Hello there peeps, I need some help.
I have a solar lipo charger connected to powerboost 1000. I am using a 4400mah, li-ion battery from adafruit as the battery and I seem to be having an amperage draw issue. Everything works great and it will charge many small things around my house that are usb based. The problem arises when I try to charge my Note 4 or my Ipad. The moment I plug either one in the low battery indicator illuminates on the power boost 1000, even if the battery is fully charged. I have the power boost hardwired to the load side for the solar charger. I have looked around and cant seem to find the max amperage draw from the load side of the solar charger. If I plug the battery directly into the powerboost it works fine. I did notice that I seem to get a lot of coil whine from the power boost under heavy load. Has anyone else run into this issue or is it just me? If so, have you found a solution? OR (the more likely problem) am I just a moron and am exceeding the physical limitations of the device? Thanks for your input. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Solar Lipo Charger with power boost 1000
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- xxlawman87xx
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- adafruit_support_bill
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Re: Solar Lipo Charger with power boost 1000
Tablets and similar devices like to charge at about 2A. And, since there is no free lunch in physics, an increase in voltage comes at a cost of a drop in current.
To get 2A at 5v, your battery will need to supply 3.5A or more. At high current draws, the battery output voltage is likely to sag a bit and may trigger the LBO indicator.
The lower the voltage and higher the current, the harder the PowerBoost has to work. Some audible whine from the switching in the boost circuit is not unusual.
To get 2A at 5v, your battery will need to supply 3.5A or more. At high current draws, the battery output voltage is likely to sag a bit and may trigger the LBO indicator.
The lower the voltage and higher the current, the harder the PowerBoost has to work. Some audible whine from the switching in the boost circuit is not unusual.
- xxlawman87xx
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- Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 11:12 pm
Re: Solar Lipo Charger with power boost 1000
That's what figured was going on. If I went to the 6600mah pack from here would that help or am I limited by the amperage rating of the load side of the solar lipo charger? I actually don't know what the amperage rating is for the load side.
- xxlawman87xx
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- Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 11:12 pm
Re: Solar Lipo Charger with power boost 1000
What if I were to use the 1000c in place of the pb1000 and connect the battery to the 1000c and then hardwire the load side of the solar charger to the micro usb leads of the 1000c? Would this help increase efficiency and help reduce Vdrop and thereby allowing a bit more current draw?
- adafruit_support_bill
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Re: Solar Lipo Charger with power boost 1000
The 1000C is not going to help you. The charger in that device is not optimized for a solar power source.
A 6600mAh battery may help a little. It would probably have less voltage sag under load, so the PowerBoost would not have to work quite as hard to boost it back up. But at 2A you are still running the system close to max capacity.
A 6600mAh battery may help a little. It would probably have less voltage sag under load, so the PowerBoost would not have to work quite as hard to boost it back up. But at 2A you are still running the system close to max capacity.
- xxlawman87xx
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 11:12 pm
Re: Solar Lipo Charger with power boost 1000
Thanks.
Another topic related to this. If I wanted to mount led's to the outside of a project box that would be wired to the ones on the boards, what voltage is going to the LED's?
Another topic related to this. If I wanted to mount led's to the outside of a project box that would be wired to the ones on the boards, what voltage is going to the LED's?
- adafruit_support_bill
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- Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am
Re: Solar Lipo Charger with power boost 1000
That depends on the Vf of the leds you use. But the status pins are pulled up via 1K resistors, so even a red LED will have more than adequate current limiting.
- xxlawman87xx
- Posts: 13
- Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 11:12 pm
Re: Solar Lipo Charger with power boost 1000
I still seem to be having a current issue. If I plug my battery directly into the pb1000 then it work just fine. However if I plug the battery into the solar charger and let the pb1000 draw it's power from the load side of the solar charger then I instantly get a low batt indicator on the pb1000. This leads me to believe the solar charger cannot supply as much current to the pb1000 as the battery can directly. I still can't seem to find what the actual output of the load side is.
- adafruit_support_bill
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- Joined: Sat Feb 07, 2009 10:11 am
Re: Solar Lipo Charger with power boost 1000
The low battery indicator has nothing to do with the amount of current your battery can supply. It is strictly a function of voltage. There will be a slight voltage drop through the load-sharing circuit in the solar charger.
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.