I am considering to upgrade my 25,000 mAh battery bank to something with greater capacity.. I use 2 phones and a laptop, so such a device is super handy for me. I require access to charging wherever I am.
The question is, what is the limit that most Airlines will allow in your carry on? I assume it hasn't changed from 100Wh/ ~27,000mAh.
Capacity is somewhat important although I would argue the two key things you should be looking for is how much wattage these power banks can provide and how quickly they can recharge from flat. I've been using the
Anker 737 Powerbank for several years. It has a capacity of 24,000 mAh so not the greatest capacity, but it provides ample output to recharge my MacBook Pro which can be useful. It also has several USB ports which can be handy when having to recharge multiple devices. Crucially, the power bank can be recharged rapidly, in about 90 minutes with my 75W Samsung GAN charger.
I'm mostly concerned about flying domestically within Australia.
There is a magical limit although I do question whether security actually checks those things particularly given it's not obvious what the capacity of a given power bank is given the various battery technologies available. In my case I cannot recall a moment when travelling domestically or internationally where my Powerbank tripped security.
As others have mentioned, one of the key things is how efficiently the power bank converts the juice in the battery over to a charge to your devices. The better the power conversion the less energy loss. After all, what's the point in buying a 30,000 mAh power bank if half of the energy is lost in conversion? An efficient 24,000 or even 20,000 mAh should do the trick for most use cases.
A key question which should be considered is what your aim is with the battery bank? Are you looking to power a laptop? Additionally, are you willing to spend an hour charging your battery bank up each time it goes flat or would you rather have one that you can use for a very very long time before having to think of recharging? If I was you, I'd be looking at one that makes it super simple to recharge. Ideally one that has a built in power port so you can connect it directly to mains and recharge. And certainly one that takes no longer than an hour to charge.
On the Qantas website, it says that Lithium Ion batteries with a capacity between 100Wh-160Wh may be permitted, but you have to request approval before check in.
Has anybody had experience in carrying anything above 100Wh, but less than 160Wh?
You have to keep in mind that different airlines and different airport authorities may have different requirements when it comes to batteries. At the same time, you need to be careful where you buy your power banks from, I'd recommend only getting them from reputable sources like Anker. After all, you wouldn't want to fry your electronic devices with something that doesn't have the safeguards to charge correctly! One thing that is telling is that most reputable brands including Anker haven't created power banks much above the 25,000 mAh capacity. There must be a reason why.
Just out of curiosity, where are you folks all going that you need battery packs galore? Why not just plug into the wall/aircraft/hotel for power?
For me it's really about the freedom to travel without having to be chained to a charger all the time. Even if you do find a powerpoint, you are chained there until your device is sufficiently charged. I like to be about to go to a lounge or work outside without having to look around for power points. For instance, if you've been to a Qantas lounge recently, you'll notice that power points have become a real hot commodity, with people leaving their phones plugged in somewhere to recharge. Even when you are staying at a hotel, sometimes it's not a guarantee you'll get a charge. The number of outlets can be limited, and I have been to a couple of hotels where there frankly wasn't enough clearance between the power adaptor and the floor making recharging impossible.
The other thing I will point out is that people have quite a few devices these days. I personally travel with an iPhone 15, an iPad Air, MacBook Pro and AirPods. That's a lot of devices with batteries that could potentially go flat. And I don't have all of those devices constantly connected to power either (they're often left in my back pack as god intended). So imagine pulling your iPad out of your backpack only to realize there is 10% charge left and you need to write something up. Not very fun! With a big power bank like that it's no worries, the iPad will charge as you get to work!
-RooFlyer88
. Or even if out for a day with lots of walking.
