I have a 4.5v LED strip 14.5watts (unknown amp draw; maybe 3amp) 30 LED 5050 per meter that runs off 3 AA Alkaline batteries. It runs fine for several hours (with the AAs) which is great but Id like to hook it up to a small power bank. I pulled out an old old power bank of 2200mAh 5v 1A output thats been sitting for some time without a charge so I charged it up for about 3 hours and then I spliced some wires of a USB connector and connected it to the strip light which ran for about 45 minutes before the lights went out.

It worked for a little bit but my main question is that can I hook up a larger battery of 5500mAh that outputs 2.1A 5v to the strip to make it last longer; looking for several hours of power before it shuts off. The battery I used was so old maybe it lost some its 'magic" over time sitting in the drawer or because I am not getting the amps needed across the LEDs or maybe I was loosing voltage as the juice ran out. I'm not a pro at electrical stuff but I am a quick learner and any advice would be appreciated.



Thanks in advance



james

 

Capacity in Ah means Current drawn X Time, so if you want 3 hrs @ 3 amps, that's 9Ah (9000mAh)

If you want longer lasting capacity, use a Sla battery.