Chuwi Larkbox powered by Power Bank

MiniPC
#1

Hello
Is it possible to power up and run Chuwi Larkbox using a type C- Power Delivery - Power Bank?

what are the specifications/requirements?

I am thinking about this:

Rated output is 65W , enough to power a Macbook , should be sufficient for Chuwi Larkbox.
What do you think?
Any experience to share?

thanks
Mirko

PS so far I am very happy with my Chuwi Larkbox . Well done guys!!

1 Like
#2

This will not work, unfortunately. LarkBox doesn’t support PD or QC, so it can only be powered with a DC adapter rated at 12V. They do use Type-C port, mind you, but it’s kind of a fake Type-C, no USB features in that port at all.

3 Likes
#3

Hello
Thanks for your answer.

Not happy to hear that .
I then hope to be able to find an adapter from 12V to (fake) usb C.

the whole point is to use the Larkbox for Astrophotography as it is small and light .
Not being able to use because of a weird power plug … too bad.

Hey guys at Chuwi you are then completely missing the use case of astrophotographers who use Mini PCs to control their equipment

thanks
Best regards
Mirko

#4

As @GinKage said, that’s not possible… and was heavily discussed on Indiegogo’s page :frowning:

1 Like
#5

Actually, Chuwi Hi10x also suffer the same problem (and consider it is a tablet!). If you check out Hi10x forum, you will found out you can solve this by using a 12V PD Trigger cable.
These are the cables I used:



I have tried my setup on Hi10x and Larkbox using a PD charger and they both work. Have not tried on a PD battery yet.
1 Like
Powering Larkbox
#6

The adapter I receive for my larkbox is faulty. I will try this solution. 12v 2A adapter plus 5.5 2.5 to usb c adapter. Hopefully it will work.

1 Like
#7

I just got a few of those cables from eBay and they appear to be working fine with my LarkBox. I had a few 12v adapters for HDD caddies and those adapters worked using these cables.

Good Luck.

2 Likes
#8

Is this also the case in the Hi10 Air tablet PC? It does have a USB-C port, but does it require a non-standard level of power? I once tried a USB-C “dongle dock” that supposedly would transfer power to the host but failed to do so. Maybe I actually toasted it by connecting the Chuwi power brick to its input?

#9

Hello
Quick update here:

I finally managed to run my Larkbox via powerbank, here is how:

  1. you need to have a Power delivery Power Bank
  2. you need to have a PD trigger gircuit capable of requesting the required 12V from the power bank.
    I have used a ZY12PDN circuit (you can find from Amzn, Ebay etc)

Thanks all for pointing me in the riht direction

Mirko

IMG_20201115_121730
IMG_20201115_1217304000×3000 1.65 MB

#10

@Emmevi69,

Where did you get the black USBA to USBC cable in the photo? (attached to the Larkbox). I have the other 2 items, but not that one… don’t even know what to search for.

Dave

#11

how long it run from these powerbank ??

#12

As I mentioned in the post the circuit is a PD trigger search for ZY12PDN on Ebay or Amazon you will see plenty of them

Mirko

#13

Hello
I have no idea ho long will it last: after 3 hours the Power Bank was still at 75%
it is rated at 26800 mAh but I think it really depends on how much you load the CPU

Mirko