Suggested USB charger for the Clue Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

[oldblackcrow]

Hey y'all! Is there a suggested USB charging breakout that would adapt easily for the Clue? I'm putting the Clue in a semi-permanent box with a Lipo battery but need to be able to recharge the battery easily.

[dastels]

I've hacked a LiPo backpack onto a CLUE https://www.adafruit.com/product/2124. It's some dainty soldering to tap into the 5v; I tacked a line onto a capacitor near the USB connector. You just have to put it inline between the battery and the battery connector on the CLUE, and provide +5v from the USB connector. That'll let you recharge the battery through the existing USB connection. You can also connect a switch (as supported by the backpack) to give the ability to turn it on & off.

Dave

[oldblackcrow]

I've hacked a LiPo backpack onto a CLUE https://www.adafruit.com/product/2124. It's some dainty soldering to tap into the 5v; I tacked a line onto a capacitor near the USB connector. You just have to put it inline between the battery and the battery connector on the CLUE, and provide +5v from the USB connector. That'll let you recharge the battery through the existing USB connection. You can also connect a switch (as supported by the backpack) to give the ability to turn it on & off.

Dave

Well, you would just say the most perfect solution... :-D I just ordered 2 backpacks yesterday because one fried from a mis-wired battery connector from the factory (Unless there's no standard, then my fault for not looking). I'll use the other one for the Clue.

"Why buy one, when you can get two for twice the price?"
S.R. Haden - Contact

Thank you again for your help!

[dastels]

I make a habit of buying multiples of parts. It gives me one to sacrifice, and I figure if I need it once I'll probably need it again. There seems to be two standards for battery wires ;) Ones from Adafruit are pretty much guaranteed to be what all the boards use, though a miswired one may slip through on occasion, so it's always a good idea to check before using. That said, I've never had one that wasn't wired as expected.

When I hacked it on, I took off the CLUE's battery connector, but you could use a 2-pin JST to plug into the battery connector on the CLUE (I didn't have room for that in my application). As mentioned, the only tricky bit was getting the 5v line. Photo attached for what I did.

[oldblackcrow]

That helped tremendously... thank you!

[evstar]

Great information! Thanks a lot! :)