The concept of the word “bank” in power bank has the same meaning as compared to the “bank” in commercial banks that we know. We normally deposit “something” in Banks with the purpose of using that “something” sometime in the future by “withdrawing” it out. Just like Commercial Banks, we deposit our cash, then we withdraw from it in the future if the need arises. The same concept extends to Blood Banks, where we deposit human blood. The human blood is screened and processed, then preserved by the organizations/institutions like hospitals, or the International Red Cross. Whenever a patient needs blood transfusion, he or she may request or “withdraw” the blood that he or she needs. With power banks, electrical energy is stored or “deposited” to the internal rechargeable batteries that are housed inside the power bank’s casing . When your cellphone’s battery becomes “low bat”, you can use your power bank’s stored energy (or “deposited power”) by withdrawing it out and use it to charge your cellphone. This is very similar to the concept of transacting with your Commercial Banks, except that power banks don’t involve interest earnings!

A: “mAh” means milli-Ampere hour. It is a quantitative (quantity or amount) expression of “energy” in the form of Electric Current. Milli-Ampere (mA) is a unit that is used to measure electric current or the amount of electrical energy passing through the circuitry or the amount of energy that is contained in a battery. The higher the mAh, the higher is its energy content. Higher mAh would mean the battery can operate your device for a longer period of time. The hour (h) is the hour (60 minutes) that we use on a daily basis to keep track of our time. When the two units (mA and h) are combined into one expression, as in mAh, this would mean that the total energy content in this device can sustain delivering energy of a certain milli-Ampere in the given period of time expressed in hours. For example, if your power bank has a rating of 9000 mAh, this would mean the device can deliver 9000mA of electrical energy and can sustain the delivery of this quantity of energy for 1 hour. To illustrate further in another example, let’s say, the power bank is connected to an equipment (light bulb) that draws 1000mA of electric current, how long can this power bank delivery the needed electric current of 1000mA. The answer is 9 hours. 1000mA x 9 hours = 9000mAh. Note: 1 Ampere = 1000 milli-Ampere (mA), just like 1 Liter of Coke = 1000 milli-Liter (mL) of Coke.

A: Yes, you are right. The mAh or milli-ampere hour refers to the capacity of the battery. Similarly, the 9.62Wh also refers to the capacity of the battery. It is just another way of expressing it and the 2 means the same thing. Here is how the 2 units are interconverted. To convert mAh to Wh, we simply multiply the mAh by the volt then divide by 1000. For example, 2600mAh x 3.7V / 1000 = 9.62Wh. To convert Wh to mAh, we simply work backwards by multiplying the Wh by 1000 then divide by the volt. Let’s take another example with the GL3 model of power bank for cars. It has this capacity rating: 22.2Wh (6000mAh) 22.2Wh x 1000 / 3.7 = 6000mAh

A: From the experiments and tests we have conducted involving different brands of power banks, here is our guideline in computing for the number of charges from a fully charged power bank. For Super brands like Sony, Samsung, APC, etc. which has true rated capacity, we just multiply their claimed capacity by 60% then divide it by the capacity of the battery to be charged. For example, if your phone battery’s capacity is 2000 mAh, and your Sony (Original Sony) power bank has a rating of 20,000 mAh, then applying the formula, 20,000 x 60% / 2000 = 6 charges. For other low cost brands, actual output capacity varies greatly. The lowest we got is at about 18% of what they claimed. Some are higher at 25%, there are some at 45%, 55%. Let’s take as an example a low cost power bank with a claimed capacity of 20,000mAh, and in fact its actual output capacity is just at 18% of its claim, applying the formula, 20,000 x 18% / 2000 = 1.8 or about 2 charges! Now you see the differences between a true branded one and a low quality power bank? For more detailed discussion please visit this link for capacity ratings and conversion rates: http://windsor.ph/rawfiles/faq.html

A: Currently, in general there are 2 types of power banks. One for gadgets or electronic devices like smart phones, tablets, etc. The other one is for cars which is also called car jump starter. Power banks for gadgets can only be used for charging your gadgets and cannot jump start your car. On the other hand, power bank for cars and be used to charge your gadgets and jump start your car. Another distinguishing difference is that power bank for gadgets has an ordinary discharge rate of about 2C while power bank for cars has an extremely high discharge rate of 45-100C (about 50 times more powerful than the power bank for gadgets!) which can deliver out hundreds of Amperes of electric current that can jump start your car’s engine.

A: In the world of batteries, the rate at which a battery discharges its electrical energy or current is called its discharge rate and is represented by the letter “C”. The higher the discharge rate, C, of one battery, the more current it can deliver in the same span of time as compared to another one with a smaller C, thus the higher the energy it can give out. Let’s use the discharge rate of the 2 power banks described in the preceding FAQ. The power bank for gadgets has a discharge rate of 2C while that of the power bank for car has a value of 100C. From these 2 values, we can immediately notice the big difference in the output current of the two power banks with the latter capable of delivering 50 times more energy than the former! As a rule of thumb, if we are to compute for the actual current output of the battery based on its discharge rate, we need to know its capacity first. For illustration purpose, we shall use a battery with a capacity of 2000mAh. In this case, to get the final current output, we just use this formula: Bat. Capacity (in mAh) x C /1000 = Final Current Output For gadget power bank: 2000 x 2 /1000 = 4 Amperes For car power bank: 2000 x 100 /1000 = 200 Amperes!

A: Good question but hard to answer. Power bank for cars are high tech products that have sophisticated electronic circuitry inside. If you don’t have the technical know-how and the necessary equipment there is no way you can objectively evaluate it. As to using its selling price as a gauge for quality, it is not always a good idea, since there are unscrupulous merchants that sell inferior or imitation products as high end products. It may also be possible that the re-sellers themselves do not know how to evaluate the product. They just take the word of their suppliers for it. May be one practical guide is its warranty. If the product comes with a 6 months to 1 year warranty, then you can be assured that the product has reached a certain level of quality standards.

A: It is true. Power bank for cars are known to deliver out hundreds of amperes. In order to jump start your car’s engine successfully, it must be able to deliver a relatively “large” amount of electric current as high as 450 Amperes or even higher! At such big current, if something goes wrong during its use, it can cause bodily injury to the user and even damage the car’s battery and engine parts. Sadly to say, most power bank for cars that are currently available in the Philippine market do not come with safety features. But don’t be alarmed, at powerbankphils.com, all power bank for cars that we offer comes standard with our state-of-the-art “smart clamps”. These “smart clamps” offer protection from improper use that leads to “short circuit” which can cause physical bodily injuries. They also offer protection to the power bank itself from “over-discharge” and “back-charge”. The last protection they offer is “reverse polarity”. Such protection is very critical, which if not present, may cause serious damage to the CAR’S ON-BOARD COMPUTER SYSTEM when the power bank is connected to the car battery terminal in reverse polarity! The small savings that you get from buying cheap power bank for cars is not worth it as compared to the possible DAMAGE it may cause to your car!

A: Just like in any industry, the price of each competing products vary greatly. As a rule of thumb, cheap products usually have inferior quality, while higher priced products have better quality. As the saying goes, “you usually get what you pay for”. But of course you should also be more discerning to judge for yourself which product gives a better value for your money.

A: This is where the technical know-how of your re-sellers will be helpful to you as a consumer. It also matters that the product is properly labeled and clearly specified as to what type of engine and how big the engine displacement the power bank can jump start. For example, with our GL3 model, it clearly specifies that it can jump start gasoline engines up to 3.0 L displacement. For gasoline engines of up to 5.0 L and diesel engines of up to 3.0 L, we recommend the GL11 and GL6. For hard to jump start engines just to name a few such as the Toyota Innova Diesel and the Mitsubishi Strada Diesel, we recommend the GL19 which can jump start gasoline and diesel engines with displacements of up to 8.0 L and 5.0 L respectively. And for heavy equipment like backhoe and 18-wheeler trailer trucks, we recommend our heavy weight model, the GL10 which is specified to deliver a peak current of up to 1000 and 600 Amperes for 12 and 24 V engines respectively

A: Not all power bank for cars are created equal. This is why we have different price levels. Better quality brands, usually spend more time and money in Research and Development (R&D) to continuously improve the product quality and features. They also incorporate better technology into its manufacturing process. They also have higher quality control and better after sales support. That’s why better brands usually give 6 to 12 months of warranty on their products. A good power bank should be able to deliver the output power it claims. Some features worth mentioning are their safety features which usually are not present in cheaper brands. These are protection against short circuit, reverse polarity, over-discharge, over-charge, back-charge. As mentioned in the early part of this FAQ’s section, power bank for cars deliver large amount of electric current as high as 450 amperes or more. Any accident or misuse of this device can cause severe injury to persons and damage to car’s battery and even engine parts. Even worse, it may also damage the car’s on-board computer system.

A: Sadly to say, there isn’t much you can do to test and validate objectively the claim of the re-seller. Though, there are some practical tests you can conduct yourself that may serve as a guide. For example, if the power bank for cars specified that it can jump start a gasoline engine of 3.0 L, then you can validate this by testing this power bank with cars that have the same specs. But from what I have observed from the power banks available in the market, majority of them don’t print the info about the size and type of the car engine they can jump start. You will be lucky if you can get hold of one with these specifications printed on its box or manual. If you really want to have a more objective evaluation, you can drop by our store at Windsor Computer Center, at 7 Evangelista St., Batangas City. We would be glad to help you out. (Link: http://windsor.ph/1_4_contact-us.html)

A: You bring with you all the FAQ’s listed on this page and try to check how many of these questions they can answer. Then, more or less you will have an idea of his/her competence with regards to the subject matter.

A: Good questions. After jump starting the car, whether the battery is just drained or dead out, you should remove immediately (within 30 seconds) the power bank from the car’s battery. If you don’t remove the power bank, it will charge the car’s battery until the power bank is fully drained. Then you won’t have any emergency back-up power left anymore! Remember, the car’s battery has a bigger capacity than your power bank. It can easily drain your power bank out. The electrical system of the car is quite amazing. Once the engine has started, you can detach and remove totally its car battery and the engine will keep on running! If you don’t believe, you can try it for yourself. Once the engine has been started, its on-board alternator (a generator that generates electricity which in turn charges the car battery) will provide for all the electricity that is needed by the whole car. As long as the engine is running, there is electricity for the whole car, and the engine will keep on running. But if the engine is turned off and there is no car battery, then there is no stored energy (from the car battery) available to jump start the engine.

A: Good question. As mentioned in the preceding FAQ, yes, you can use your power bank for cars to charge your car battery. But you have to take into account that the design concept of power bank for cars is not really to charge the car battery, but to help jump start the car. The battery capacity of power bank for cars is just a small fraction of the capacity of the car battery as can be seen in their relative physical sizes. So, it is not practical to charge your car battery with your power bank for car. Though, you can do so if you wish.

A: Brilliant idea! Yes, you can do that. There was one time, our field technician had to do some soldering work on the field and there was no 220V AC outlet nearby, they used the power bank’s 12V DC with a 100 Watt inverter to power up their soldering iron! You can also do the same with video cameras, electric drills, and anything you can think of as long as the appliance’s load is not too big for your power bank in terms of capacity.

A: DO’s: 1. When you first unbox your power bank, please check its energy level. If it is full, charge it for about two hours. This is to make sure that it is well conditioned after its transit. If it is not full, charge it until all four LED lights are steady. You only need to do this the first time you receive the unit. For succeeding charging, you can unplug the charger once all the 4 LED’s are lit up and steady. 2. Do check the power bank’s energy level at least once a month to make sure that it has the needed power whenever the need arises. 3. Read carefully the user’s guide or manual that is provided by the manufacturer or dealer before using your power bank to make sure that you won’t commit any mistake when using it for the first time. 4. Find a cool place inside your car to store your power bank. The unit must not be exposed to direct sunlight while it is being stored. DON’Ts: 1. Do not jump start your car or anybody’s car successively without waiting for at least 30 seconds in between each jump starts whether it is successful or failed jump start. This may damage either the smart clamp or the power bank’s battery or both. 2. Do not attempt to jump start your car after failed starts for more than 3 times in a row. The maximum is at 5 times. Remember to pause for 30 seconds in between jump starts. 3. Do not store your power bank for cars in places where the room temperature may exceed 60 °C. 4. Do not use your power bank to jump start your car if the LED indicator has 2 lights or less, but you can use it to charge your mobile devices. Note: For additional info, please read our separate instructional manual on “How to Use Our Power Bank for Cars and Our Smart Clamp”

A: Good question. When a product fails to perform its expected function, it doesn’t always mean that it is substandard and cannot meet its specification. Here is a summary of the most common reasons why your power bank fails to jump start your car and the possible solutions to each one of them. They can be divided into the following 2 categories. a. After the failed jump start attempt, you can still power on your power bank and the power capacity indicator still have at least 3 lights on: There are 2 most common causes for this problem. First, the bite of the clamp may not be good enough. In order to deliver the optimum electric current to jump start your car, you need to make sure that both red and black clamps achieve the best bite on both battery terminals. At the same time, you should clamp on to the part of the terminal that will give you the maximum area of contact. Second, have a visual inspection of the surface condition of the battery terminal. If they are badly corroded or rusty, use a sand paper to sand out the rust then reattach the clamps. After you have done the above 2 procedures, try to jump start again. This time your engine should start running! b. After the failed jump start attempt, the power bank seems to drop dead. Pressing the power button won’t turn the power bank “ON”: This situation is quite complicated and may be caused by a lot of possibilities. We will discuss the matter in as simple and as practical as possible. We divide this into 2 general categories. b.1. The first one is that the power bank is under powered, meaning its capacity is too low to jump start your car. Here are two most common observations. First, when you start the engine, you can hear that the flow of the current is cut short and the power bank dies out prematurely. You just hear a very brief crank, probably less than 0.5 second. When this happens, and if you can smell a strong burnt odor, your power bank just got “fried” and it is gone forever! Given the same situation, and if your power bank has “over-discharge protection”, then it won’t smell. It will shut down immediately to protect itself from being “fried” when it senses that it cannot deliver the required current. You can just revive the power bank by recharging it with its wall charger. Since it is under powered for that particular car, you may use it only for smaller cars. Click on this link to watch this video: (video title: “over-discharge protection”) b.2. The second one is that your power bank’s capacity is just within the required capacity of your car. In this situation, you will hear that the cranking is continuous and the power bank seems to have the power to sustain the jump start but shuts down after 1-2 seconds. Under this situation, refer to FAQ #18a above, then jump start a second time. Make sure that you let the power bank rest for at least 30 seconds in between jump starts to prolong its life. With our power bank, after the first failed jump start attempt, it will automatically increase its output current in succeeding attempts. This is one of the many good features of our power banks. It is recommended that you try up to a maximum of 3 times. But if you are in an emergency situation, you can max it out up to 5. Just remember to have a 30-second rest in between jump starts. During this time, the energy level indicator of power bank may not light up when you press its power button, but it can still deliver the needed current. The energy level indicator functions independently of the 12V output port that is used for jump starting. In this case, you won’t have a guide as to the actual power level of your power bank. You may want to revive it later after you have successfully jump started your car by simply charging it with its AC wall charger. (Please visit this video link: video title: “Over-discharge protection”)

A: Majority of the power bank for cars in the Philippine market today use the standard clamps. Standard clamps don’t have all the safety features of the Smart Clamps. Standard clamps are cheaper and this is one of the reasons why most of the suppliers here use standard clamps instead of the Smart Clamp. Stiff competition is another reason for such choice. Power bank for cars are known to deliver electric current as high as 450 Amperes or more. Improper use - be it intentional or unintentional – may lead to short circuits, or reverse polarity, which may result to accidents that can cause physical bodily injuries to person and even damage your car components such as its on-board computer system. With the Smart Clamps, such accidents can be prevented. These features are not present in the standard clamps. For more info, please visit this video link: video name: “Why choose smart clamp?”

A: Good question. A good car battery usually has a warranty of about 2 years. This means that the manufacturer will service or replace your battery when it fails within the warranty period. The very reason they are giving you this warranty simply means that the battery can fail any time within its warranty period, and when this happens, you are assured that your hard earned money won’t go to waste. But, will this change the fact that your car battery won't fail you at any given time? NO. These things happen anywhere and anytime at your most unexpected place and time. This is the reason why you will need our power bank for cars. Just like buying fire extinguishers or insurance packages, you buy them not because you wish you'll be able to use them, but you buy them for times that you might need them most!

A: Well, you have just come to the right place! At powerbankphils.com, we have complete lineup of power banks for cars that can help jump start your car whenever your battery dies out on you, wherever you are, no matter how big your car is! It is affordable and compact enough for you to carry around and place inside your glove compartment. Jump starting only takes around a few minutes. All you need to do is to attach the clamps of the power bank to your battery terminal, ignite your engine, detach the power bank, place back to your glove compartment and you are ready to hit the road once more! It is just that simple! With our power banks for cars, you don’t need to bring any jump start cable, and no longer have to helplessly wait for hours, at the mercy of passing motorists to extend a helping hand. You can now take charge of the situation!

A: You may be right since you are using a car with manual transmission, which you can jump start by having it pushed to a certain speed and then, ignite the engine whenever your battery dies out. But you cannot be lucky all the time that whenever your car battery dies out, there will be always some “good” guys around to help you out. What if they are the “bad guys”? What if it happens in the wee hours of the night in a far-flung place you are not familiar with and there is no one around? What if your car has an automatic transmission? With our power banks for cars at your side, you can jump start your car by yourself in just minutes without the need to ask for someone’s help. It is an indispensable, and ever reliable travel companion that can help you get to safety wherever you are, whenever you need it most, whatever the size and type your car is! It is very affordable. It is better to be safe than sorry. But of course, the final decision is still yours to make.