battery power/charger

[bowen73]

Ive been looking at what i can use to power my Pi Zero and have come across a few options and wondered if anyone has used them or any info.

the first is https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/zero-lipo I like this as it can attach directly to the board but how does it charge?? if power is plugged into the pi does the power pass through to charge the battery or does it need to be removed to charge??

next is this little beauty https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/adaf ... ly-charger nice and cheap but again i think this is literally just a charger for the battery and wont actually power anything per se.

other option https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/powe ... t-1a-1000c which has the charge and output and i think you can hard wire it too, but is a bit more pricey.

also though of an AA battery compartment so batteries can be changed over if needed rather than having to charge it on the go??

what are your options/ideas & rcommendations for powering it?

thanks

[alphanumeric]

I have a Power Boost 1000 C, powering a Pi A+ with a Sense Hat attached. I'm using a big hefty LIPO battery. I wanted a long run time on battery. I have a switch wired to the EN input on the power boost so I can shut off the up converter part (turn the Pi off) and just charge the battery. You can use a USB cable to power your Pi or take power from the 5V pin on the power boost. My power supply has a barrel jack so I feed my power in via the USB and GND connections on the power boost, via a panel mount barrel jack with solder connections.

[alphanumeric]

The Zero Lipo does not recharge the battery. It's only an up converter. Once the battery is discharged, you unplug it and plug it into the second item you linked to, the USB LiIon/LiPoly charger to recharge it. That only recharges the battery, you can't run your PI from it, it doesn't have an up converter. No 5V output.
The Power Boost 1000 c does both, which is why I went with that option. No having to unplug the battery to recharge it.

[runboy93]

5V/3A power supply works great with RPi 3, made in China:

"BS-18W0503000W"

https://m.aliexpress.com/s/item/32801526157.html

[bowen73]

I have a Power Boost 1000 C, powering a Pi A+ with a Sense Hat attached. I'm using a big hefty LIPO battery. I wanted a long run time on battery. I have a switch wired to the EN input on the power boost so I can shut off the up converter part (turn the Pi off) and just charge the battery. You can use a USB cable to power your Pi or take power from the 5V pin on the power boost. My power supply has a barrel jack so I feed my power in via the USB and GND connections on the power boost, via a panel mount barrel jack with solder connections.

brilliant thanks, this sounds like the best option, im not great on electronics, hence the learning but getting advice before i shell out cash is safe option

[bowen73]

The Zero Lipo does not recharge the battery. It's only an up converter. Once the battery is discharged, you unplug it and plug it into the second item you linked to, the USB LiIon/LiPoly charger to recharge it. That only recharges the battery, you can't run your PI from it, it doesn't have an up converter. No 5V output.
The Power Boost 1000 c does both, which is why I went with that option. No having to unplug the battery to recharge it.

thats what i though, just needed confirming. i dont like the idea of taken out and charging etc so will prob go for the power boost option, i was thinking of the AA battery option as easy to change them but i think this would be a neater option.

can you charge and use at the same time with this? like the power banks for phones, they wont give out power whilst on charge, or is this ok?

do you also have a safe shut down script? so it monitors battery level and gives warning and does a safe shut down when @ 5% or something?

thanks

[alphanumeric]

You can charge and run your Pi at the same time. Providing your power supply feeding it can supply enough current to do both. I have a bypass switch wired in to mine. I can switch the Pi's +5V in to come right from my power supply's +5V bus. In that mode only the battery charger is running. The up converter is off. I only ever run my Pi from the power boost when its portable with no power supply plugged in. Or the power fails I guess.
There is a low battery signal available. I haven't made use of it yet. I haven't decided if I want to bother. I don't leave mine running unattended, so if need be I'll just shut it down manually if the low battery indicator comes on. I have a 6700 MAH battery so I'm good for 10+ hours. That's way longer than I'd ever run it on battery. It shouldn't be all that hard to setup a GPIO to shut the Pi down. I could likely use the same circuit and python code I use now to shut down via a switch. Just duplicate it and wire it to another GPIO pin.

[bowen73]

sounds a sweet setup. i should pick your brains more when i get the stuff in

my little project is for a camera so needs to be portable so will run from the battery instead of switchable. is yours the pi3 or the pi zero? im using a zero w but was thinking of a 2000mah battery as its nice and thin, but now im thinking it might not be big enough to keep it running for 10hrs if yours is 6700 :-s

iv seen they make a powerboost 500 too. no idea which i need, but the 500 is £16 instead of £21 for the 1000... a good saving but if the 500 wont be good enough then obvs not worth getting it. it say

If you dont need the 1A battery charger, smart load-sharing, or 1A iOS resistors, check out the Powerboost 500C

but i have no idea if i need them or not..lol..

seen this too, which may be good for you too. https://thepihut.com/products/onoff-shi ... 4245166033 a little unit with a button to power off/on. they also provide the script/install so when you press the button it does a safe shutdown. i'll get one when theyre back in stock, £6 so worth getting one to try out.

Cheers

[alphanumeric]

Mine is a Pi A+ with a Sense Hat attached. I went with the Power Boost 1000 just to be on the safe side. I'm displaying a continuously scrolling message on the Sense Hat LED matrix. I haven't measured what my current draw is but its likely a fair bit.

To calculate your run time divide the MAH rating of your battery by how many MA your device draws. For the sake of argument lets say my Pi and Sense Hat draw 500ma. My 6700MAH battery should therefor give my 13.4 hours run time. Overkill for what I use it for but I like to have lots of extra head room in any project I do.

A Pi Zero draws about 100ma idle, a Zero W 150ma idle current. If you use 200ma and want 10 hours run time you need a 2000MAH battery. The thin one your thinking of using is likely enough. Assuming your camera doesn't draw gobs of current a 500c is likely all you need. I would think the battery will take longer to recharge though. Probably twice as long.

[bowen73]

it still amazes me how clever some people are that know all this stuff... ide be rocking in a corner going loopy if it wasnt for forums steering me in the right direction hahahah

shocked that the 2000mah would be about right though, not bad for a guess lol. i may go for a 2200 or poss 2500 then as i want to get on of these too https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N2K3BC9/ ... MNUF&psc=1

with the powerboost 500, with you saving about charging, if the unit is charged overnight, would that give it a full charge....i may be completly off the mark but 2500 / 500 = 5hrs charge?

[alphanumeric]

The Power Boost 1000c can supply more MA for charging the battery. It has an •Onboard 1000mA charge-rate.
The Power Boost 500c only has an •Onboard 500mA charge-rate. Your batteries will still be fully charged, it will just take longer. If your charging overnight its likely no big deal. It was just a FYI post. Something to be aware of before you make the purchase.

[mlepage]

The micro lipo charger only charges. The PowerBoost 500 only provides 5V power at 500mA (no charging). The PowerBoost 1000 provides the same 5V power at 1000mA (no charging). The PowerBoost 500C and 1000C provide charging in addition to their regular feature (of providing 5V power from a 3.7V battery pack).