PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

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hopkinsju
 
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PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

Post by hopkinsju »

I'm not certain, but I think I may have blown the fuse on my PowerBoost shield. I have the PB stacked between my Uno and the Movilforum/Telephonica GSM shield. I understand that it's possible for the shield to draw more than 1A at certain times, and although I've been running the thing without issue for days, yesterday while testing my shield powered down and will not turn on or charge.

Which component is the fuse? I assume a simple check for continuity across the ends would test if it were blown, but I assumed that this fuse would reset itself after the load was removed... Might I have a larger problem? FWIW I have tested the battery, arduino, and GSM shield outside of this setup and all are working just fine. The PowerBoost shield seems dead as a doornail.

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hopkinsju
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

Post by hopkinsju »

After doing some more reading, I'm not sure the shield was very likely to be drawing anywhere near 2A, but I don't really have the equipment to know for sure.

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Franklin97355
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

Post by Franklin97355 »

Do you see any damage to the board? how are you powering the shield?

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hopkinsju
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

Post by hopkinsju »

There isn't any damage that is visible. I am powering it with a 2000mAh Lipoly that Adafruit sells. This thing was working like a champ, just sitting on my desk up until it stopped working. I did observe the low voltage LED flickering slightly while there was a load on it yesterday. This flickering was going on intermittently for a few hours before it stopped working. When it did stop working, it was a non-event. No magic blue smoke, no sounds, I really just thought I'd drained the battery.

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Franklin97355
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

Post by Franklin97355 »

Do you have the microUSB plugged in for charging? The battery does not charge from the Arduino.

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hopkinsju
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

Post by hopkinsju »

Yes, I am using the microUSB for charging. I've run this project on battery while developing/testing enough to have gone through 3 full battery cycles, charging the battery via shield/microUSB each time. Since my last post I've put a meter in the circuit and I've seen current draw in the 80-100mA range. Nothing even close to what it'd take to blow the 500mA fuse on the shield.

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hopkinsju
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

Post by hopkinsju »

I should add that I don't have the fanciest of meters, or a scope, so I can't be certain of peak current draws, overshoots, etc.

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Franklin97355
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

Post by Franklin97355 »

One final question. Do I understand that the battery charges and is charged but the Arduino does not run? Do you have the switch in the on position?

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adafruit2
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

Post by adafruit2 »

it sounds like you blew the boost regulator itself, it really can't handle peaks of 2A *at all*, its designed for 500mA draw. We put a fuse on to try to help but if you had a spike of 2A draw eventually it will get thru the fuse and poof goes the internal switch.,
You may need to find a different solution for your project :/

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hopkinsju
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

Post by hopkinsju »

To answer Franklins question, the charge light comes on, but the battery does not in fact charge. Power switch is on.

Is there a way to verify that the regulator is good or bad?

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Franklin97355
 
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Re: PowerBoost 500 Shield Fuse Reset

Post by Franklin97355 »

You can use a multimeter to test the voltages around it.

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