Battery Backup For Laptop When Power Outage?

paulyjustin · 03 Oct 2018

Hey all got a question. I have a dell xps 15 9550 laptop and i have it charged into outlet almost always. But if i disconnect it from outlet, i get around 2 hour battery life at the most it seem before i have to recharge it. The thing is when im doing certain things, i have to be connected for minimum 8 hours. Thus if i have a power outage and power doesn't come back, I lose money in what i do. I had this happen several times in the building where i rent from because power outages is very common.

Most of the time, the power outage isn't that long like 15 minutes. But few times its been hours and rare times its a day or so. But my main issue is when im on the computer and i can't have this happen.

I read online about ups etc. But im not sure exactly how that works. Does this mean if you have something like this and then your battery on laptop is running out of battery, you could connect your laptop to it and then charge your laptop like its an electric outlet? If so, could you basically use it like an outlet? Example say you charge it to your laptop at 10 percent battery. Say you have it charged to 100 percent and during this time, you used the laptop for another 45 minutes etc. Now you are suppose to unplug it right? Then now you get another 2 hours of it on battery? Then would there still be enough power in that device to plug it in again and charge it again? Thus it would be another 45 minutes and another 2 hours?

I read that these devices only give you like 25 minutes or a bit more than that. So basically you could never get that much power?

And can someone tell me what are examples of this on amazon?

I saw these power banks on amazon. So is this the type of device that i would need for this? Im not sure if its power bank or UPS etc.

Amazon.com: MAXOAK 50000mAh 5/12/20v Portable Charger External Battery Power Bank for Laptop Accessories

Amazon.com: AC Outlet Portable Laptop Charger (TSA-approved), Jackery PowerBar 77Wh/20800mAh 85W (100W Max.) Travel Laptop Power Bank Accessories

Amazon.com: Omars AC Power Bank, 24000mAh AC Outlet Laptop Portable Battery Pack Travel Charger Output Two USB Ports, 80w Output, 88Wh Universal Travel Charger Compatible MacBook, Laptops.: Cell Phones Accessories

I know that the bigger the mAh, the more it last. But how many hours would it last? Example say you have 2 hours of battery on laptop when power outage happens. Now you have one of these on hand. How many hours could you get additionally with one of these devices? Thus when you plug it to laptop and use it while its plugged in... then unplug it when battery is 100 percent... then use laptop while on battery for another 2 hours... is there still enough power to charge it again or is that already way too much?

Berton · 03 Oct 2018

In theory using a UPS [Uninterruptible Power Supply] would help but in reality a UPS is not intended for long duration use, only to provide sufficient backup power for completion of a document then an orderly shutdown of the computer, probably not much more than 15 to 20 minutes, certainly not hours. There may not be many such devices that provide over about 1500-1800 KVA [Watts] backup power for the usual computer and monitor combination [no printers] but since the monitor on a Notebook is part of the unit the length of time could be more.

Try3 · 03 Oct 2018

Pauly,

Look at your battery label or the specs in your computer manual. It will give the battery design capacity in mAh or Wh {I think yours is either 56Wh or 97Wh}. Look at the specs for any of those powerpacks for their capacity.
- If one is in Wh but the other in mAh then you will need to convert one of them by finding out the voltage used. Voltage times mAh divided by 1000 gives Wh.
- You can see how many recharges you can get by calculating powerpack battery design capacity / battery design capacity

The most powerful external powerpack that I know anything about is the Dell Notebook Power Bank Plus (18,000 mAh) - PW7015L and this Dell XPS 15 webpage implies it is compatible with your computer [because it is shown as an accessory for it in that second link]. The beauty of being compatible with this powerpack is that it does not just keep your computer going, it recharges your computer's battery while you are using the computer.
- So you could get a full charge out of your current battery plus however many recharges the powerpack can give you.
- If your demanding power requirements dictate it, you could get more than one powerpack so you could keep going for days but this would be expensive [I found Amazon to be much, much cheaper than buying from Dell directly but it was still a lot of money].
- When I was looking for a powerpack, only the Dell one could recharge my battery while I was still using the computer. The others could keep the computer running or could recharge my battery but could not recharge my battery while I was still using the computer. You'll need to study their specs carefully to decide if the ones you are looking at in Amazon etc can do what you need or if the only option remains the Dell powerpack.
- Similarly, go back to that Dell webpage for the powerpack & look through the compatibility list then click on Dell's chat link and ask why your model is not listed despite the powerpack being shown as an accessory for it. Ask them directly in words that cannot be misunderstood, "Will this powerpack recharge my battery while I am using the computer?" Save the chat so you have a record of what they tell you in case you need to complain later on [and if you are going to buy it from somebody else, have the same conversation with them as well & record its outcome].

I use a Dell powerpack. It stores 18000 mAh. My battery stores about 3700 mAh. So I can get almost 5 recharges which would keep my Dell Inspiron 7779 going for at least 20 continuous hours of internet comms - these tend to be the most power-hungry activities but only when transmissions are being sent & received [not merely remaining connected - this uses up far less power].

Having said all that, getting only 2 hours out of your current battery is surprising. Were you quoting a similar high load period such as the internet transmissions I just mentioned? If not then run a powercfg -batteryreport to compare the current charging level with its design capacity and buy a new battery if necessary. It will not solve your overall problem on its own though. Like me, you have an internal battery so swapping them around involves dismantling the computer. Even internal Dell batteries can be replaced but Dell do not supply all of them [I have to look to the USA for a replacement and it costs about $100].

Denis

PolarNettles · 03 Oct 2018

A UPS is plugged into the wall and is constantly keeping its battery fully charged. You plug your devices into the UPS just like a normal power strip. When you get a blackout the battery immediately kicks in and supplies 120V AC to your devices as if you never lost power at all. Since UPSes are fixed appliances they can be very large and supply weeks' worth of power to a single laptop - if you're willing to pay for it.

A battery pack/power bank is what you expect - it's a battery you manually charge and manually plug your devices into when you need to. They tend not to be very large, since they're meant to be carried around, so you may not get as much capacity as a UPS.

Runtime for both types of power backup depends on a variety of things as the previous posters have discussed. You will have to do the calculations yourself to see how much capacity you need.

paulyjustin · 04 Oct 2018

Try3 said:

Pauly,

Look at your battery label or the specs in your computer manual. It will give the battery design capacity in mAh or Wh {I think yours is either 56Wh or 97Wh}. Look at the specs for any of those powerpacks for their capacity.
- If one is in Wh but the other in mAh then you will need to convert one of them by finding out the voltage used. Voltage times mAh divided by 1000 gives Wh.
- You can see how many recharges you can get by calculating powerpack battery design capacity / battery design capacity

The most powerful external powerpack is the Dell Notebook Power Bank Plus (18,000 mAh) - PW7015L and this Dell XPS 15 webpage implies it is compatible with your computer [because it is shown as an accessory for it in that second link]. The beauty of being compatible with this powerpack is that it does not just keep your computer going, it recharges your computer's battery while you are using the computer.
- So you could get a full charge out of your current battery plus however many recharges the powerpack can give you.
- If your demanding power requirements dictate it, you could get more than one powerpack so you could keep going for days but this would be expensive [I found Amazon to be much, much cheaper than buying from Dell directly but it was still a lot of money].
- When I was looking for a powerpack, only the Dell one could recharge my battery while I was still using the computer. The others could keep the computer running or could recharge my battery but could not recharge my battery while I was still using the computer. You'll need to study their specs carefully to decide if the ones you are looking at in Amazon etc can do what you need or if the only option remains the Dell powerpack.
- Similarly, go back to that Dell webpage for the powerpack & look through the compatibility list then click on Dell's chat link and ask why your model is not listed despite the powerpack being shown as an accessory for it. Ask them directly in words that cannot be misunderstood, "Will this powerpack recharge my battery while I am using the computer?" Save the chat so you have a record of what they tell you in case you need to complain later on [and if you are going to buy it from somebody else, have the same conversation with them as well & record its outcome].

I use a Dell powerpack. It stores 18000 mAh. My battery stores about 3700 mAh. So I can get almost 5 recharges which would keep my Dell Inspiron 7779 going for at least 20 continuous hours of internet comms - these tend to be the most power-hungry activities but only when transmissions are being sent & received [not merely remaining connected - this uses up far less power].

Having said all that, getting only 2 hours out of your current battery is surprising. Were you quoting a similar high load period such as the internet transmissions I just mentioned? If not then run a powercfg -batteryreport to compare the current charging level with its design capacity and buy a new battery if necessary. It will not solve your overall problem on its own though. Like me, you have an internal battery so swapping them around involves dismantling the computer. Even internal Dell batteries can be replaced but Dell do not supply all of them [I have to look to the USA for a replacement and it costs about $100].

Denis

Hi there. Laptop battery is 56 Wh. I have dell xps 15 9550 6300 hq processor if that means anything. 250gb ssd and 8gb ram.
How many hours do you get on battery when fully charged? So you only have 1 of these dell powerpack right? So say you have very little battery left on your inspiron 7779... then you connect the power cord from laptop to that power bank since power bank is already charged right? Now when you connect it, you say it not only recharges, you could also do your thing when it does that. So how long does it take to recharge battery to 100 percent? And after its fully recharged to 100 percent, you immediately unplug the power cord from the power bank to not use any more power from it right? Then you get another x hours on it? But could you still get another recharge? Because if you get one recharge, well that seem like you could get quite a few hours.

Well my laptop is a quad core laptop. The most you could probably get is probably 3 hours but that is everything not bright and you can't watch videos etc. I also have my laptop at max power etc so thats another reason why. I actually got a battery replacement about 6 months ago because my battery goes out in 10 minutes. Im not sure if you know this or not but laptop that are quad core have much poorer batteries than regular laptops with u processors and non quad core processors.

The link you gave me... is there reason very few reviews and not that good review?

I saw these on amazon. Are these the same thing as the one you gave me link to? Im not sure because one says power but other says power bank and both are dell.

Amazon.com: Dell Power Companion 6 Cell 18000 mAh (WCKF2): Computers Accessories
Amazon.com: Dell PW7018LC Notebook Power Bank Plus Accessories

But say i get 2 hour on battery. If i get one of these, it would take im guessing 45 minutes to 1 hour to get to charge to 100 percent right? That mean now i have 1 hour because of this. Then when i unplug it, i get another 2 hours. So basically with one of these, i could get 3 hours of battery total on my laptop with this?

But how do you get 20 hours? The other thing i want to ask is this. You could only connect one thing to it right? Example say someone wants to connect not only their laptop to it... but a monitor as well... well would that even work or is a UPS for the monitor. And i assume a monitor would eat up all the power with the UPS right?

But right now power for the laptop is the most important thing. Thus i want to know if there is a way to get say 5 to 6 hours or more with a power bank. Would it require buying 2 of them? Because i get 2 hours of power if i use laptop on battery at 100 percent. I say it might go to 2.5 hours but thats stretching it because what i do on computer... uses lot of power and processing.

Try3 · 04 Oct 2018

Pauly,

If I am just using simple things like MS Office and even also sitting on the internet letting it check for email every 20 mins or so then my computer lasts all day even without the powerpack [I think the only time I deliberately used up the battery it actually lasted 7 hours]. But if I am constantly actively browsing my own network or the internet using WiFi then that goes down drastically to only 3 hours** [but, again, I have not deliberately used it all up recently so I am speaking from memory].
** Watching videos might be equally as draining but I never do that on the battery so I don't know.

Because I have the 18000 mAh version of the Dell powerpack, I would then be able to get 5 recharges so I could use the computer for a further 35 hours [or a further 15 hours of intensive internet use].

I do not wait for the battery to become low before connecting the powerpack. If I am sitting at my desk or not moving around much I have it connected all the time whether I am using the computer or not.
- While it's connected, the computer draws its power from the powerpack rather than the computer battery.
- As a result, the computer battery is always fully charged unless I am moving about and cannot be bothered to take the powerpack with me.
- So I am wearing out the powerpack and preserving my computer's battery
- I have never noticed how long it takes to recharge the powerpack

The connection arrangements are
1 AC power outlet to the powerpack using the Dell power lead for the computer [so you need to check compatibility - that the power lead for your computer fits into the powerpack].
2 Powerpack to computer's normal power input connection using the power lead supplied with the powerpack [so you need to check compatibility - that the power lead from the powerpack fits your computer].
3 I can disconnect the powerpack from AC power and it carries on charging my computer battery & running my computer [the computer does not even notice the difference, it still thinks it is being charged by AC power].
4 There are some indicator lights on the powerpack so I can see very roughly how much power it has left [5 lights so that's 20% a light]. {There is also a built-in test comparing the powerpack's current charge capacity compared to its design capacity but mine does not seem to working - I cannot remember trying to use it before so perhaps I am doing it wrong}

I do not know why the Dell powerpack has poor reviews overall but I see that some of them are because the powerpack is not compatible with their computers [hence my warning about checking compatibility before buying it].
- The Amazon.co.uk page is at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-Compan...ct_top?ie=UTF8

Of your two Amazon.com links
1 The first, Dell Power Companion 6 Cell 18000 mAh (WCKF2), is the thing I am referring to.
2 The second, the Dell PW7018LC Notebook Power Bank Plus – USB-C, has a much lower capacity {65WHrs which would just be one recharge of your computer battery}. It is also more expensive.
Compatibility checks might determine which of these you could choose.
[note that there is/was also a Dell Power Companion 6 Cell 12000 mAh but it cost about 75% as much as the 18000 so I went for the latter. I have a vague memory of thinking that it would live for longer because its initially higher capacity would take longer to wear out]

About your questions in the paras "But say i get 2 hour on battery. If I ... laptop with this?" & "But right now power for the laptop ... would that even work or is a UPS for the monitor. And i assume a monitor would eat up all the power with the UPS right?" .
- It has 5 times the capacity of my computer's battery [and yours if I understand the XPS 15 correctly] so I have the ability to recharge 5 times from the powerpack.
- Each full charge lasts for 7 hours routine computer use hence 5 * 7hrs = 35 hours [or, for intensive use, 5 * 3hrs = 15 hours]. If your computer has a 56Wh battery like mine then you should get the same. That is all assuming that its advertised 18000mAh capacity is correct of course.
- I keep the computer connected to the powerpack & the powerpack connected to AC power all the time I can so they are both routinely fully charged and ready for use.
- So I am always prepared to leave AC power for the whole day if I need to.

Whether the powerpack is connected to your computer or not, it also has two USB connectors that can be used for other things. I routinely use it to charge my Bluetooth earphones, my cigar lighter, my smartphone, ... It is more convenient than connecting them to a computer because I do not have trailing wires in my way - they can all be tucked away around the back along with the powerpack and the AC adapter.

The big unknown about the Dell powerpack is how long it lives for before it cannot charge to a decent level any more.
- I have now had my powerpack for 10 months. I have probably used it away from AC power for 2-4 hours a day ever since I got it. So I would not be surprised to find out that it has used up 25% of its design capacity.
- I have not checked the powerpack health recently if ever [probably since soon after I bought it] but writing this for you has made me check ~~and it seems to be down to 40% after almost a year {which is why I think it might not be working or I am not testing it correctly] implying that it will expire completely during 2019~~. CORRECTED I have now re-read the powerpack built-in test instructions and the powerpack is still above 80% of its design capacity so I am very pleased.
- During that period, my computer battery has remained at the 75% of full design capacity that it was at the day I bought the powerpack.
- The powerpack will have been wearing out to some degree over this period. 25% would have been pleasing, ~~60% [if true] would be very disappointing.~~ CORRECTED less than 20% is very pleasing.
- So I am sacrificing the powerpack to prolong the lifetime of my internal battery. At the same time, I am benefitting from the ability to last for ages away from AC power.

If the powerpack is properly compatible with your computer then I think a single one will give you the power you need to keep going for 35/15 hours use.
- You do need to ask about compatibility because of the lack of any entry for the XPS 15 in the powerpack's compatibility list despite it having been shown as an accessory for the XPS 15 on that first link I gave you. If it is compatible [i.e. your XPS power lead fits it and the powerpack's lead fits your computer & Dell Chat says it is compatible & Dell chat says you can do the same as me, power & charge the computer while you are using the computer] then I think it is the solution you need.
- Some of the other powerpacks available on Amazon might be able to do the same job but when I looked last December, only the Dell powerpack could do it. And the vague descriptions of those other powerpacks meant I would have had to spend my life getting confirmation of their capabilities.

Denis

Try3 · 04 Oct 2018

Pauly,

There's a review at Dell Power Companion review Charge your laptop on the go - PCWorld

Their test results show that their test computer [an XPS 15 with a 56Wh battery] lasted on its own for 5 hours playing videos but, with the Dell powerpack connected, it lasted for 23 hours.

In the Dell [US] pages a user review specifically mentions using it with the XPS 15 9560 which I assume must be quite similar to your model.

Denis

alikhan · 04 Oct 2018

Before deciding on moving for another power source for your laptop you should know that there are, in general, two major types of UPS available: standby UPS which actually powers your equipment directly from main AC with the built-in static switch using the main AC source and just switches to the inverter(battery) power source when main AC fails. This type represents the VAST majority of consumer grade UPS that you can buy. It only has to charge the battery at some relatively slow rate.
The other one is Online UPS which powers the load full-time via its built-in inverter, meaning the power is always coming from the battery. It's more expensive and less efficient. The main advantage of an online UPS is it removes the static switch as a source of operational failure since a standby UPS requires the SS to actually operate when power goes out whereas an online UPS, it's already in the right mode. You probably don't want to spend the $$$ it costs to have an online UPS so don't worry about it. Just get a big standby UPS. Hope this helps (:

Try3 · 04 Oct 2018

Pauly,

The Dell [US] webpage has a much more detailed compatibility list than the UK page I previously gave you a link to in my first post. If you look at the US page in the Tech Specs section you will see an entry for XPS 15 (9550).

Personally, I would still get a quotable statement from Dell & from whoever you buy it from that it works with your laptop but that is only because I have a low regard for Dell's accuracy / ethics.

Denis

Try3 · 04 Oct 2018

Pauly,

I had misunderstood the built-in test instructions. The powerpack has been in daily use since I got it 10 months ago. It still has over 80% of its original power capacity so I am very pleased. [I have corrected the post above where I thought that the result was lower]

I'll check in again later in case you have any other questions but will be away from my computer for several hours now.

Denis