I know the first time I bought a power bank I was a little nervous about how to use it at first. They are simple devices, but the idea that I had a battery eight times the size of my phone in my hand made me second guess what to do. Using it for the first time and every time after that is super easy, but I understand why you’re here. I did the research about what to do then and here is what I could find and what I learned from experience. There are a few steps to take for the first time you bust out your power bank and they are:

1. Read The User’s Manual
2. First Charge
3. Check Indicators
4. Calculating Charging Times
5. Maintain Power Bank
6. Use Power Bank for First Time
7. Enjoy Your Power Bank

These steps are very easy on their own, but I am going to go step by step on what to do so you understand completely. Once it’s all said and done you’ll be an expert in power banks. Hopefully this is of some help to you.

Read The User’s Manual

I always recommend you read the user’s manual before using any electronics device, let alone power banks. Power banks are very simple devices, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore the manufacturers when they are trying to tell you something. User’s manuals are there for your guidance and are specific to the device you purchased. I don’t know what you have or what you’re planning to buy, so I have to keep this discussion in general terms. For specific knowledge you should go to the user’s manual.

If you user’s manual says something that contradicts what I am telling you or has any additional steps before usage, then listen to them. They wrote whatever is in there for a reason, because they know it better than you or I do since they built the thing. Especially when they contradict me, you should always follow their advice over mine because they can get a lot more specific and they designed the thing you have.

What I am telling you goes for almost all power banks. This is really meant for normal run of the mill power banks and also battery case power banks. But this does not apply to large power banks nor solar power banks. You will have to read the user’s manual to know what to do when you first use your power bank.

First Charge

The first thing to do is take your charger and charge the power bank. I know that seems super obvious and you were wondering what to do before even that happened, but that is it, plug it in. If your power bank requires any assembly or requires you to pull out anything that stops it from charging at the moment (like a piece of plastic) then take care of those first, but really plugging it in is the first step to using a power bank.

The charging cable for the power bank should be included with it when you bought it, but it may need a wall charger to plug into the outlet. We will talk about what this wall charger does for you when calculating how long it will take to charge your power bank, but for now just plug it in. Most power banks use USB charging cables to recharge, just like your phone and other devices will use when they get charged by your power bank.

Check Indicators

For those of you who do not know, do NOT overcharge your power bank. It can lead to real damage to your power bank and, in some very unlikely event, explode. There are two ways for you to determine how long your power bank needs to be plugged in. The easiest is check the indicators from time to time. The indicators on your power bank tell you how much charge is in your power bank, usually through four lights. Those lights correspond to four settings of charge:

• 1 light = 25% charged
• 2 lights = 50% charged
• 3 lights = 75% charged
• 4 lights = 95% charged

The reason power banks do not give 100% charge to their batteries is for safety reasons. You do not want to overcharge your power bank as I already mentioned. So, indicating that the power bank is full when really it is slightly below full power is a way of maintaining a factor of safety. Some venders or manufacturers will send you their power bank either fully charged or partially charged. Because of this you should check the indicators now to see how much charge there is. If it is full, then unplug your power bank and you can move on to the next step.

If you found that the last light is not on then you should keep it plugged in until it is full. Keep checking until you find that your power bank is full.

Calculating Charging Times

That was the first way, the second way is to calculate how long it will take to charge. This is simple and you can do it with the calculator on your phone. You don’t have to do this though. If you buy a power bank that has automatic overcharge cutoffs, then your power bank will stop itself from overcharging. It will detect when its battery is full and stop the flow of more electricity from occurring. That being said, it can still be useful to know how long it takes for your power bank to charge even if your power bank will stop itself from overcharging. Here is the equation to calculate how long it will take to charge your power bank from zero power:

Charging Time (hours) = Charging Capacity (mAh) / Charging Rate (mA)

Each of these three variables means something:

• Charging Time is the time it takes to charge your power bank in hours
• Charging Capacity is the size of your battery, or how much electricity it can hold
• Charging Rate is the amount of energy being sent to your power bank from the outlet in the wall

Each of these has a typical number. We are going to calculate the charging time so we won’t know that one. The charging capacity is something that you need to find from the user’s manual or the vender that sold the power bank to you (like amazon). This number should have the letters ‘mAh’ after it. Some power banks have 5000 mAh while others have up to 20000 mAh or more. You should try to find that number. The last number you need to get is the charging rate. This is an easy number, if you are using a normal wall charger then that number will be 1000 mA. If you use a smart wall charger then your number could be 2100 mA or even as high as 4800 mA. That you need to look for in the user’s manual or online for the specific wall charger you have. But if you have a normal one, like the one from Apple, then that will be 1000 mA (which is equal to 1 Amp).

Now that you have the two numbers, take the charge capacity and divide it by the charge rate. And presto, you have the number of hours it will take to charge your power bank. Don’t be surprised if that number is pretty high. Some power banks can take ten or more hours to charge through a normal wall charger. Here is an example:

If you have a power bank with 20000 mAh of charge capacity and you charge it with a normal 1000 mA wall charger then,

Charging Time (hours) = 20000 mAh / 1000 mA = 20 hours

For 5000 mAh of charge capacity it will take:

Charging Time (hours) = 5000 mAh / 1000 mA = 5 hours

That is a very long time. If you want to charge your power bank a lot faster than that then you should think about getting a smart charger that can supply up to 4800 mA of current. This can be more dangerous for your devices since it is sending a lot of current through at once, just be careful and don’t use anything that is not rated for this current to be plugged in. But if you do that look at the results:

Charging Time (hours) = 20000 mAh / 4800 mA = 4 hours & 10 minutes

That’s a heck of a decrease in charging times. Just be careful with what you charge with. Don’t use any knock off brands to charge your power bank because if they send way too much current through it can damage your power bank forever. Knowing how much time it takes for your power bank to charge is essential in knowing when you can use it and when you need to charge it.

Maintain Power Bank

While your power bank is charging, here is a lesson for all power bank users to learn. Maintain your power bank. You might think just because you spent $30 on your power bank that it doesn’t need maintenance, or it should be fine on its own. Well that’s not entirely true. Like all electronic devices, you need to make sure your power bank isn’t being misused or neglected. By letting the power bank degrade over time you will notice that the battery lifespan will decrease rapidly. All electronic devices do this, but it is important that you maintain and use your power bank wisely and correctly.

I wrote an article about how to improve your power bank, so it can have the longest life it possible can. You can read about it here. Maintaining your power bank will ensure it never gets overly damaged or breaks prematurely on you.

Use Power Bank for the First Time

Now that all four lights are on in your power bank and you have a full charge it is time to use it. You can unplug it from charging of course, but now you can plug your phone into the power bank. There should be at least one USB port for discharging electricity, but you may have multiple outlets. Choose anyone, but typically you want to use a port that has 1 Amp for phones and 2 Amps for things like tablets. You can charge your phone with 2 Amps, but it can be a bit fast for some phones to handle and could decrease the battery of your phone over time. But doing it here and there won’t hurt it one bit.

You can use your power bank for all sorts of devices. Laptops are a device that require 12 Volts to be powered, where normal power banks can only deliver 5 Volts. That being said there are power banks made for laptops specifically that can also charge phones and other devices. But these typically are not as portable and may not fit our normal perception of a power bank. But check them out if you are interested.

Other than these exceptions, all you need to do is get your phone’s USB charging cable and connect it to the power bank like you do with your wall charger and outlet. Manufacturers recommend you use the USB cable provided by the company that makes your phone. I also recommend you use a short USB cable for power saving purposes. But whatever cable you have currently will be just fine to test and see how your power bank is working.

If your power bank is not working, then it probably is the result of one of two things:

1. You didn’t charge it long enough
2. You have a faulty power bank

Realize that your power bank might take a really long time to charge from an empty battery. If you are still confused about what is going on reread your user’s manual for any clues as to what happened. And if that doesn’t help then you should contact the manufacturer or the seller to determine what to do next. More often than not if this is happening to you it has happened to someone else, look up your specific power bank make and model and you should see if there is a group of people who have gone through what you are currently going through.

Enjoy Your Power Bank

Now that you have charged your first device you can go out into the world and use your power bank anywhere. There are a few things you should know.

1. Try not to leave your power bank battery too low (recharge it once it hits 20%)
2. If you leave your power bank for a long time charge it to around 50%
3. Keep your power bank in a cool environment

These are just things you should know going forward since they have an impact on your use of the device and could cause the battery to decline more rapidly over time. I have written a lot about power banks and if you would like to know more, please feel free to search around this website for any questions you might have.

Now that you have mastered the steps of using a power bank, you can help your friends and family keep their phones and devices charged throughout their days. Perhaps you might be thinking of purchasing a power bank for the family or your group of friends. Those are all good ideas and the process is all the same for those power banks, unless the user’s manual states otherwise. Using power banks really does open up your world, now you will be able to experience that first hand in the days and week to come.

Conclusion

Power banks are simple and powerful devices. They let you charge your devices anywhere you want. But when you’re starting out using one you might be a little lost about how to start using it. That is why I have written this article, to help you know the steps. They are:

1. Read User’s Manual
2. First Charge
3. Check Indicators
4. Calculating Charging Times
5. Maintain Power Bank
6. Use Power Bank for First Time
7. Enjoy Your Power Bank

They should be easy enough and going forward all you need to do is recharge your power bank when the battery gets too low and then you can plug your devices in whenever you want to. I hope I have been of some help to you and good luck.