If I do not charge my power bank before use what happens?

Your power bank will probably not perform optimally, eventually. It depends on the type of battery in it. Best to do what the user manual says and maintain a healthy charge/usage cycle - aim to recharge before you hit 20% to ensure you have adequate power when needed.

As with new mobile phones, it is advisable to USB charge your power bank completely for at least 6 hours (or overnight), before first time use. If you don’t do this your power bank may not function optimally and the life span could be affected. 

For a solar power bank, charge through the Solar panel or USB & AC adaptors directly. The LED indicators will come on with blue flashing lights, or other colour, when exposed to the sun or when charging with USB. The flashing LED indicators will vary as the charging progressively completes. 

Charging with USB cable should take about 6-12 hours for most mobile power banks depending on the model and capacity rating. The higher the rating the longer it will take. 

Charging by solar panel takes about 30-50 hours depending on model and exposure to sunlight. This is because the solar panel is designed to fit a mobile product to top up the power bank. Note that the solar panel mainly provides emergency backup and the main priority is to recharge the power bank on exposure to sunlight. 

It should take about 40 – 90 minutes to fast charge a smartphone with a good quality USB 2.0 cable depending on the phone.  This also depends on whether or not the phone being charged is switched on or off. Phones consume energy when switched on due to apps running in the background, hence will take longer to charge up.

Dave Ebi is a Most Viewed Power Bank Writer on Quora. Join HetoGrow on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, G+ or LinkedIn