Hi All.
Can someone let me know if it is possible to charge the Lithium Ion Battery Pack series of batteries with single cell chargers such as those provided on board the Adafruit feather family of products.
Is it additionally ok/feasible to use generic single cell chargers such as the SparkFun LiPo Charger Plus or a PowerBoost 1000 /500 Charger for this task.
An example battery I’m thinking of is: https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/lithium-ion-battery-pack?variant=23417820423
thanks :)
I have that battery connected to a Powerboost 1000c. Its my understanding that multicell batteries, that come pre packaged / joined like that are fine. They have protection against overcharging etc built in. Its only an issue if you start wiring up your own cells into a home made pack. Especially if they are mismatched cells.
That pack is three matched 2200 MAH cells. You can get 4400 MAH and now a 8800 MAH one that is 4 of those cells in a pack.
That being said, keep in mind the charger has to be able to charge them. The higher the capacity the longer that will take. I picked the Powerboost because it has a nice healthy charge current, up to 1A. I picked the 1000c to get a nice high current out, again up to 1 A.
Hi, thanks for your reply and both the Powerboost and balanced cell tips.
I think you have pointed me in the right direction in regards to the topic as a whole. The bit I was missing/not searching for was required charge current/rate. Looking further into this I came across the following pages:
https://rogershobbycenter.com/lipoguide
and
These indicate that the “safe” standard is to charge at 1C; however in respect to min values as long as the charging source has greater voltage than the battery charging will take place, and as you infer may take a very long time (also remembering that wattage, voltage, and amperage are intertwined).
With all this entailed I think the additional secret sauce here is the Battery Packs built in BMS as you also suggest.
Thanks again for your help you have given me lots to go on :)
The tricky bit as far as powering a Pi goes, is getting enough current from your boost converter. My Powerboost 1000c is feeding an A+ with a Sense Hat attached. A+ not a 3A+. Trying to run a model 3 or 4 Pi is iffy at only 1A IMHO. Especially if you have other bits attached to it. Which is one reason I haven swapped in a 3A+ in place of the A+. There were no Zero’s or 3A+'s when I put it all together.
Hi, thanks for the additional info. I have unfortunately not got around to the PI side of things yet as I’m working on a micro-controller iot based project; but when I do (pi robot next on the list) I will probably target the Zero so that’s all good to know. Once again thank you for your input :)
My rovers are Pi Zero W’s with an explorer pHat. Two wheel drive. Powerboost 1000c and a 2200 MAH battery. I’m embarrassed to say they haven’t seen much use yet. I have no idea how long the battery will last. I need to setup a good Bluetooth controller but can’t find my round 2it. ;)