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USB device designed to drain power?

USB device designed to drain power?

Old Mar 3, 2015, 7:50 pm
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USB device designed to drain power?

I just got an Anker E4 2nd Gen battery. The manual recommends discharging and charging it at least once every 4 months. Since I mainly got it for a couple of upcoming long flights, I am thinking I could probably remember to plug in some power-sucking device to drain it once in a while. Is there some USB device designed to just suck power? Maybe a fan or light or something, I guess.

I realize I could just periodically plug my iPad and phone into it, but I'd probably forget...

Last edited by gfunkdave; Mar 3, 2015 at 7:56 pm
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Old Mar 3, 2015, 9:25 pm
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Like this?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16800998091
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Old Mar 3, 2015, 9:57 pm
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It'll take a looong time for that LED to drain the battery. But why buy an additional device? Just use this to charge your phone/ipad/whatever and let it run empty every once in a while. If you can't remember to do that you're not likely to remember to leave it on with the LED fr a few weeks.
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Old Mar 3, 2015, 10:47 pm
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Portable HDD - or better yet, get two and use one to charge the other, then vice versa.
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Old Mar 4, 2015, 6:58 am
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hehe, thanks all. I'll probably just try to remember to use it to charge my iPad from time to time.

I really like my new battery!
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Old Mar 5, 2015, 3:57 am
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Originally Posted by gfunkdave
I just got an Anker E4 2nd Gen battery. The manual recommends discharging and charging it at least once every 4 months.
How odd - I thought the days of the "memory effect" were behind us, now that we have moved on to NiMH batteries...
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Old Mar 5, 2015, 7:47 am
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Originally Posted by Mikity
How odd - I thought the days of the "memory effect" were behind us, now that we have moved on to NiMH batteries...
NiMH is what we moved from - they had a memory effect (though not as bad as the preceding NiCad technology). Virtually all consumer electronics batteries today at Li-ion. They don't have a memory, but leaving them dormant for extended periods causes them to lose capacity to hold a charge. I think it's something about lithium crystals appearing in the cells.
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Old Mar 5, 2015, 8:15 am
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Originally Posted by gfunkdave
Virtually all consumer electronics batteries today at Li-ion. They don't have a memory, but leaving them dormant for extended periods causes them to lose capacity to hold a charge. I think it's something about lithium crystals appearing in the cells.
I stand corrected. Thanks gfunkdave...
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Old Mar 6, 2015, 8:33 pm
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Might I suggest...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thumbs-Up-US.../dp/B000MDYBFU
http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/96b3/

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Old Mar 7, 2015, 9:27 am
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Originally Posted by gfunkdave
hehe, thanks all. I'll probably just try to remember to use it to charge my iPad from time to time.

I really like my new battery!
I have the 9.6Ah version. It's helped me out of a jam more than once. I've become a big Anker fan. The 40W (i.e. 8A) 5 port USB power supply is my favorite travel accessory.
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Old Mar 7, 2015, 2:19 pm
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Originally Posted by HDQDD
I have the 9.6Ah version. It's helped me out of a jam more than once. I've become a big Anker fan. The 40W (i.e. 8A) 5 port USB power supply is my favorite travel accessory.
I've been using the 40W supply as my bedside charger - nice to have one device that charges everything I have at once.
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