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Anker portable chargers
I like to travel with these chargers, but this trip I am only taking carry on luggage. Does anyone know if these chargers are allowed in carry on luggage? I think they will be very useful at Camp Kalahari where there are no electrical outlets in our tents.
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We always carry all our chargers in our carry on.
As British says, YES - we use Anker too and they're always in our Personal Item.
If it's helpful to you, when we went a few years ago, they had some charging strips in the common area of the camp. It truly was "off the grid" for the days we were there. Have a wonderful time, it was an incredible trip!
I may be wrong, but I believe Ladybombay is not referring to a power strip, but to a self-contained charging device- essentially a rechargeable lithium battery pack that can be used to charge your small rechargeable electronic devices (phones, tablets, etc.) 1, 2, or more times depending on the capacity of the unit.
The TSA/FAA classifies them the same way they classify spare (uninstalled) lithium ion and lithium metal batteries. There are limits on the size/capacity for both carry-on and checked luggage. You will need to carry them in your carry-on luggage. I posted the TSA/FAA restrictions in a post awhile back but I don't have the link to my post. The two links below should work. Basically the charger (battery) is limited to 100 Wh (Watt hours)
https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/whatcanibring/items/lithium-batteries-more-100-watt-hours
https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/more_info/?hazmat=7
Below is an Anker brand Power Bank portable charger. Note this "battery" is rated at 10,000 mAh (milli-Amp-hours) or 10 Ah (Amp-hours.) They put out 5.2 volts so have a capacity of 52 Wh (Watt-hours) which is below the FAA max of 100 W-h (watt hours) per battery, so is OK.
A similar larger Anker unit rated at 20,000 mAh puts out 104 Wh (20,000 X 5.2 ÷ 1000 = 104 Wh) which slightly exceeds the FAA per battery limit. The even larger 36,800 mAh Anker unit puts out 191 Wh and far exceeds the limit.
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Ultra-Compact-High-Speed-VoltageBoost-Technology/dp/B07QXV6N1B/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Anker+portable+charger&qid=1661141002&sr=8-3
Thanks for clarifying Alan. My husband carries a charger like that but I have no idea of the wattage. I carry a credit card sized charger for my phone. These things should always be in carry on luggage and you are always asked about batteries on check in and we have never been questioned at security about them.
As mentioned, there are charging stations at Camp Kalahari. There are only Tauck people there, it is a small camp and everything is secure. You are only there two nights, one of which if you are lucky, you will be sleeping on a salt pan in the middle of nowhere, unless you decline the opportunity. I can’t personally recall whether there was cell phone service, I’m sure others will know. We never ran out of power while we were there.
I think it might be my favorite tour.
For the science-inclined, it is the energy (watt-hours), not power (watts) that is important here. Power is the rate of energy usage, or its first derivative.
Class dismissed.
Most of the needed info will be engraved the device or on a sticker attached to it. It is like the power charging modules you get. You can always Google the model number for that info as well. Again, to get the Watt-hour rating of these devices, just multiply the Amp - hour rating by 5.2. If the rating is given in milli-Watt-hours instead of Watt-hours like in my example above, just divide by 1000 (a milli-Watt is on thousandth of a Watt),
5 pt bonus question- Why are Watts, Amps, Ohms, Volts, Joules, Coulombs, Farads, Hertz and a few other electrical / physics terms capitalized?
They are named after people?
Because they are proper nouns or derived from a proper name in the case of Volts and Amps..
Close enough for government work, especially here in the US or for those who don't follow the SI standards, but it was actually a trick question. The names of the properties were either discovered, described, quantified, etc. by the individuals or named in their honor.
By the International System of Units, SI, the symbol (and often the abbreviation) for a unit named for a person starts with an upper case letter (A), but when written in full it follows the rules for capitalization of a common noun; i.e., "Ampere" becomes capitalized at the beginning of a sentence and in titles, but is otherwise in lower case.
Watt- James Watt (not the Beach Boys' favorite former U.S. Secretary of the Interior.
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Amp- (actually Ampere)- André-Marie Ampère
Ohm- Georg Ohm.
Volt- Alessandro Volta
Joule- James Prescott Joule
Coulomb- Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
Farad- Michael Faraday (not Daniel Faraday from 'Lost'
Hertz- Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (not of the rental car company
And how did I get started on this tangent, you may ask- fun factoid ; The original question and the fact that Ampère's and Coulomb's names are two of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower- Normandy, Brittany, Paris & the Loire Valley, 2023.
And many of those units are interrelated. For example, Alan, did you know volts = joules/coulomb?
I need to find a forum that dumbs things down to my level.
Thanks to everyone for your responses to my question. I have two Anker power banks, and AlanS is correct about my concerns regarding them. I will take the smaller 10000mAh in my carry on and leave the larger 20000mAh at home for fear of security confiscating it. I rely on my iPhone as my camera so I don’t want to run out of juice in Camp Kalahari. The reason I chose this particular tour is because our wonderful TD on the “Elegant Adventure” in SA said it was his all time favorite. I’m not worried about being semi off the grid for two days; I just want to be able to get pictures of desert camping, jumping for joy, and interacting with the meerkats. Again, many thanks for taking the time to help me.
AlanS - For a more complete list, look here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scientists_whose_names_are_used_as_units
Ladybombay, you will be fine. As far as I recall, you leave for the overnight trip late afternoon, so if you have a fully charged, you will be fine. After the night trip, you head straight back to camp where you can fill up your phone.
They forgot one- the Arthur
OK, I'll bite...
Tauck tour count.
I had a feeling it was related to Arthur Tauck.
Clearing up common misconceptions about power banks: 20,000 mAh does not equal 104 Wh!
Alan's analysis would be correct if the amp-hour rating was based on the output voltage of the power bank. It's not! it's actually based the voltage of the internal component batteries. Yes, I know this is misleading, but that's the way the manufacturers have chosen to rate them. That fact, together with losses in the charging cycle, are why these power banks underperform when recharging your devices. The internal batteries which are typically in the 3.5 to 3.85v range. So the most you would get from a 20,000 mAh power bank is 77 Wh.
I have a 26,800 mAh power bank that has an internal voltage of 3.7v. It comes in at 99 Wh, the maximum you can carry on a plane. This is all printed on the power bank, but you have to have good vision and read it in a strong light.
For fellow engineers and techies, there is a good explanation of power bank rating here:
https://powerbank20.com/en/actual-output-capacity/
I'm really happy with my power bank. You can find it on Amazon by searching for "CONXWAN Power Bank 26800mAh". It supports fast charging and has a digital readout of the remaining capacity.
Ladybombay-
Go ahead and take your 20,000 mAh power bank. You're well below the limit. I take my larger one all the time and nobody at TSA has ever given it a second look.
Thanks Ken!
Why is the internal voltage only 3.5 to 3.85V? Isn't the typical USB voltage 5V (4.75 - 5.25)? What can you tell me about the banks with Power Delivery like some of the Anker units, if connected to a compatible device (iPhone13) while in your hand bag or carry-on?
One question for anyone- the rules, at least the ones I am talking about, are from TSA/FAA. Anyone know the International rules?
Also, since you have the power bank in your carry on, it will be be X-rayed everywhere so if agents have doubts what it is, they will have you remove it for closer inspection. Will they even know how to read or interpret the specs?
Finally, is this even a real problem? We don't want to let the smoke out!
I believe that that the voltage used for the rating is based on the cell voltage. A unit with a single anode and cathode is technically a cell. Based on the chemistry of the cell, it will have an inherent voltage. Groups of cells may be wired in series to get higher voltages or in parallel and are called a battery. For example, standard alkaline and carbon cells have a voltage around 1.5v. The 9v batteries in your smoke alarm or transistor radio actually contain six little 1.5v cells. Lithium cells have higher voltages in a single cell. I believe the variance depends on the formulation of the cell (Lithium ion, lithium polymer, etc.). Your larger power bank may have multiple cells, wired in parallel for higher amperage and capacity, but the same basic cell voltage. The voltage is stepped up by circuitry to get your 5v output.
Don't know if there are any international rules that are more restrictive, but again I've never had a problem. Never even had them take a second look. I think the rules are primarily intended to prevent someone from carrying one of those big portable power stations or other device with a big battery. Power stations have ratings of several hundred watt-hours and typically can power 110v devices as well as providing USB power. I know that they also restrict hoverboards which have big batteries. E-bikes and electric scooters probably won't fly, as well. After some incidents with laptops and cell phones overheating and smoking, airlines now carry fireproof bags as a precaution. Being able to deal with an overheating battery or one that catches fire are the reasons for the limitations.
Further advice for power bank users:
Be sure to inspect your power bank regularly. If the case begins to bulge, recycle it ASAP. Bulging lithium batteries are a sign that the cells have been damaged and while they may still work, it is a safety hazard. My first two power banks both began to bulge, and I got rid of them. This applies to bulging cell phones and laptops, as well. They should be repaired or recycled.
Ken from Vegas,, thank you!
I'm curious about where the need is, from a Tauck tour perspective, for these battery pack chargers. I've been on a dozen Tauck tours and have found that as long as I'm diligent about charging my devices using adapters/outlets/etc. that I have never had an occasion to need a battery pack charger.
If you have had such a need, what Tauck tour was it on, and what were the circumstances.
Also, make sure you allow time to charge your Power Bank. You don't get something for nothing- your power bank will need to be charged before you can use it to charge your phone or tablet. In some cases it can take 2.5 hours or longer to charge a power bank. Read the specs carefully, it can take some power banks the same amount of time to charge your iPhone, Even some of the Power Delivery (high output) power banks take a half hour to charge an iPhone to only 50% You really don't want to be on a game drive and be forced to charge your phone.
Sam, the particular tour in question is the above Botswana tour where Camp Kalahari has no electric in the tent. It is a small camp and there is a charging station area in the ‘reception’ only Tauck people stay there. There are ample places to charge your devices and it is safe. While the Kalahari is incredible, there really are not enough opportunities to take hundreds of photos on those days. The main things are the Meerkats, a few animals and the never ending Saltpans. As Sam says, as long as you are diligent you will not run out of power and I doubt if there is cell phone service anyway. …I can’t recall that as a fact since it is several years since I was there, perhaps someone who has been there more recently can confirm.
Cute meerkats and a bed in the middle of nowhere, that’s the Kalahari 😀
I would simply bring a spare battery for my camera to solve the Kalahari issue. You can switch a camera battery in a minute and be back taking pictures. No need for a battery pack charger.
Smiling Sam asked:
If find myself using them less and less. My primary use is to keep my tablet charged while entertaining myself on long flights and during airport time. Since more and more airplanes and airports have power options, I have had less need in recent years. I also use it for backup power to charge my camera batteries. I have chargers that plug into USB. While I have plenty of batteries for my cameras to cover a day or two of shooting, I like knowing that I have a backup if I forget to charge them.
So while I could get by without it on many trips, it's cheap insurance. I agree that many people won't have a need for them on a Tauck trip.