USB / DC / Solar Lithium Ion/Polymer charger

[vgvallee]

I would like to have a switch to select either a solar panel or a wall wart to feed the charger. I don't want to have to plug in and out whichever source is convenient. I will manually toggle the switch to select the source. Can anyone suggest a part to do that?

Also, how would I go about having an on/off switch after the load dock? The battery is powering a small pump but I don't want it to run all the time. Again, a part to do that would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Vince

[adafruit_support_bill]

We have a variety of 2.1mm plugs and jacks that are compatible with the solar charger. The screw-terminal adapter types are very easy to work with:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/368
https://www.adafruit.com/products/369
These may also be useful
https://www.adafruit.com/products/610
https://www.adafruit.com/products/327

For both the input, you would need an SPDT toggle switch. On the load side you just need a SPST. In both cases, you can hard-wire the negative leads and switch the positive.

We don't have any SPDT's in the store, but we do have a waterproof SPST on/off switch:
https://www.adafruit.com/products/482

[vgvallee]

If I would like to connect the solar panel without using an actual barrel plug, I see there is the "DC IN no protection". What does that mean exactly?

If I do want that protection, can I actually replace the barrel jack and do I have to desolder it?

Thanks,
Vince

[vgvallee]

Another question: I need to have the status LEDs from the board brought out on the outside of my project using 5mm LEDs. I understood from somewhere else in the forum that the red/orange "Power Good" isn't accessible. But the yellow "Charging" and green "Done" have the stat1 and stat2 outlets. When I put an LED on the stat1, it does light up but it also gets the onboard green "Done" to light up as well.

Does that indicate a problem?

[adafruit_support_bill]

"DC IN no protection". What does that mean exactly?

There is no diode to protect against reverse current.

it also gets the onboard green "Done" to light up as well.

Installing external leds on stat1/stat2 does not disable the on-board leds. they are both controlled by the same signal line.

[vgvallee]

I do understand that the onboard LEDs will still work if I use the stat1 & stat2 lines. However, what I mean is that I have a battery plugged with the JST connector and a wall wart supplying the power to the board. All is well and the red "Power Good" and yellow "Charging" onboard LEDs are lit. The battery is empty so that the green "Done" LED is not lit. If I connect an external LED to the stat1 line with a resistor, then in the same conditions the green "Done" LED will be lit up as well. The battery is far from being fully charged at that point so connecting an external LED to the stat1 line is doing something and I hope not damaging anything. I would have assumed that the green "Done" LED should not to that when connecting the external LED. I hope I'm making my problem clearer!

Thanks.

[adafruit_support_bill]

That does sound odd. Can you post a photo showing how you have the led connected?

[vgvallee]

Here's a picture with the setup.

On the left, the resistor is on the stat1 line, the long leg of the LED is in line with the second leg of the resistor and the short leg of the LED is on the gnd line.

At the top right, the green arrow points to the green "Done" indicator that is lit up as the external LED is lit.

At the bottom right, the external LED is taken out and the green "Done" indicator is properly off.

I hope it's obvious that I'm barely starting fiddling around with these things. I'm most likely not having things the right way...

Thanks again.

solar_led.jpg (39.03 KiB) Viewed 1637 times

[adafruit_support_bill]

On the left, the resistor is on the stat1 line, the long leg of the LED is in line with the second leg of the resistor and the short leg of the LED is on the gnd line.

The status pins are 'active low'. You should connect the external leds similar to the internal ones as described in the tutorial:

If you need to connect larger LEDs or a microcontroller up to these status pins, you can us the STATUS 0.1" breakout on the bottom edge of the PCB. The pins are open drain, so they will short to ground when 'active' and float when 'inactive' - you'll want to use a pullup resistor if you need a digital signal or connect LEDs just like shown below on the schematic, if you want bigger lights.

[vgvallee]

Hi, I'm having a hard time going from the schematics to the actual components.

Can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks.

[adafruit_support_bill]

The cathode (short lead) of the led goes to stat1 or stat2. The anode (long leg) connects to VCC through a 1K resistor. You can get VCC from the positive side of the DC IN terminals.

[vgvallee]

OH... Thanks...


Is it possible that the lines are inverted? STAT1 seems to be indicating "Done" and STAT2 seems to be indicating "Charging" whereas I was reading the diagram in your previous post as the reverse. On the board that I have anyways.

[adafruit_support_bill]

I suppose it is possible that they are mislabeled. You should be able to follow the traces to the corresponding on-board LEDs.

[vgvallee]

I saw the traces afterward, and yes, they seem to be labeled the reverse of what the diagram shows. My mistake was not to wire both stat lines and counting on what I thought to be the charging one to light up...

Everything works fine now, thank you very much!

[cordstar]

Is there a minimum charge current from a 6v solar module for the solar charger to charge the battery?