check lipo battery level?

[IHOXOHI]

Hi,

I would like use a pybstick from mchobby shop in a mobil way, so with a battery... On this board, there isn't a vbat pin... So I have connected a lipo battery of 3.7V - 400mAh on the vin pin... Powering is ok, and reload too... But it's not perfect, I can't known battery level for save the battery... without a too big breakout for this tiny board.

If someone know a "simple" way for known level battery?

[Dogostyle]

I think you would need a estabilized reference voltage for ADC measurements, a simple way would be to use a zener diode as a voltage regulator in the range of battery level and use it as a reference. It will draw a bit of current if you're thinking about power saving though.

[Roberthh]

You can connect Vin to one of the ADC inputs using a voltage divider (two resistors) to get the battery voltage. That does tell you much about the charge level, but gives you at least a warning before the battery is empty.

[IHOXOHI]

Thanks.

I will try...

All the best.

[IHOXOHI]

Yop,
I tested with just 2 resistors of 10K for try something quicly. For moment, it looks perfect.

The count of my adc passed slowly, and clearly from 2449 to 2380 for 4 hours.

I will test with a zen diode too...

THANKS.

[Roberthh]

This test path adds a constant load to the battery. So make it high impedance, like 1MOhm. You can add a capacitor (~10nF) to the ADC input have a lower dynamic impedance during sampling.

[IHOXOHI]

Hey,

Finally, voltage divider works perfectly with just an oled display. I think that you can check correctly the level bat. But when I add 2 sensors (sgp30 and mcp9808), voltage fall down to a little value. Difference between full bat and empty bat is much more lower and it isn't possible to check correctly the level bat.

With an average of 60 values (one per sec), it works fine for just check if batt is closer of empty or full state, 30 min before ultimate state. I use a bat of 3.7 V and 400mh.

[IHOXOHI]

Yep,

Finally it's a little bit dangerous. It depends of the power of the computer which is charging.
For me it's allright with a raspberry computer, but just with a laptop, battery is very hot during charging.

I will try to add a voltage regulator, but maybe this will stop the charging ability???

Thanks.

[pythoncoder]

LiPo batteries need a specially designed chip for charging. There is a risk of fire or explosion if you use DIY methods unless you really know what you're doing.