I bought a Lithium Ion Battery Pack - 3.7V 6600mAh for a project ( using a PowerBoost 500 Charger) and the battery had an initial charge and ran the device when first plugged in. However it does not take a charge from the PowerBoost - I checked the voltage at the JST connector pins when plugged into an external power source and I have 4.1 VDC at the pins. When connected the yellow charging LED is on and if I pull the battery JST connector out the LED flashes and goes off. I can replug the battery in and the charger will start again (yellow LED and voltage) which means the battery must be connecting in some manner. No matter how long I leave it on to charge though, (even overnight) the battery never retains enough charge to power the device. Bad battery pack?
I noticed that when I left it on charge after about 15 minutes the yellow LED went out - maybe a bad PowerBoost charger instead? This is the second one I have installed since the first was defective and replaced free of charge by you. I tried this again and after about 20 minutes the yellow LED went out. I pulled the JST plug and checked the voltage at the pins and had 4.1 VDC there, and I have 4.1 VDC at the LBO to GND pins. However when connected to a power source and turned on (new problem) I only have 1.4 VDC at the 5V pinouts and the device doesn't power up (obviously). What diagnostics would you like me to do to confirm the problem? One more thing - the low battery LED never comes on.
The circuit is wired exactly as https://learn.adafruit.com/super-game-p ... it-diagram
Power Boost 500 / Lithium Ion Battery charging problem
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- brixtontechnical
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Power Boost 500 / Lithium Ion Battery charging problem
Last edited by brixtontechnical on Thu Jul 30, 2015 4:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- adafruit_support_bill
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Re: Power Boost 500 / Lithium Ion Battery charging problem
What voltage do you have there when the battery is connected?I pulled the JST plug and checked the voltage at the pins and had 4.1 VDC there
- brixtontechnical
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Re: Power Boost 500 / Lithium Ion Battery charging problem
I have 4.2 VDC at the JST connector even when the yellow LED is out and the battery is connected (and nothing else is lit). When I turn it on and off the yellow LED lights up again - but still only 1.4 VDC at the output pins.
- adafruit_support_bill
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Re: Power Boost 500 / Lithium Ion Battery charging problem
And what voltage do you read on the battery itself when unplugged?
- brixtontechnical
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- adafruit_support_bill
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Re: Power Boost 500 / Lithium Ion Battery charging problem
It sounds like the charger section is working, but the boost section is not. Let me refer this to our boost controller expert.
- brixtontechnical
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Re: Power Boost 500 / Lithium Ion Battery charging problem
Okay - thanks. Have you had a bad batch of PowerBoost 500 cards, because this is the second one that has given me a problem.
- adafruit2
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Re: Power Boost 500 / Lithium Ion Battery charging problem
are you sure the enable pin isn't pulled low? that will turn off the boost converter
- brixtontechnical
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Re: Power Boost 500 / Lithium Ion Battery charging problem
No, the enable pin is not pulled low. Only when the system is shut off as per the circuit diagram.
At this point when I turn on the system I get zero volts at the output pins - I have 4.2 VDC on the battery connector (checked when disconnected), so it would appear the PowerBoost board is totally dead now. Anything I can check to see what is going on?
At this point when I turn on the system I get zero volts at the output pins - I have 4.2 VDC on the battery connector (checked when disconnected), so it would appear the PowerBoost board is totally dead now. Anything I can check to see what is going on?
- brixtontechnical
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Wed Jul 22, 2015 9:53 pm
Re: Power Boost 500 / Lithium Ion Battery charging problem
I have ordered another PowerBoost 500 board (the third one) to replace the second one that has gone dead (just like the first one). Is there possibly something I'm doing to cause these two boards to fail - and if so what do I need to watch out for when I install the new one. Is there some way to determine the failure mode?
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.