I’ve been seeing some ads on websites for chargetab.

Near as I can tell, it’s one of those business ideas that only works because there is a sliver of the population who have no idea what is available or what anything should cost.

Briefly: they take old phone batteries, charge them, put them in a case with a usb socket. The thing is: it is single use, non-rechargeable.

Here is a pack of six they are selling for $70, so about $11.67 , each 2900 mAh.

https://www.u-buy.com.au/product/RVVTUAI-6-pack-compatible-iphone-chargetab-up-to-4-hours-of-worry-free-stand-by-power-per-emergency-charger-

You pay your $12, get a one-off charge of 2900mWh (about three hours of charge), and then dispose of it, hopefully at a proper battery dropoff.

I can go to Bunnings now and get a little rechargeable powerbank with that capacity for $10. Or one for $22 that is 10000mWh. It will cost a fraction of a cent to charge it each day, something that can happen thousands of times.

These people must go and buy a new car every time they run out of petrol.

There’s a huge number of people that have next to no technical knowledge or ability, and can be exploited as such.
And that’s not likely to change, ever.

They are even trying to greenwash this preposterously wasteful system.

Look at the second question.

I’m starting to think that this is some elaborate Dadaist prank, except that this appears to be a real item for sale with somewhat mixed reviews, indicating that at least a few people were dumb enough to buy these items.

dv said:

These people must go and buy a new car every time they run out of petrol.

well hey don’t worry we have a space program to sell you

SCIENCE said:

dv said:

These people must go and buy a new car every time they run out of petrol.

well hey don’t worry we have a space program to sell you

A lot of people can’t find where they left the last one, so go out and buy a new one. It is only after that that they find they have a boxful of them.

roughbarked said:

SCIENCE said:

dv said:

These people must go and buy a new car every time they run out of petrol.

well hey don’t worry we have a space program to sell you

A lot of people can’t find where they left the last one, so go out and buy a new one. It is only after that that they find they have a boxful of them.

cars or spaces

According to their faq…

There is probably a diode in there that prevents recharging. Send one to Big Clive and he will sort it out. http://bigclive.com/

but is that powered by palm oil or snake oil

dv said:

Here is a pack of six they are selling for $70, so about $11.67 , each 2900 mAh.

You pay your $12, get a one-off charge of 2900mWh (about three hours of charge), and then dispose of it, hopefully at a proper battery dropoff.

Note that mah =/= mWh

Here is Big Clive dismantling a similar product…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5korWqCcsHE

Dark Orange said:

dv said:

Here is a pack of six they are selling for $70, so about $11.67 , each 2900 mAh.

You pay your $12, get a one-off charge of 2900mWh (about three hours of charge), and then dispose of it, hopefully at a proper battery dropoff.

Note that mah =/= mWh

Right, typo.