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I am building a bare Arduino project, very basic, and want to make it portable. I need my circuit to run on 5V.

I am new to LiPo batteries and how to manage/use them.

After a lot of online reading and research I found that I need a specific charger to charge a single LiPo cell with USB. I have also found that a LiPo must not be used below a certain voltage. For my application I am not planning on coming near that voltage before recharging, so for the Alpha version of my project I am planning on ignoring a cut-off.

Basically, all I want to know is, would these breakouts work sufficiently for a charger/booster combination circuit? The step-up and the charger. I am buying from a local store so I don't have access to the whole inventory range that e.g. Sparkfun has.

Thanks

PS: I hope this product-specific post does not violate the SE policy.

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2 Answers 2

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Short answer: yes. I'm assuming that you're going to do input -> charger -> cell -> step-up -> circuit, and that the output current rating is adequate for your needs.

It looks like the charger is set for 500ma charge current, so check your cell can cope with that. Most mobile phone size cells can.

Do not put a bypass from the 5V input to the output of the step-up, without checking that this is OK.

There are also warnings, on the product page, about not connecting the battery backwards and that the charger gets warm in operation, both of which you should heed.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for the answer. What do you mean by "bypass from the 5V input to the output"? \$\endgroup\$
    – Pangolin
    Commented Nov 4, 2013 at 14:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ If you want to run the project while it's charging, and avoid going through the charger and then stepping it up again, you might be tempted to go around this double conversion; you should not do that without removing the step-up from the circuit. \$\endgroup\$
    – pjc50
    Commented Nov 4, 2013 at 14:37
  • \$\begingroup\$ Ah ok, thanks :) I forget to mention that I am also not planning on turning the circuit on while charging. So it's either "on" or "charging" but not both. Thanks for the feedback on my component choises! \$\endgroup\$
    – Pangolin
    Commented Nov 4, 2013 at 18:04
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If you are looking at the Sparkfun stuff, don't you just want this? https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11231

From my experience, this circuit works quite well. I've even designed my own beefed up version of it using a TPS63061 (higher switching current).

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  • \$\begingroup\$ As mentioned in the question I can't buy from Sparkfun, so I'm buying from a local Sparkfun distributor who doesnt have all the breakouts. (Especially the ones that will work best) \$\endgroup\$
    – Pangolin
    Commented Nov 5, 2013 at 8:17

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