[size=small]I received the [/size][size=small]Anker® Astro3 10000mAh External Backup Battery Pack on April 10th, 2013. I purchased this product for the purposes of using an electrostatic amplifier rated at 12V 4W (by my estimates, approximately 300-400mA) DC input power portably as opposed to keeping it powered in a stationary setting via a wall-wart. This amplifier is not battery-operated and relies on an outside power supply to operate.[/size]
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[size=small] Unfortunately, it seems as though your product has irreversibly damaged my amplifier in question. This damage occurred at some point on April 12, 2013 in the process of acquiring a properly fitting DC cable at my local Radio Shack using their Adaptacable standard cable with replaceable DC tips. Upon finding tips suitable for both products (specifically, a tip matching the "C" tip included with your product for your product, and an "N" tip for my amplifier), the battery was plugged into an outlet using the wall wart included with your product inserted into the "input" of your product, the "C" tip was inserted into the "output" of your product, and the "N" tip was inserted into my amplifier.
The battery and amplifier were then turned on and immediately began to noticeably malfunction, with the LED for the "12V" selector on the battery repeatedly flashing on and off, and the amplifier's "on" LED not activating despite the power switch being flipped to the "on" position. Within a few moments, my amplifier began to smell of smoke, upon which both devices were disconnected and the amplifier inspected by the manager of the Radio Shack by disassembling the case and inspecting the inside circuitry of the amplifier. Upon inspection, no visible damage was present, despite the now very noticeable odor of smoke. The amplifier was then tested to visibly power on properly with the actual wall wart used with the amplifier, although the output sound was not tested. A variation of other tip selections were then tested, with a similar result on the battery end each time but without such an event reoccurring with the amplifier.
Your customer service department was then contacted, the time being at this point approximately 4:40 PST. The customer service rep, to his credit, was very helpful in his effort to find a solution to my problem, and gave me some details pertaining to it; your product is apparently not designed to power devices that are not battery-operated, despite the fact that this detail is not mentioned explicitly or otherwise anywhere in the manual or online product documentation, or product packaging to my knowledge. Your customer service representative then gave me instructions as to how to bypass a fail-safe in the battery that prevents the battery from apparently providing power to any product that is not battery-operated, that consisted of drawing approximately 80mA from one of the two USB ports on the battery and then attempting to draw power at the same time from the DC output on the battery. These instructions were followed shortly afterwards, uneventfully and to no avail.
I then left the Radio Shack without purchasing a product and proceeded back to my home. Upon arriving, I reconnected my amplifier to my home audio system in the fashion it was connected before it was disassembled prior to taking the unit to the Radio Shack, and attempted to play media through the amplifier to a pair of "ear-speakers", only to find that the output audio was massively distorted to the point of being unlistenable. Even after reconnecting my gear to itself in a variety if different ways, the end result was the same; at the time of writing, the amplifier is no longer functional in any way except for the LED indicating power status; however, the battery itself is still perfectly functional.[/size]
