The Anker PowerHouse is massive, with the equivalent battery capacity of over 60 iPhone
8s.
This 120,000 milliamp hour portable power bank is the biggest battery pack I've ever
torn into.
Anker sent me this monstrosity to show off and take apart.
And they want to give one away to you guys, along with 2,000 other products on their website.
It's a pretty big giveaway.
I'll toss a link in the video description for that, and of course I'll explain more
at the end of this video.
Let's get started.
[Intro]
Now obviously this Anker PowerHouse isn't something you can fit in your pocket, but
it is useful for off-grid situations like emergencies or camping.
It's got a super thick, solid aluminum body that makes itself pretty durable.
I've taken out 8 visible screws around the outside of the housing, and there are another
4 screws underneath these little rubber foot pads.
I'm sure that you've noticed already, but this isn't your normal USB power bank.
It does have 4 standard USB ports, but it also has a 12 volt car socket, and a 110 volt
AC wall plug for devices up to 120 watts.
Now the average person will never need to open one of these up, and in fact, I would
highly recommend against it.
There is a dangerous amount of power inside this box.
After removing 4 screws along the bottom, the plastic shroud comes off the back exposing
an additional 8 interior screws.
These are different than the exterior screws, so I'll keep them in a separate pile away
from each other.
The front panel has the same style of clasp as the back panel has.
I'll unclip those and then pull off the face plate, exposing some long wires headed to
the outlet.
And an additional 8 screws.
Once those are out, all of the circuits can pull away from the aluminum housing.
And here's the cool stuff.
This whole thing is powered by lithium ion batteries.
These supply DC power to the USBs and car outlet, but since this also has an alternating
current, or am AC wall plug, it needs a transformer that converts the DC power into the kind of
power that household items need.
Quite a bit bigger than something you'd find inside of a cellphone.
Now let's find out where the batteries are.
Flipping the whole contraption over we find an additional 6 interior screws along the
bottom holding down the plastic covering.
I can remove the screws, but there is still some pretty strong silicone adhesive holding
the plastic in place, but I did win in the end and the cover was removed.
One more black sheet of plastic covers the terminals of 36 individual cylinder shaped
lithium ion batteries.
I imagine the white silicone that's gooped around and inbetween everything is to keep
the vibrations to a minimum, making this whole contraption impact resistant and more durable.
We've seen these same style of batteries used in Tesla cars and other power banks that I've
taken apart.
Even the Tesla power wall has the same style of batteries.
Kind of fun.
I do want to continue using this particular power house though, so I won't separate the
individual batteries.
And now it's time to see if it still works when I put it all back together.
I'll stick the plastic sheet back over the terminals, and then the bottom plastic housing
with its thick screws goes into place.
Now, if you're in an emergency situation and you want the power house to last as long as
possible, stick to using the DC powered ports, like the car port or the USB outlets.
The transformer converting DC to the AC wall outlet is good of course, but efficiency always
drops with each conversion – more than it would than if you were using DC straight into
the devices, like phones or laptops.
There are 8 screws holding the guts into the metal housing.
Anker has included a few safety systems for this power house - normal stuff that your
cellphone has like voltage control and temperature sensors, making it all safe to use.
As I get the face plate on and the last few screws put back into place, let me tell you
about Anker's giveaway.
There are 2,000 products including one of these powerhouses, and it's free to enter.
I'll have Anker's link in the video description along with all the details and the dates.
The winners will be picked by Anker, and I'll be announcing the winner of the power house
on my Twitter @ZacksJerryRig.
So make sure that you're following me over there.
It'll be a brand new power house by the way, and not this one that I just took apart.
And now it's time to see if it still works.
I plugged my clear Galaxy S8 into the USB port and it's charging just fine.
It also charges through the AC outlet and we have additional success with the car charger.
Now the AC wall outlet is 110 volts with 120 watts to work with, and it doesn't power my
1300 watt heat gun very well, but that's to be expected.
Heat guns require an extraordinary amount of power.
But the power house will power my LED studio lights just fine.
If you combine the power house with a good solar charger, you'll be set for a good long
while in case of a disaster.
Like always, I'll have everything you'll need for the giveaway and powerhouse linked down
in the video description.
And thanks a ton for watching.
I'll see you around.