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KenFellows
 
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Circuit Playground

Post by KenFellows »

Which Lipoly battery (volts and amps) do I need to use to run the Circuit Playground?

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dastels
 
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Re: Circuit Playground

Post by dastels »

LiPos that you'll find in the Adafruit shop are all the same voltage 3.7-4.2v depending on charge level. They're just right for running through a 3.3v regulator to power a 3.3v MCU (which is pretty much everything modern). The don't really have an amp rating, but rather an Amp-hour rating. That's pretty much sort of a measure of how many electrons they can hold (amps would relate to how fast they can dump their electrons). What it comes down to is that the higher mAh ratings hold more, and are also physically larger. The bigger the battery, the longer it will last before having to be recharged. My rule of thumb is to use the biggest LiPo that will fit. So any size standard LiPo will work, bigger ones work longer.

One warning, be careful that the battery you get is wired to match the battery connector on the CircuitPlayground. Buying the battery from Adafruit ensures that.

Dave

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KenFellows
 
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Re: Circuit Playground

Post by KenFellows »

Hi Dave,
I bought two new Lipo 3.7v 500mAh batteries with the JST connector. I fully charged both and checked the voltage on one. It was 4.07. Neither one can power the Circuit Playground. I bought the "3 x AAA Battery Holder with On/Off Switch, JST, and Belt Clip PRODUCT ID: 3286" and it does power the Circuit Playground. Why aren't these batteries (Lipo 3.7v 500mAh) working to power it?

Thanks,
Ken

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dastels
 
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Re: Circuit Playground

Post by dastels »

Which CircuitPlayground do you have?

It should work. I've built various CircuitPlayground (Classic and Express) projects that run fine from a LiPi. I have a coffee/tea timer made with a CP Classic that runs for months on a 1200mAh LiPo.

Are the batteries from Adafruit? Maybe post a clear photo pf the battery's JST connector?

Dave

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KenFellows
 
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Re: Circuit Playground

Post by KenFellows »

Hi Dave,
Are the batteries from Adafruit? Yes. But I am willing try a different lipo voltage to see if that works.
Maybe post a clear photo pf the battery's JST connector? Attachment are the items from Adafruit that I am working with.
I am a train enthusiast (Ho scale) and I use Arduino to do special effects on my layout. Like, I coded a nano to make a 1952 police car top light to randomly blink and I have it play a siren sound with it starts to blink. I digress.

Thanks,
Ken
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dastels
 
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Re: Circuit Playground

Post by dastels »

The wiring of the battery connector looks wrong, i.e. opposite what Adafruit uses. See the images at https://www.adafruit.com/product/1578. That's why it doesn't work.

Dave

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KenFellows
 
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Re: Circuit Playground

Post by KenFellows »

Hi Dave,
I just ordered the battery you recommended from this site.

Thanks,
Ken

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dastels
 
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Re: Circuit Playground

Post by dastels »

Cool Like I said, batteries from Adafruit are safe bets for using with Adafruit boards. With other battery sources you have to be careful about the connector polarity.

Dave

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