External Battery for Surface Pro 2

[Disturbed_Angel]

I have seen a few threads regarding portable power for the Surface Pro 2 (1/3 as well, but I have only done this with a SP2, YMMV with 1/3).

First, a little background. I live pretty far out in the country, not the farthest, but far enough that when the power goes out, we are pretty low on the totem pole for a fix when its wide spread from weather, storms, etc. The flip side is, I am a bit of a gamer, and mostly play WoW. Dailies are a sort of thing in the game, more so now with the new Xpac. I have internet covered with using the hot spot feature on my phone, and cell towers take a lot to go down, so that was covered. Next problem, how do I get on a computer for WoW....

Second, a warning. I am only sharing my experience. This is not a how to, guide, recommendation, or anything else like that. If you use the following information, and you some how, no matter how unlikely, fry your Surface, it is your own fault. This is dead simple however, and I really doubt this will cause any problem, but you are warned. :winktongue:

Now the meat of the post. :wink:

Reading around the Internet showed me a few things. While the Wall adapter is obviously 110V, it outputs 12V at 3.6 A (which explains why the car charger is nearly if not fully normal speed for charging), which is what the Surface 2 is going to max draw, if my understanding is correct. Another thing I found was that the Surface has an approx 5600mAh battery.

Many of the larger portable batteries have a DC voltage out port. Personally, I have had really good experience with the Anker brand of batteries, so I purchased the Anker 2nd Gen Astro Pro2 20000mAh battery on Amazon
A few key features are that it supports up to 4.5 amps across all ports (more than the SP2 3.6 amp draw), has DC out, and supports 9 or 12V out on the DC port, thought we are only really interested in the 12V option (make sure you set your battery to 12V output).

Some poking around Amazon will net you many DC port to SP2 cables, I can't link the one I bought, but they all appear to be the same.

One note, check the female and male port sizes of the DC out vs the cable you buy, I had to get a connector to connect the SP2 charging cable to the DC cable that came with the battery as the SP2 cable was too large to fit alone.

I got all my parts, crossed my fingers, and plugged it in, and success, I was charging from the battery! Now, before any haters show up, I have a gaming rig, and 99.99% of the time, its what I game on, and the SP2 is used as a SP2 is normally used. I know that the SP2 is "not designed for gaming", but it works fine for those annoying Garrison dailies when the power is out. Am I going to go do a Raid? No, but for the run of the mill things, the performance is fine (IIRC I have everything to low, frames capped at just over 30, new models off).

I hope this is helpful to those of you with a Surface and the need to be away from power for extended periods. Sorry if this post is long winded, but I am just really excited that I am able to recharge my SP2 2-3 times (you never get the full power from a external battery, conversion, heat, etc eats some up) with an external battery when I don't have power.

TL;DR: Using an External battery with a 12v DC output and a DC to SP2 cable off Amazon, I am able to charge my SP2 with an external battery

 

[realwarder]

Perhaps you can look in your order history and post links to the 2 Amazon parts for reference.

Thanks

 

[Disturbed_Angel]

Perhaps you can look in your order history and post links to the 2 Amazon parts for reference.

Thanks

I would love too, as that was the plan when I wrote the post, but my post count is not high enough to include links.

 

[RTGent]

I would love too, as that was the plan when I wrote the post, but my post count is not high enough to include links.

Angels, even disturbed ones, should be exempted. Thanks, and here's the link: Amazon.com: Anker? 2nd Gen Astro Pro2 20000mAh 4-Port Aluminum Portable Charger External Battery Power Bank with 9V/12V Multi-Voltage Port and PowerIQTM Technology for iPad Air mini, iPhone 6 5s 5c 5; Galaxy S5 S4, Tab 2, Note, Nexus, MOTO X, G, LG O

And this??: http://www.amazon.com/EZMAX-Mobile-...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU2949265

 

[RTGent]

I would love too, as that was the plan when I wrote the post, but my post count is not high enough to include links.

I'm considering ordering this (the one I linked); but, could you please review and comment on this review, particularly on the version reference. Is the version I linked the one you have and recommend? Amazon.com: Calder's review of Anker? 2nd Gen Astro Pro2 20000mAh 4-Port ...

Thanks.

 

[Disturbed_Angel]

Alrighty. After doing some testing, and taking a closer look at things, this is what I have found.

Initially, when I had hooked the SP2 up, I saw the charging symbol show up, put it to sleep, and came back to it being charged and the battery lower. Everything seemed golden. This time, I watched it closer and for longer. The charging symbol does show up, but only briefly, prob due to the output only being 2A as we now know. However, I then turned the device off, left it hooked to the battery, and left it alone for a few hours, came back and the device had gone from 43% to 88%. It clearly charged. This seems similar to if you have ever plugged an iPad into a low output charger (aka, the 1A iPhone wart). It charges, just not as fast as it should.

Over all, The battery I have works, its just slow. I would suggest any one attempting this to find an external battery with a 12V DC plug that puts out more than the needed 3.6A, and verify with the Manufacture web site prior to purchase.

 

[dashbarron]

Damn! I came here just to ask a question about this very thread. I done screwed up.

I thought I was pretty clever by getting one of these to use for my phone and Sp2: http://www.amazon.com/RAVPower-1500...ag=hawk-future-20&ascsubtag=UUwpUvbUpU2951928

Never really thought about how I was going to connect it.... No way to charge via USB to the surface, plus the Amps might not be enough. Unfortunately the above device doesn't have a circular DC outlet, so I think I'm rather boned. I wonder if I could attempt to daisy chain adapters?