PowerBoost 500 Basic - smoking hot?

Breakout boards, sensors, other Adafruit kits, etc.

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
Locked
User avatar
bwalls040971
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 4:09 pm

PowerBoost 500 Basic - smoking hot?

Post by bwalls040971 »

Hi there,

Just recently received a PowerBoost 500 Basic to do some tests with and unfortunately it looks like I fried it right away, just not sure why.

I have a simple project that is powering a 1m strip of NeoPixels RGB LEDs (30) from a Teensy 3.1 using a 74HCT245 chip to boost the data signal from the Teensy to the LED strip. The project works just fine on USB power from the computer to the Teensy.

As a quick test, to hookup the power boost, I used a single battery holder and connected the + to the BAT pin and the - to the GRD pin, then ran a USB cable from the powerboost to the Teensy. Worked for about 3 seconds and then had a small pop and some smoke and the powerboost appears to be out of commission (with a red led lit). At this point just hooking the battery to the powerboost, the powerboost almost immediately gets very hot.

I am using a UltaFire LC 14500 1200mAh 3.7v battery as the power source.

Was the draw of the 1m LED strip to much for the powerboost, is this the wrong type of battery, or is something else going on here?

Thank you for your help!

User avatar
adafruit_support_bill
 
Posts: 88087
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am

Re: PowerBoost 500 Basic - smoking hot?

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

At full intensity, the strip will want to draw about 1.8 Amps. But a typical light pattern like the strandtest demo will pull less than 1/2 that. The PowerBoost 500 should give you up to 1A from a 3.7v source, so it should be able to handle the strip in typical use.

Does the Teensy w/strip still function on USB? Most computer USB ports are limited to 500mA.

User avatar
bwalls040971
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 4:09 pm

Re: PowerBoost 500 Basic - smoking hot?

Post by bwalls040971 »

yes, the Teensy and the strip still work just fine on computer/USB power. Looks like just an issue with the powerboost.

User avatar
bwalls040971
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 4:09 pm

Re: PowerBoost 500 Basic - smoking hot?

Post by bwalls040971 »

BTW- I do have a Powerboost 500 Charger unopened here I can test with as well, I just want to make sure I am not doing something else wrong first to avoid loosing that one as well.

User avatar
adafruit_support_bill
 
Posts: 88087
Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am

Re: PowerBoost 500 Basic - smoking hot?

Post by adafruit_support_bill »

Sounds like a problem with the PowerBoost. If it were a short in the load, it wouldn't run from USB either. Please contact [email protected] with a link to this thread for a replacement.

User avatar
bwalls040971
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Aug 27, 2014 4:09 pm

Re: PowerBoost 500 Basic - smoking hot?

Post by bwalls040971 »

Will do. It worked just fine with the other one, so I guess that was all that it was.

Thank you for all the help :-)

User avatar
adafruit2
 
Posts: 22144
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:36 pm

Re: PowerBoost 500 Basic - smoking hot?

Post by adafruit2 »

bwalls040971 wrote:Hi there,

Just recently received a PowerBoost 500 Basic to do some tests with and unfortunately it looks like I fried it right away, just not sure why.

I have a simple project that is powering a 1m strip of NeoPixels RGB LEDs (30) from a Teensy 3.1 using a 74HCT245 chip to boost the data signal from the Teensy to the LED strip. The project works just fine on USB power from the computer to the Teensy.

As a quick test, to hookup the power boost, I used a single battery holder and connected the + to the BAT pin and the - to the GRD pin, then ran a USB cable from the powerboost to the Teensy. Worked for about 3 seconds and then had a small pop and some smoke and the powerboost appears to be out of commission (with a red led lit). At this point just hooking the battery to the powerboost, the powerboost almost immediately gets very hot.

I am using a UltaFire LC 14500 1200mAh 3.7v battery as the power source.

Was the draw of the 1m LED strip to much for the powerboost, is this the wrong type of battery, or is something else going on here?

Thank you for your help!
yah sounds like you may have had too much current, try lowering the current draw, make sure your wires are not too long going into the power boost pcb from the battery, try to have it < 3"

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “Other Products from Adafruit”