Trying to understand micro-lipo charging stages

Breakout boards, sensors, other Adafruit kits, etc.

Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.
Locked
User avatar
soul170
 
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:42 pm

Trying to understand micro-lipo charging stages

Post by soul170 »

Micro-Lipo Charger for LiPoly Batt with USB Type C Jack

Hi there. I'm currently using the micro-lipo charger for LiPoly battery (usb c) in conjunction with a universal Qi transmitter. The transmitter has two LEDs: red (for not charging), blue (for charging). Everything works as it should however I get a strange result when the battery is fully charged: a blinking of the red AND blue LEDs. Upon reading the description of the micro-lipo, it mentions a third "constant voltage trickle" stage. I'm wondering if this is what I am seeing when the LEDs blink upon a full charge. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

User avatar
mikeysklar
 
Posts: 13936
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:10 pm

Re: Trying to understand micro-lipo charging stages

Post by mikeysklar »

Looking through the guide and datasheet both LEDs should NOT be flashing. The only exception would be if there was a problem with the battery or connection to it. Are you using relatively new Adafruit LiPos? Do you want to post a photo of your setup?

v1:
Both - this means the battery is damaged or isn't plugged in.
This is from the MicroLipo V2 pinout page
There are two LEDs on the board:

CHG - This LED is red while the battery is charging.
DONE - This LED is green once the battery is fully charged.

If both LEDs are on at the same time, it means the battery is damaged or isn't plugged in.
Page 12 of the MCP7831 datasheet:
Screenshot from 2023-03-02 09-00-37.png
Screenshot from 2023-03-02 09-00-37.png (74.9 KiB) Viewed 93 times

User avatar
soul170
 
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:42 pm

Re: Trying to understand micro-lipo charging stages

Post by soul170 »

Thanks so much for your response. I realize what I wrote might not have been clear. Since the initial post, I've done some experimenting. Note: The leds on the micro-lipo are not flickering; I get a red (for charging), a green (for done charging) and no light (when the micro-lipo is disconnected from the qi charger). The flickering was happening with the leds on the qi transmitter.

So here's what is interesting (note: I've tested on a few separate qi transmitters with the same results)...

1. When the qi transmitter isn't connected to a device, the red led is lit. When it is connected, the blue led is lit.

2. When the battery is charging, the red led on the micro-lipo is lit and the blue led on my qi transmitter is lit (as expected).

3. When the battery is fully charged, sometimes the green led on the micro-lipo is lit (as expected) and the led on the qi transmitter remains blue. But...

4. ...sometimes when the battery is fully charged, the led on the micro-lipo turns off completely (no light) and the red and blue leds on the qi transmitter alternate between red and blue (flickering).

In trying to decipher these states, I'm thinking that sometimes when the battery reaches full charge, the micro-lipo disconnects from the qi transmitter (hence no leds are lit) and the qi transmitter oscillates between connected and disconnected.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Jason

User avatar
mikeysklar
 
Posts: 13936
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:10 pm

Re: Trying to understand micro-lipo charging stages

Post by mikeysklar »

If you could take a voltage reading on the battery in the 4th scenario you describe that might be helpful to guess at what is occurring.
4. ...sometimes when the battery is fully charged, the led on the micro-lipo turns off completely (no light) and the red and blue leds on the qi transmitter alternate between red and blue (flickering).
A visual of how you have the Qi charger and MicroLipo connected would also be valuable here. Can you post an 800x600 photo or link to photos posted elsewhere so I can better understand your setup?

User avatar
soul170
 
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:42 pm

Re: Trying to understand micro-lipo charging stages

Post by soul170 »

I thought I would follow-up on this post just in case anyone happened upon it. After showing the vendor a video of the behaviour I was encountering, they seem to believe there is an issue with their Qi transmitter. I'm not fully convinced this is the case as the entire batch seems to behave the same way, but I will take them up on their offer to replace my order. Hopefully, the issue will be rectified.

Thank you so much for lending your insights.

User avatar
mikeysklar
 
Posts: 13936
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 8:10 pm

Re: Trying to understand micro-lipo charging stages

Post by mikeysklar »

I appreciate the update. Maybe you can let us know if the replacement makes a difference. While the vendor might know best I too am skeptical if all the units behave the same way.

Locked
Please be positive and constructive with your questions and comments.

Return to “Other Products from Adafruit”