Advice needed on supercap bank

Thread Starter

gerryr1gerryr

Joined May 24, 2011
20
Would appreciate some advice about hooking up super cap banks in series.

I have 4 15V super cap banks (6 X 2.7V Balanced) which I wish to add in series
to give me more reserves for a portable power bank.

My concerns are about the charging of the 4 banks while they are still connected in series.

I have tried this out and it seems to work OK.

Just want to be sure so any advice would be appreciated.
 

wayneh

Joined Sep 9, 2010
17,496
Are you charging each bank independently or the entire series string as one? Basically we need a lot more details to be able to answer. But if they are charged independently and no load is applied, they don’t ‘know’ about the presence of the other banks since there is no complete circuit.
 

Thread Starter

gerryr1gerryr

Joined May 24, 2011
20
Are you charging each bank independently or the entire series string as one? Basically we need a lot more details to be able to answer. But if they are charged independently and no load is applied, they don’t ‘know’ about the presence of the other banks since there is no complete circuit.
 

oz93666

Joined Sep 7, 2010
739
I wish to add in series
to give me more reserves for a portable power bank..
By more reserves I assume you mean give more capacity to your battery power bank ?

If so, I think this idea is a non starter ...

The energy density of supercapacitors is very low , perhaps about 50 times lower than the batteries in your powerpack , also you will not be able to draw on all this power due to the capacitors not being fully discharged when used with a battery pack ...

You can use them , but the weight would be excessive for the very small benefit ...
For example , even if the weight of the capacitors were the same as the existing battery pack you could only expect about 1% increase in capacity.

Super caps are supreme at delivering massive currents , so they can be used with a very small battery to start a car for example.
 
Last edited:

Thread Starter

gerryr1gerryr

Joined May 24, 2011
20
By more reserves I assume you mean give more capacity to your battery power bank ?

If so, I think this idea is a non starter ...

The energy density of supercapacitors is very low , perhaps about 50 times lower than the batteries in your powerpack , also you will not be able to draw on all this power due to the capacitors not being fully discharged when used with a battery pack ...

You can use them , but the weight would be excessive for the very small benefit ...
For example , even if the weight of the capacitors were the same as the existing battery pack you could only expect about 1% increase in capacity.

Super caps are supreme at delivering massive currents , so they can be used with a very small battery to start a car for example.
 

Thread Starter

gerryr1gerryr

Joined May 24, 2011
20
No I am using it as a stand alone unit.

It will power things like a soldering iron,18V drills saws etc. It does not have to run for very long.

I have tested it and it gives me enough time for small emergency jobs.

I was just concerned about the method of recharging the caps.
 
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