Powering Arduino from a power bank

[Grumpy_Mike]

plus whatever current is necessary to satisfy the arduino (very very little).

An Arduino Uno takes about 30mA so it is much bigger than your 5mA from a resistor. I think the trip out point is closer to 100mA for the power bank I have.

[Johan_Ha]

I just tested a gmini 5200 mAh power bank. It seems to shut off after 24 s.
12 mA is not enough to keep it on, but 17 mA is. In other words, a 400 Ohm load is not keeping it on, but 300 Ohm does the job. A 100 ms pulse of 17 mA every 20 second keeps the power on. The power won't go on just by connecting it to something that would draw more than 17 mA. Only the button on the PB can turn the 5  V on.

Next test is with an Anker Astro E1 power bank. This one behaves strangely. Even 25 mA is not enough to keep it on. While on, it stays on for 30 s. When off, connecting a 300 Ohm resistor will turn it on, but it won't stay on even if the 300 Ohm is left on. I can't figure out how big current is required for it to stay on. This PB is probably only for charging. I bet it stays on, if the initial current is over 1000 mA (it can deliver 2000 mA) and then the current fades with an even rate, as it would, when a phone actually is charged. So an uneven load caused by an Arduino and a few servos and a timed small 50 mA peak might not keep this PB awake. Which is strange, because I got this PB in a Raspberry Pi set. Perhaps the Raspberry Pi draws continuously enough to keep the Anker PB awake.

The conclusion is that a gmini GM-PB052L works fine with an Arduino, if you just give it an extra load of 300 Ohm (17 mA) for 100 ms every 20 s.

[Johan_Ha]

Turns out my Arduino clone, which is a 4duino pro, draws 15 mA, when it just runs a dumb program without anything attached to the pins. This is enough to keep the gmini PB running, without any extra timed load. But even a constant 38 mA is not enough to keep the Anker PB running. Another board of mine, a Netduino Ethernet, draws 110 mA, when nothing is connected to it. This is enough for the Anker PB to stay awake.

[EJRONIN]

I just bought an ANKER 10000mAh ES1 Redux. PLugged it into an Arduino Mega 2560 Rev 3. Been quietly sitting there, on a stock (out of the box) Arduino since 10 am (i's not 4:45 pm). Hasn't powered down yet.

The next PB I'm going to test is the 26000mAh.

[wvmarle]

I just bought an ANKER 10000mAh ES1 Redux. PLugged it into an Arduino Mega 2560 Rev 3. Been quietly sitting there, on a stock (out of the box) Arduino since 10 am (i's not 4:45 pm). Hasn't powered down yet.

Goes to show how much power the Mega wastes...

[voltaicjeff]

We made all our power banks with an Always On mode for IoT and maker projects. They do not shut off in no or low current applications. They all recover into Always On mode after being drained, the V50 also recovers after over temperature and under temperature events.
See: https://voltaicsystems.com/v50/ and https://voltaicsystems.com/always-on/

[mark_uk]

Hi, I am using a PowerAdd Pilot X7 and found that if I turn on the torch the power stays on indefinately, even after the torch has been turned off again. Just hoping this may help someone

[sirdavy]

I've been lurking on the forums looking for workarounds for getting a powerbank to remain switched on when it's attached to a 9v guitar amp via a 3v/5v-to-9v step up usb cable. Sorry for interloping in your Arduino business!

CURRENT SET UP: Powerbank>>>3v/5v-to-9v USB>>>Guitar Amp (switches on only when guitar jack is inserted)

My Anker Powercore 10000 switches off after ~1m30s and Anker customers service say it will do that if consumption drops below 50ma. This is the proposed work-around I wanted to get your advice on.

In order to stop the Powercore switching off, to give it something about 50ma to power, I'm proposing opening up a male-to-female usb power cable *and* a small LED reading light like this...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Flexibl-Portable-Reading-Computer-Notebook/dp/B07NWTZWGN/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=led+light+usb&qid=1599482196&refinements=p_36%3A-300&rnid=428432031&s=computers&sr=1-3

...and soldering the light in at a point along the cable, like this...


M
A---------- (+) FEMALE
L---------- (-)
E
 
    LED LAMP
          - +
M        ||
A-----||----(+) FEMALE
L-----------(-)
E


...and then plugging it into the 3v/5v-to-9v USB. So...
NEW SET UP: Powerbank>>>Adapted male-to-female USB cable>>>3v/5v-to-9v USB>>>Guitar Amp (switches on only when guitar jack is inserted)

I'm hoping I'll be able to plug my guitar into the amp (creating a circuit) and switch on the powerbank, which will power the amp and stay awake thanks to the lamp but when I remove the jack from the amp the circuit will be broken, the lamp will go out and the powerbank will go to sleep. Do you think that would work?

Hi, I am using a PowerAdd Pilot X7 and found that if I turn on the torch the power stays on indefinately, even after the torch has been turned off again. Just hoping this may help someone

Really? Wow, that might be the answer I'm looking for.

[myimasterwuju]

Hello ,I read all posts about power supply arduino with power bank but nothing found about power supply with 5v 3 amps power bank. so is it safe to power supply and arduino uno or an arduino mega with  5v and 3 amps froma power bank ? I have  supreme hama 10 hd power bank. thank you very much for help!

[6v6gt]

It is safe to supply a Uno or Mega from a 3Amp 5 Volt power bank.
The Uno or Mega would only draw the current required even if the power bank was 2, 3, or even 100 Amps.

You may still face the problem of the unwanted shutdown if the load is not sufficient to keep the power bank "alive".

[RIN67630]

Most power banks don't really have a buck converter optimized for weak currents. They are designed to provide half an Ampere or more and be efficient in that range.
They will lose more LiPo energy in their buck converter than to feed permanently an arduino that just draws 11mA or less...

The wemos 18650 LiPo powering modules are dirty cheap and do manage the energy in a much more efficient way.
Their 5V buck converter needs ony 1mA on idle...
By the way: they provide both 5V and 3,3v so you can remove the inefficient voltage regulator of the arduino if you wire the 5V and 3,3V directly instead of using the USB plug.