Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD

[1112295]

Hello,

I just bought the power corr
+ 26800 pd and realized I don’t have a pd charger and also the biggest charger at home was the very small 1A iphone charger.
I immediately ordered the Anker PowerPort II with power delivery capability, but it takes about 3 weeks to receive.
In the meantime i am going on vacation and wanted to use the power bank so i got one regular usb-a to usb-c cable and started charging the battery with it.
I noticed that the bank had previously 3 leds remaining.
When i plugged it with the 1 amp charger it started charging, starting from 2 leds. I left it for more than 5 hours and it did not change - charging starting from 2 leds.
I got worried not to damage the bank somehow and unplugged it and it showed again 3 leds of charge.

My first question is - can i damage the battery by trying to charge it with 1a charger? The cable (usb-a to usb-c) is 1.2m CellularLine (more or less quality cable for 13EUR).
My second question is - can i charge a power delivery battery bank with non-power delivery charger at all (there is very scarce information regarding the pd anker bank - i guess it is too new and more expensive yet).
My third question is - i also ordered the Anker PowerPort Solar 2 - 21w - can i use this one to charge the battery bank without worrying of damaging it?

Thank you.

[TechnicallyWell]

Hi @1112295,

1. Don't worry as the 1 amp charger will not damage the PowerCore, it will just be slow (it could take up to 32 hours to fully charge the 26800 from 0% to 100%).
2. Yes, you can use a regular USB wall charger and it does not need to be a Power Delivery charger. A 2 amp wall charger (like one of Anker's PowerIQ chargers or an iPad charger) should shorten the charge time to 16 hours.
3. Yes, the solar charger will work as well. In full sun, it should deliver a 2 amp charge.

Have a good vacation!

[joshuad11]

I immediately ordered the Anker PowerPort II with power delivery capability, but it takes about 3 weeks to receive.

As @TechnicallyWell said, you'll be fine in the meantime, but once your PowerPort II PD arrives, I think you'll like it!

[1112295]

Thank you so much for the quick responses.
Does anybody know why it would show 3 leds when checking, but once plugged in to charge it will start from 2?

Thanks.

[TechnicallyWell]

Does anybody know why it would show 3 leds when checking, but once plugged in to charge it will start from 2?

The actual charge level is likely somewhere between the #2 and #3 LEDs.
For example, it might be at "2.5" LEDs, so it rounds up to 3 when you check it. But when you charge it, the power bank knows, "Hey, I need to finish the #2 LED before moving on to the #3 LED."

[joshuad11]

If I could find my meter, I would test this out on my 26800, but I seem to have misplaced it Might be time to order a new one

@TechnicallyWell, do you by chance have a PowerCore+ 26800 PD, a USB-A to USB-C cable, and a 5V/2A charger that you could test with your meter to make sure the portable charger can actually take in 5V/2A?

[C4RB1N3]

It’s able to take up to 3 amps input on the 5v rail.

[TechnicallyWell]

I don't have this particular PowerCore, but as @C4RB1N3 pointed out, the specs show that it can accept up to 3A at 5V.

[1112295]

22 hours so far it has junped from 2 to 5 leds, so in base case scrnario it is charging at a little less then 0.5A - at least this is what the math is showing even though i am charging with 1A charger. I guess TrchnicallyWell is right

[1112295]

Ok, some update here - 5 hours later or in total about 27 hours and the battery is fully charged. Am i missing something here - 22 hours for 3 leds and another 5 for the other 5 leds - can somebody give a hint here?

Thanks.

[AnkerSupport]

Hi @1112295,

Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention via the community. We appreciate all the replies/discussions followed up by @TechnicallyWell @joshuad11 @C4RB1N3.

Generally, it's recommended to charge the Anker PowerCore+26800 PD battery with a PD wall adapter as you know. To charge the PowerCore+26800 PD with a standard wall adapter(5V/1A or 5V/2A whatever), it will take much longer time to get it fully charged. As per our testing result, the charging current will be less or equal to 1A with the standard wall adapter due to the different charging technologies.

It is correct from what explained by @TechnicallyWell about the LED indicator showing status. As the consideration of enhancing the charging experience, the LED charging sequence on all Anker batteries is designed to be charging like a rugby ball shape, which means the first couple of LEDs will be charged quickly than the middle ones. And the last ones will be charged faster again to a full status.

To answer your three questions:

1. The PowerCore+26800 PD battery can be charged with a 1A or 2A wall adapter without damages as long as they are all in the good working condition.

2. Yes, it can be charged with a non-power delivery charger but it will take much longer time to charge it up.

3. We usually do not recommend charging the 26800mAh battery with a solar panel due to its big capacity, especially for the PD battery which requests more powerful power source. The power supply from the solar panel may not be consistent whereas the Anker 26800 takes a long time to charge even from a non-PD wall adapter due to its large capacity and the unqiue Power Delivery charging feature. When the charging is interrupted, you may have to reconnect the battery to let the charging start again which is a problem for solar charger since the power supply may be affected by the environment.

As you also ordered the PowerPort II PD wall charger, you can charge the PowerCore+26800 PD battery with it and see if it can be charged in around 4.5-5 hours. If any further issues, you can contact us via support@anker.com and we will be more than happy to help you out as per the 18-month warranty policy.

Thanks again for being an Anker family. Have a great day!