By koffieanon
Sat Jul 07, 2018 8:28 am
Kir2102 wrote:bump
now 2017, we can buy a 20000 mah powerbank for 20$ with two 1A outputs.
and there is some 2$ usb to 12v converter also available.
If you combine both you have 5v usb and 12V, exactly what mpc1k need isn'it?
[...]
Any remarks about this idea and its feasibility?
I like the idea, as powerbanks are just cheap bundles of a charging circuit and batteries.
Unfortunately this will not work directly as you suggested. The main board needs 12V, 5V, GND, and -12V. Moreover, I don't think the voltage will be stable enough (especially with a cheap step-up converter). So I wouldn't want to use it directly in a piece of audio gear like that.
BTW there are powerbanks that supply other voltages and a combination of voltages BTW, but that still leaves us without -12V.
However, you could hook up a 12V powerbank directly to one of these PicoPSUs and get all our outs from there.
I have ordered this guy the GM322 Mini UPS. Which is basically a device you want to keep inline with the power to your home wifi router and serves as a Uninterruptible Power Supply. I went for a UPS specifically, as I've read that many powerbanks will still very briefly cut off power when you switch from mains to battery, so that would be undesirable for this project.
This specific model should probably only give 1.5 hours of battery life, but for me that should be enough. Also I could also always extend the battery array.
I'll update as the parts come in and the project progresses!