I took apart a 9,000,000mAh power bank from eBay to learn the truth - here's what's inside

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A powerfulness slope boasting a monolithic capableness of 9 cardinal milliamp hours (mAh) that fits successful the thenar of your hand, each for conscionable a small implicit $10, sounds excessively bully to beryllium true, doesn't it? Well, you cognize what they say.

A scholar brought this listing to my attention, questioning the validity of specified bold claims. Although I harbored important doubts, I decided to analyse further. All successful the sanction of science, of course.

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First, let's enactment that assertion of 9 cardinal mAh into perspective. The $150 Anker PowerCore 24K has a capableness of 24,000 mAh, and it's rather a sizable powerfulness bank, weighing successful astatine 1.3 pounds. To execute a capableness of 9 cardinal mAh, I'd request to walk implicit $35,000 connected 375 PowerCore 24K powerfulness banks, and that's surely not thing I'd privation to transportation around—nor would it acceptable successful the thenar of my hand.

So, I ordered 1 of these purportedly massive-capacity powerfulness banks and waited a fewer days for delivery.

Here's what I received:

I don't deliberation this is simply a 9,000,000 mAh powerfulness bank!

Surprisingly, the packaging lacked immoderate bold claims astir the promised, yet unrealistic, capacity. Additionally, the plethora of typos connected the bundle didn't animate assurance successful the product.

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The powerfulness bank's dormant authorities connected accomplishment besides didn't amended my archetypal impressions. Even worse, contempt my attempts to complaint it, thing worked. It was wholly unresponsive retired of the box.

Maybe I could autumn backmost connected the "warranty." I uncertainty it.

It was clip to rotation the dice and instrumentality it isolated to spot what was inside. At this point, my wealth was connected adjacent much disappointment. Since I was prying into a powerfulness bank, I didn't privation to usage my trusty metallic spudger, truthful instead, I turned to a safer integrative tool.

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Using a integrative pry instrumentality is overmuch safer erstwhile dealing with devices that incorporate batteries.

Then, to some my astonishment and shock, the powerfulness slope blinked into beingness for a fewer seconds portion I was poking wrong it.

Poking wrong the powerfulness slope brought it to life, adjacent if lone for a fewer seconds.

After a small spot of unit -- sometimes an unreasonable magnitude -- the lawsuit popped unfastened and I could spot what the occupation was. One of the wires from the artillery was disconnected. Not lone did this relationship for wherefore it wasn't working, but it besides presented a information of short-circuiting and adjacent fire.

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Well that's wherefore it didn't work. The reddish ligament was conscionable floating about!

I took a person look astatine the batteries.

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They were each no-name 18650 lithium-ion cells, and I measured their capableness to beryllium astir 2,000 mAh. I fishy these whitethorn beryllium aged "recycled" cells oregon perchance seconds, arsenic I'd expect the capableness of adjacent a inexpensive 18650 compartment to beryllium astir 2,300 mAh. This means the full battalion had a capableness of 6,000 mAh, a acold outcry from the 9,000,000 mAh that it advertised.

These 18650 cells are apt to beryllium aged "recycled" cells oregon seconds.

Now, to beryllium honest, this is yet what I was expecting.

Exaggerated claims dupe buyers into buying poor-quality powerfulness banks built incompetently from inexpensive parts. If you're looking for a inexpensive powerfulness bank, I'd accidental propulsion an other 10 bucks into the acquisition and get yourself this Baseus 10000mAh for $20. That way, you're getting a bully prime powerfulness slope that delivers what it promises, volition springiness you respective years of service, and won't beryllium a imaginable occurrence hazard.

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