Powerboost Shield 500 DOA?

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Brandenman
 
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Powerboost Shield 500 DOA?

Post by Brandenman »

Hello,

I just received a Powerboost Shield from adafruit along with a 2000 mAh 3.7V battery. I soldered the pin connectors and the on/off switch, plugged in the battery, and when I went to test it on my Arduino, nothing happens when I flip the switch to on. I plugged in the MicroUSB to charge the battery thinking it was dead and let it charge about 30 minutes with a 5V
apple phone charger. The charging light was still yellow but I gave it a shot flipping the switch to the On position with the MicroUSB still plugged in, but still nothing. The last thing I tried was removing the On/Off switch entirely, and when I plugged the battery in, the red low LED flickered once very quickly and then went out.

Am I doing something wrong or did I receive a defective unit?

See photos attached for soldering.
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Image from iOS (2).jpg
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Image from iOS (3).jpg
Image from iOS (3).jpg (129.67 KiB) Viewed 132 times

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Brandenman
 
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Re: Powerboost Shield 500 DOA?

Post by Brandenman »

An update: I let the MicroUSB plugged in more and now I see the green DONE light is lit, but still no power when I unplug the Arduino's USB cable.

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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Powerboost Shield 500 DOA?

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

Your soldering lookks good, and it sounds like the charger section is working.

Check the voltage on all the pins that come out of the slide switch while the switch is in its ON and OFF positions.

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Brandenman
 
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Re: Powerboost Shield 500 DOA?

Post by Brandenman »

Hello, thank you for the reply. I tested all 3 of the pins in with my multimeter and am getting a reading of 0 for all of the readings. I double-checked the battery and the DONE light is still illuminated when I plug it in.
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adafruit_support_mike
 
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Re: Powerboost Shield 500 DOA?

Post by adafruit_support_mike »

Hmm.. when the CHARGE and DONE LEDs are lit at the same time, it means the LiPo charger has found a problem with the battery.

The 0V readings on the switch are also a problem.. there should be a 5V connection to it.

Let's try one more test: what voltage do you see between the pins of the JST jack where the LiPo plugs in?
shield-pins.jpg
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