When is a Power Bank safe to use?

I am wondering when you should retire a power bank. The one I currently have looks fine and undented but when you shake the power bank you can hear a rattle. So my question is this (if it has not been already asked) what signs should I look for to know that the power bank is unsafe?

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I would be very careful with that battery pack. Probably retire it! These battery packs have batteries and electronics in them that can be shorted out ‘BOOM!’. Wouldn’t want you getting hurt so I would say stop use and contact Anker. If it is still under warranty then get a replacement.

It isn’t an Anker product but it did have a 3yr warranty, but it started rattling in about a year.

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Shake, rattle & roll!
Give it back!:grin:

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@vst It only takes a small piece of metal to cross the power buss on the batteries and ‘KABOOM’

Buuuut it works… (I don’t like binning working stuff). Also as power bank is triangular just think its the cell rattling not anything else (I hope). I’ll also be on the lookout for a replacement one. Also its out of warranty for about a year.

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These are similar batteries found in power banks and e-cig mods… Please be careful

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I usually charge my phone from a power bank very rarely, but when i do I will try to put the power bank on a table and not into my pocket.

Depending in the battery pack type you may be fine, often times the circuit board can be bumped loose and that is what you hear rattle. The batteries in proper battery packs are often sealed and taped as to prevent shorts if and when something comes loose. In this instance I speak from experience having taken a few battery packs a part over the past year.

But, in the name of safety and since you still have a warranty I would reach out to the company and try to get it replaced.

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its out of warranty… and since I bought it from a German supermarket the warranty process is confusing.

Any chance you can post a picture? From all different sides, just so I can see what’s the best way to open it? This way you can possibly attempt to open and reset the circuit board and batteries



Here they are.

So if you got any precision tweezers, you can pry up the plastic ends. It’s just a plastic peice that’s glued into place, I would pop open the part where the USB port is because that’s the easiest spot to pull open. Once the cover off there should be a screw, take that off and the whole unit should slide right out. Once you have it out, look and see where the loose part is and tape it back to the circuit board. And then put it back together

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