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What went wrong inside recalled Anker PowerCore 10000 power banks?

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Re: What went wrong inside recalled Anker PowerCore 10000 power banks?

#251

Post by gosub100 »

devmor wrote: post #155
gosub100 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot having a fume hood, or halon foam system. Or just a silver heat resistant suit and SCBA. Please don't hold back on the pedantry and "you can"s. People might miss these valuable options and not know they can just coexist with the lithium fire right next door!

Instead of being upset and lashing out when someone corrects you and offers important advice that can save lives, you can just say "Thank you for the information." - or even say nothing at all.

There's no curiosity or intellect featured here anymore. It's just bickering about semantics or pedantry. If that doesn't anger you, great. That's like a toddler saying they don't mind sharing a pool with other kids who urinate in it. That's your preference, not mine. Sorry for rubbing your face in your own drivel.

Re: What went wrong inside recalled Anker PowerCore 10000 power banks?

#252

Post by oc1 »

Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #236
wongarsu wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your prayers have been (partially) heard. The EU Battery Regulation of 2023 demands that starting February 2027 batteries in all devices have to be user-replaceable with commercially available tools (or for watertight devices or some special device categories replaceable by an independent professional), that replacement batteries have to be available at reasonable prices and that use of third party batteries should n…

Thank you EU, Although I don't live there I'm hoping the manufacturers wouldn't take the effort to make EU specific models of their devices and the benefits are reaped throughout the world.

doubt it, apple still does usb-c only for europe and the rest is stuck at lightning connectors.

Re: What went wrong inside recalled Anker PowerCore 10000 power banks?

#253

Post by Zak »

ajolly wrote: post #239
Zak wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A device that won't work with NiMH due to voltage will also only use about a third of the energy in an alkaline. Poorly produced is an understatement. My Logitech G604 works fine on NiMH. The calibration for reporting battery charge as a percentage is off, but it runs for months.

As an aside, pretty much all the g604 is will end up with double click reliability issues or an inability to hold down the mouse button and drag. But you can easily replace the switches or there's vendors on eBay and AliExpress that I'll sell you a circuit board with the switches pre-soldered for replacement. Logitech no longer makes the g604 :(

I read that before I bought one. I have a screwdriver and a soldering iron.

Re: What went wrong inside recalled Anker PowerCore 10000 power banks?

#254

Post by Zak »

kube-system wrote: post #246
Zak wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For products intended for kids, I like the idea of a screw on the battery door.

The screw on the battery door is typically a choking hazard mitigation. The idea being, if you know how to use a screwdriver, you are skilled enough to not eat the battery. I think there’s still a big chasm between that level of skill and knowing there’s a difference between protected and unprotected 18650s… or even knowing what an 18650 is at all. Most people have never heard of them. The right-to-repair “I know wha…

Other mitigations are possible, such as a battery compartment designed for cells that are 69mm long, as is typical for protected cells instead of 65mm. I'll admit I complain about this when reviewing a flashlight (use longer springs so it's not picky), but it's likely the right choice for many applications.

It's not the right choice for all applications of course. Products intended for children and that are particularly demanding in terms of electrical power require greater caution than speakers or most flashlights.

Re: What went wrong inside recalled Anker PowerCore 10000 power banks?

#256

Post by thenthenthen »

nomel wrote: post #52
yegle wrote: post #21

FWIW this has caused a big storm in China. The root of the issue is known to be caused by the battery cell vendor Amprius changing the battery design w/o notifying the power bank manufacturers. AFAIKT Amprius lost the 3C certification (a certification in China) because of this incident. This is one of the Chinese reports on the issue: https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_31048287 Excerpt from the report above (tr…

I work in manufacturing in the US. Incoming quality control, for Chinese vendors, is necessarily set up with zero-trust. This isn't a "trust but verify" sort of thing, it's strictly "do not trust". Assume that, at every step of the chain, there will be a lie: change of process, material change, collected data, and that the product being given to you is even yours (delivering a knockoff at the final step, and resellin…

Insert obligatory Poorly Made in China ref[0].

It is a great read and surprisingly (scarily so) still relevant. I do however take issue with the title (clickbaity), it is a tad repetitive and sometimes very insightful while one paragraph later it reads like the authors first 10mins in China.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poorly_Made_in_China

Edit: note, the tricks described in this book are not exclusive to china.

Re: What went wrong inside recalled Anker PowerCore 10000 power banks?

#257

Post by nerdjon »

oc1 wrote: post #252
Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you EU, Although I don't live there I'm hoping the manufacturers wouldn't take the effort to make EU specific models of their devices and the benefits are reaped throughout the world.

doubt it, apple still does usb-c only for europe and the rest is stuck at lightning connectors.

That is not true, unless you are referring to devices outside of the iPad and iPhone (which even that I can't find evidence of)? Those went usb-c at the same time globally (by model)

Re: What went wrong inside recalled Anker PowerCore 10000 power banks?

#260

Post by kube-system »

Zak wrote: post #254
kube-system wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The screw on the battery door is typically a choking hazard mitigation. The idea being, if you know how to use a screwdriver, you are skilled enough to not eat the battery. I think there’s still a big chasm between that level of skill and knowing there’s a difference between protected and unprotected 18650s… or even knowing what an 18650 is at all. Most people have never heard of them. The right-to-repair “I know wha…

Other mitigations are possible, such as a battery compartment designed for cells that are 69mm long, as is typical for protected cells instead of 65mm. I'll admit I complain about this when reviewing a flashlight (use longer springs so it's not picky), but it's likely the right choice for many applications. It's not the right choice for all applications of course. Products intended for children and that are particula…

A battery compartment that is "almost the right size" is going to encourage unfamiliar users to do stupid things.

https://budgetlightforum.com/t/my-18650-batteries-are-about-...

> The batteries that come with the light are perfect, but all the panasonic 18650s I have purchased are about 1/8 (3mm) too short.

> I was thinking of using aluminum foil.

If people on enthusiast forums are struggling to put batteries in their devices safely, the mass market is doomed. Proper safety engineering is to design a device in a way where foreseeable misuse by a layperson does not result in a safety issue.

This isn't incompatible with a right to repair. Just simply don't glue the device shut. The LiPos used in many devices are common jelly-bean components.

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