Author Topic: LiPo Charger from Pro KickStarter  (Read 5426 times)

defragster

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LiPo Charger from Pro KickStarter
« on: April 19, 2015, 11:30:32 pm »
I got my LiPo kit yesterday and soldered tonight and it is working.

All parts included and installed as indicated in the Wiki - resulted in usable Pro blinking!

Connected to a LiPo battery - or to USB and when on USB flipped to charge I get a red light indicating charging - set to ON and USB pulled - all while blinking.

torchris

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Re: LiPo Charger from Pro KickStarter
« Reply #1 on: April 25, 2015, 08:46:48 am »
Can you let me know what type of battery you are using? I see dozens of kinds/voltages of LiPo batteries on eBay and I don't want to get one that will be too big and blow out the charger! :)

Thanks!

defragster

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Re: LiPo Charger from Pro KickStarter
« Reply #2 on: April 25, 2015, 10:28:22 pm »
All the ones I have are 3.7v.  I set mine up with the slow charge resistor.  My LiPo's came from Sparkfun and range from 160mAh to 1000mAh with the right connector.

They have to be single cells, not multi-cell packs to charge properly, the Wiki also says the boost circuitry needs 2-4.5v - Ideally the charge chip sensibly works over a similar range.  But most common LiPo's of interest are at or around 3.7v.

As for 'button top' common 3.7v LiPo cells that would need "adapted" for use:
There is a AA sized 14500 cell that is also 3.7v.  They seem to be 600-800mAh - though some perhaps mislabeled (brand and capacity) claim 1200 (or more).  The 18650 is a larger (fatter&taller) cell that can easily hold 2000+mAh - though often they may also not be what is on the label if it is discounted.  The other common 'CR123A/16340' shorter than AA but fatter seems to top out at or under 900mAh.   Amazon offers all of these - and once adapted I hope they are properly charged and maintained.  I found single cell holders there for all of these - but none go to the JST pin plug.  I saw Sparkfun has a 2 AA battery box unit - with switch and JST plug for only $1.50 - but would need to be rewired for one cell to work.

BTW: Blowing out the charger can be the least of the problems.  Read and observe the warnings on LiPo cell handling [damaged / polarity / shorting ] as posted in the Wiki - if they get hot or start smoking that isn't right:
Quote
CAUTION: Using a damaged battery, reversing battery polarity, shorting any part of the power system while powered by battery, or in any other way using a LiPo battery improperly can cause serious injury, death, and/or fire.

torchris

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Re: LiPo Charger from Pro KickStarter
« Reply #3 on: April 26, 2015, 09:26:22 am »
Excellent, thanks very much for the reply. I will cruise Sparkfun right now.

BTW - Any idea on performance of the Digispark Pro with various battery capacities - or is that too dependent on the application? I am mostly interested in remote sensing using an nRF radio and a handful of sensors.

defragster

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Re: LiPo Charger from Pro KickStarter
« Reply #4 on: April 26, 2015, 09:09:33 pm »
I got mine on sparkfun sale.  Look for the battery box,  may need hacking,  but has the cable and other usable parts in some fashion, especially with a 14500 cell at $3 each at amazon.

The nRf is a good way to drain a battery if active.  Not sure if you can expect 10 or 30 hours from 600 mAh depending on activity.  I charged mine but didn't leave them for a run down test.

defragster

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Re: LiPo Charger from Pro KickStarter
« Reply #5 on: April 29, 2015, 07:37:46 pm »
I put a 1,000mAh LiPo on my Pro with charger and it didn't make 24 hours running the factory blink out of the box.  That is with the factory power light burning fulltime too.