dunno. My use calls for using the Moto X as a slide-show screen. For a few moments, I installed the Battery Monitor Widget that was suggested in another thread by expert carlh… but I didn’t understand a single thing it was reporting… so I don’t know what electrical draw I’m creating by watching the slide show for hours.

Source: https://community.republicwireless.com/thread/29037