MintyBoost and Adafruit USB Power Gauge

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trevor hobbs
 
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MintyBoost and Adafruit USB Power Gauge

Post by trevor hobbs »

I have just assembled a MintyBoost
First time working on something like this, so double checked everything and took my time

Everything seems to work:
- output voltages are fine (4.97v & 1.96v on both data pins - no load)
- phone (Galaxy S3) charges (tried Duracell Alkalines & freshly charged rechargables)
- batteries get warm & the chip gets hot as noted in the FAQ

Then I tried putting the Adafruit USB Power Gauge inline
- the voltage light flickers irregularly, and the power lights change from one to all five being illuminated

I then hooked up the TX output to the computer and read the output
Here is a sample:

V: 4.7 I: 710 mA Watts: 3.3
V: 4.7 I: 344 mA Watts: 1.6 <= low
V: 4.7 I: 956 mA Watts: 4.5 <= high
V: 4.8 I: 433 mA Watts: 2.1
V: 4.7 I: 956 mA Watts: 4.5 <= high
V: 4.7 I: 956 mA Watts: 4.5 <= high
V: 4.7 I: 403 mA Watts: 1.9
V: 4.6 I: 952 mA Watts: 4.4
V: 4.6 I: 549 mA Watts: 2.5
V: 4.7 I: 374 mA Watts: 1.8
V: 4.7 I: 754 mA Watts: 3.6
V: 4.7 I: 773 mA Watts: 3.6
V: 4.7 I: 594 mA Watts: 2.8

Is this fluctuation in the amperage normal?
If it is, will it do any damage?
Is there an incompatibility between the MintyBoost & the Gauge?

I also checked the Gauge with other USB mains chargers, and the output does not fluctuate

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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: MintyBoost and Adafruit USB Power Gauge

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

The fluctuation may have more to do with the device being charged and the relatively low charging current produced by the MintyBoost. I notice my USB power gauge moves around a lot while charging my iPhone from a low-power USB hub.

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kevinrs
 
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Re: MintyBoost and Adafruit USB Power Gauge

Post by kevinrs »

I've noticed the same behavior, and tested on 2 mintyboosts, 3 different phones, also tested charging a couple different usb power packs.
Smooth 2 leds+1 dimmed when powered by a computer usb port.
Full 5 leds when powered by a 1 amp AC adapter or car charger.
When powering with the mintyboost, whatever the input to the mintyboost is, I get 1-5 LEDs, with constant random flickering between them, 1 is solid as far as I can tell, 2 flickers occasionally, 3-4 flicker pretty constantly, 5 is mostly off, occasionally flickers.

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minwedar
 
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Re: MintyBoost and Adafruit USB Power Gauge

Post by minwedar »

My older Atrix I think wasn't really charging but I think I saw something that said that might not work and that battery is getting tired anyway, but I've moved from 45% to 53% batt on my iPhone but man, those batteries sure get hot. Does that limit the life of the battery at all when they are worked like that? Just wonder if I should use cheaper rechargeable for this? I don't know much about batteries. I was kind of curious how this setup is different form say charging from you laptop which I never noticed it getting hot when I charged it? Which makes me wonder if I could somehow use an older unused laptop battery? uhh....nevermind, just read the "read this first" post. :-) Fascinating. I was wonder what I was going to do with those D size batteries that are used for nothing these days!

I connected mine today to the power USB and notice it too was jumping around quite a bit. For some reason I thought since it was hot that it was putting out a full 5W (really, I'm dumb, I have no idea what I'm talking about but this stuff sure is fun). I'm just scanning the forums to see if anyone was putting much bigger batteries through the minty. I was trying to think since I don't have a land line what other sources could I tie into the minty to get some juice in it for extended emergency situations.



Connected to a iPhone 5s:

V: 4.3 I: 249 mA Watts: 1.1
V: 4.3 I: 169 mA Watts: 0.7
V: 4.3 I: 819 mA Watts: 3.5
V: 4.2 I: 319 mA Watts: 1.4
V: 4.4 I: 742 mA Watts: 3.2
V: 4.3 I: 977 mA Watts: 4.2
V: 4.3 I: 177 mA Watts: 0.8
V: 4.3 I: 841 mA Watts: 3.6
V: 4.3 I: 579 mA Watts: 2.5
V: 4.3 I: 552 mA Watts: 2.4
V: 4.2 I: 632 mA Watts: 2.7
V: 4.3 I: 358 mA Watts: 1.5
V: 4.2 I: 216 mA Watts: 0.9
V: 4.2 I: 240 mA Watts: 1.0
V: 4.2 I: 700 mA Watts: 3.0
V: 4.3 I: 216 mA Watts: 0.9
V: 4.3 I: 554 mA Watts: 2.4
V: 4.2 I: 445 mA Watts: 1.9
V: 4.3 I: 409 mA Watts: 1.8
V: 4.2 I: 177 mA Watts: 0.8
V: 4.3 I: 203 mA Watts: 0.9
V: 4.2 I: 184 mA Watts: 0.8
V: 4.2 I: 389 mA Watts: 1.6
V: 4.2 I: 835 mA Watts: 3.5
V: 4.3 I: 207 mA Watts: 0.9
V: 4.3 I: 700 mA Watts: 3.0
V: 4.2 I: 432 mA Watts: 1.8
V: 4.3 I: 231 mA Watts: 1.0
V: 4.3 I: 216 mA Watts: 0.9
V: 4.2 I: 315 mA Watts: 1.3
V: 4.3 I: 883 mA Watts: 3.8
V: 4.3 I: 484 mA Watts: 2.1
V: 4.2 I: 377 mA Watts: 1.6
V: 4.3 I: 223 mA Watts: 1.0
V: 4.2 I: 247 mA Watts: 1.0
V: 4.3 I: 238 mA Watts: 1.0
V: 4.4 I: 328 mA Watts: 1.4
V: 4.2 I: 249 mA Watts: 1.0
V: 4.2 I: 912 mA Watts: 3.8
V: 4.3 I: 234 mA Watts: 1.0
V: 4.3 I: 1001 mA Watts: 4.3
V: 4.2 I: 231 mA Watts: 1.0
V: 4.2 I: 205 mA Watts: 0.9
V: 4.3 I: 217 mA Watts: 0.9
V: 4.3 I: 633 mA Watts: 2.7
V: 4.2 I: 415 mA Watts: 1.8
V: 4.3 I: 974 mA Watts: 4.2
V: 4.3 I: 724 mA Watts: 3.1
V: 4.3 I: 622 mA Watts: 2.7


Compared to plugging it into the laptop:

V: 5.3 I: 0 mA Watts: 0.0
V: 5.3 I: 0 mA Watts: 0.0
V: 5.3 I: 75 mA Watts: 0.4
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
V: 5.1 I: 1001 mA Watts: 5.1
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adafruit_support_rick
 
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Re: MintyBoost and Adafruit USB Power Gauge

Post by adafruit_support_rick »

A lot of people run LiPo batteries though the Minty.

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