Using a power bank

I have a power bank-a hand me down- that I’d like to use in a different way.  All the items that I’ve come across only talk about a PB being used to charge batteries.  What I’d like to do is use the PB like an external battery.  That is I want to plug it into my camera to use as a very long lasting battery -supposedly equal to about 6 reg batts-during the holidays.  

Can I do this without frying my camera’s electronics?

Are there any tricks I need to know?  (I seem to recall some one saying that this requires having a dead/dummy battery in the cam). True?

What else?

THANKS

Have a link to what power bank you have?  Most common ones are used for charging USB devices.  It is essentially an external battery to some degree.

I've used a power bank to power a Bluetooth speaker. As long as the device has a USB port for charging, it should work as a power source.

What model camera do you have?

Thanks @drummerboy.  I have a Panasonic Lumix G6, bought used a few years ago.  At $150 for cam and a bunch of extras it’s been quite a bargain.

I’ve been using it with 4 off brand batteries.  These seem consume their charge a bit fast9that’s why I have 4).  This has worked well enough, but I’d like to check my options.  I don’t shoot video, but may want to give it a go.

Am I right in assuming that this could work to power an old iPad, iPhone etc also?

Apollo_T said:

Thanks @drummerboy.  I have a Panasonic Lumix G6, bought used a few years ago.  At $150 for cam and a bunch of extras it’s been quite a bargain.

I’ve been using it with 4 off brand batteries.  These seem consume their charge a bit fast9that’s why I have 4).  This has worked well enough, but I’d like to check my options.  I don’t shoot video, but may want to give it a go.

Am I right in assuming that this could work to power an old iPad, iPhone etc also?

Yeah, it should work for all those things, as long as they work when plugged in. I've come across a rechargeable device or two that don't want to work when they're recharging.