PowerCore charging issues

[Luis_Cruz2]

hi i just bought a new PowerCore Speed 20000, but since it didn’t have the charger or the usb to Type C cables, i decided to use the best I had: Huawei P20 PRO cable and charger (40W).
Turns out it didn’t work no lights on at all.
I thought maybe its the cable and switch it to another generic cable, and lights are on … it took more then 12h to recharge the Poewrbank… once again i thought maybe the cable is the problem and purchase a Good 100(W) usb to Type C Cable (Baseus). I know had a 40 W charger and a up to 100W cable it should be fast.

No deal, it did not turn ON, ok i don’t understand much of this Watts or amp’s thing but , i thought it should work, i’ll give the complete specs here to see if somebody can help out to understand if i’m doing something wrong, or is a real problem that should be checked by warranty department:

Charger:
Huawei Supercharger 40 W:
OUTPUT: 5V-2A or 9V-2A or 10V- 4A

Cable Specs: Voltage/stream: 10V / 5A (Max) 40W Quick Charge 3.0

Hope someone could trow me in the right direction .

[professor]

It’s surprising you bought such an old model, there are many successors after it. Did you buy the upgraded version?

But if you read the product

You need a Quick Charge 3 charger. You can buy QC3 chargers from Anker, old models.

Power IQ 2.0 vs Qualcomm QC 3.0 Test

Or get a newer charger with IQ2 port.

[Lcross_Portugal]

well I chose it because the 5.6h charge and the price was nice…
I didn’t realize the Huawei Supercharge 40W wasn’t compatible… I will try a QC3 one. Thanks.

[professor]

Try to get a IQ2 charger which states 18W. If not then QC3.

When you factor the charger and QC3 is not the latest, it’s not really worthwhile buying this Powercore now. The modern successor would be the 20000 PD Essential and use a PD IQ3 charger.

[ikari04warrior]

I’m sure you could buy a cheap cable and charger from Walmart just to get the Powercore charged

[Lcross_Portugal]

Well i really didn’t that when i bought it, but that’s ok it charges my phones nicely, the problem is to charge it .
I have tried to charge it with and QC3 charger and the cable i describe earlier and it didn’t work… no lights turned on so no charging, is this behavior normal ? or it might be a problem ? Both charger and cable are QC3 compatible.
It is currently charging with the QC3 charger and a generic cable to see how long it takes.
@ikari04warrior no Walmart in Portugal the prices are quite different from the US…I got the very old model in a special promotion and cost me 40€ but the normal price is 79€.
On Amazon I’m limited to UK or ES or IT, but there are very few products and usually old stock like mine. Tying to get a charger with IQ2 is getting into a full time job here…lololol.

Thank for all the advice’s, i really just want to try to make shure there isn’t no problem with this unit.

[ikari04warrior]

If you tried with different chargers and cables and nothing happens then I’ll be concerned I have a faulty unit. At this point you should contact support and hopefully they can help about it. Maybe you can get your money back or try a different unit or model

[professor]

I think they meant they had tried it with a QC3 compatible cable, not charger, and is currently charging with QC3 charger and see performance improvement.

The speed model was intended for those owning QC3 phones and their supplied chargers, and so the Powercore implicitly has the right charger.

IQ2 is QC3 so whichever is easier and lowest cost to source.

[ikari04warrior]

Oh I see, hopefully he can get it figured out
I see why sometimes selling it as a bundle makes a good point

[Lcross_Portugal]

Well this were my combos :
1 - Huawei 40W Charger with regular cable -> more then 12h to 50%
2 - Huawei 40W Charger with QC3 Cable -> No Charge
3 - QC3 Charger with QC3 Cable -> No Charge
4 - QC3 Charger with regular cable 9H for 25%

I think i’ll get int touch with support. Thanks for everything.

[professor]

Good job to you trying to solve this mystery, yes looks like support next step…

You’ll need the serial number, proof of purchase from authorised seller, to get a speedy warranty response.

[Tank]

Hold the phone a minute, you said you were using a USB to C cable to charge this? This requires a Micro USB cable to charge it not a C, unless this whole time you were plugging the c part into the wall plug and the usb side into this battery pack. If thats the case then that explains why it will not charge.

What is the exact model number of the pack you have? Considering there are various versions of this, it will help us better help you.

[Lcross_Portugal]

@tank This doesn’t have micro usb it has a type C Port and the regular USB. I’m not that distracted

[professor]

So it is not therefore a Powercore Speed 20000.

It is a Powercore Speed 20000 PD.

What’s the product code on the underside? I think you’re incorrect in what you called it. B1275011 ?

This is the Powercore Speed 20000, product A1278011

It is a MicroB input and two A output.

This is the Speed 20000 PD, product code B1275011

It is a USB-C input / output and a USB-A output.

A Q3C / IQ2 charger is the wrong one for the 20000 PD. Explains a lot…

You require a 30W PD charger.

It says on the port USB PD, as it would say on the packaging.

PD Input: 5V=3A, 9V=3A, 15V=2A, 20V=1.5A

And then it’s a 4 hour recharge.

You said Portugal, if I pick nearest country (Spain)

Anker PowerCore Speed 20000 PD

I see not bundled with charger. Ahh.

@Tank you were correct to ask for the exact product code, we never got it though.

[Lcross_Portugal]

Damn i can’t believe this you are spot on, i didn’t seen the picture …
It is the PD edition model - A1275
It has the 1PD port and 1 USB and of course all the specs are wright… i bought it in a promotion at a really good price (i think…) here shop

So if i by this : Anker PowerPort PD 2 33W Type-C 2-Port will it be ok ? Charging PD to PD?

The only part that doesn’t make sense to me is the Huawei charger is 40 W and charges very slow with regular usb cable , and with a good cable it doesn’t work at all, and i can’t plug this cable with any charger to the PowerCore. It works well on the phone…

Well it seems you guys just saved me from big headache.

[Tank]

thats what I figured with it being the PD version, but then you called it something different hence why i asked for the model number.

Ok, so in order for this to properly charge you cannot press any button and there cannot be any lights on when you plug it in. Its a two way power delivery port, so if the lights are on then it is trying to send power instead of receiving it. Even if its plugged in this way and the lights go out, it still won’t charge unless its plugged in without the lights on.

Now, as for why the Pro charger doesn’t fast charge this device is due to it being a phone charger that is proprietary to Huawei. Its looking to the phone for that specific handshake that tells it to ramp up the power so it can fast charge the phone. It is not a true Power Delivery charger and thus reverts to slow charging devices that cannot tell it to fast charge. Also quick charge won’t fast charge this either, so you would need a right proper power delivery charger in order to fast charge this

[professor]

Mystery solved.

Ignore Watts.

The Huawei is using a proprietary non-PD protocol.

Yes that charger appears to work.

Powerport output:

Powercore input:

They match in protocol, Voltage, current.

However, there is always a tiny chance this combination may not work, so always buy from an authorised seller to get a no-hassle free return, just in case.

If you like our help then please click the “solved” button below right on all the replies you found helpful.

[Lcross_Portugal]

Thanks for the explanation, i didn’t realize that was so many things going on under the hood on a “simple” charger.
I already order the anker charger I’ll have it tomorrow, and hopefully everything will be normal. I order it on that shop i bought the powercore and realize its the only authorized dealer in Portugal… just wished they had more products, and we had more dealers to chose from cause Anker is amazing .

@professor you really solved this but i am afraid i didn’t find the solved button

edit just find it using Chrome, Firefox doesn’t show that option

[professor]

Good luck. You need to connect the USBC cable at both ends between the USBC port on the Powerport and the USBC port on the Powercore and not press the Power button prior, it’s needs all its lights on Powercore off before you attempt to charge. If all goes well you’re going to see 4 hours recharge. Remember though trickle charging still applies, regardless of charger choice to go from 80% charged to fully charged takes a lot longer than from empty to partially charged, it’s an inherent limitation in current Lithium cells technology. So for you to see a real improvement in charging the 20000 PD needs to be nearly empty.

As to the cause, we discuss it here regularly. It’s a combination of phone manufacturers using proprietary charging technology, the vaugeness of the words “fast charging”, Anker’s own bizarre product naming (“speed” in two very different products) , Anker’s lack of willingness to drop older products (nearly everything they ever made is still for sale).

It’s also getting worse as there are different PD versions. The trend is away from modes where there are specific Voltages (5V , 9V , 15V , 20V) to just a stated maximum, so we’re already seeing some Phones say PD which won’t work with some PD chargers.

It’s a zoo of complexity, bit fortunately @Tank suspicion was correct. Luckily we have the community to help figuring out collectively.

[Lcross_Portugal]

Just to confirm, with the new Anker charger and the type-c to type-c cable that came with the PowerCore connected in the PD port , aprox 3 hours to charge 75%. Just Perfect.
Again thanks and keep up the great work.