USB Charger Board

[Lonnie Lepp]

I was poking around in the Candle Power Forum and came across a post about a USB charger board.

"universal 1A lithium battery cell liion li charger board module In4.5-5.5V USB"

that was being sold on ebay.

I was thinking that I could use that with the IC board that I got today as a sample from TI. It is an ucc283T - Adjustable 3Amp IC Linear Regulator LDO.

I am thinking usb pasthru and portabality away from the computer or to use it in the car on long trips.

Any thoughts or warnings?

Thanks

 

[CityLights]

That's the same board I use. Works great! It can't be used as a pass-through without a sufficient Battery tho.

That charge board came set up as a 1000mAh charge, so make sure the Battery you choose can be charged at that rate.

 

[Lonnie Lepp]

I was thinking that the battery would be driving the atty and the USB Charger would be charging as I was vaping.

I wondering if the charging and the vaping could happen at the same time?

Thanks for the reply

That's the same board I use. Works great! It can't be used as a pass-through without a sufficient Battery tho.

That charge board came set up as a 1000mAh charge, so make sure the Battery you choose can be charged at that rate.

 

[Hanus]

You can change one resistor to get lower mA for charge. You can look at ebay that what resistans you need. Like 2k ohm is 580mA.

 

[WillyB]

I was thinking that the battery would be driving the atty and the USB Charger would be charging as I was vaping.

I wondering if the charging and the vaping could happen at the same time?

No.

I got today as a sample from TI. It is an ucc283T -

That will be using two cells stacked/in series.

 

[Lonnie Lepp]

Could I put two usb chargers, one for each battery?

 

[CityLights]

Could I put two usb chargers, one for each battery?

No, if you have stacked Batteries you need a different type of charger. Even then I wouldn't recommend it. I frown on stacking Batts especially charging stacks! ..It can be done with 2 regular lithium cells but it requires an additional circuit between and around the Batts.

I was thinking that the battery would be driving the atty and the USB Charger would be charging as I was vaping.

I wondering if the charging and the vaping could happen at the same time?

Technically Yes & No
I Vape while charging but not when my Battery Cell is getting close to the top off of 4.2Volts. Reason being is the Voltage drop while in use at top of the charge can fool the charge circuit into over charging a cell. I switch my mods Voltage display to Cell Volts while charging and I stop vaping on it when it reaches 4.18. When the Cell finishes charging to 4.2, I pull the USB cable and vape on. Also if you vape like this you must have a robust USB power source 1500mAh per USB port or higher is recomended. Most common USB ports are 500mAh or less.

If you refrain from vaping any e-cig pass-trough while it's charging the Battery will Live a longer life. The Eb & Flo of charge/discharge stresses the Cell. And All ecigs with pass-through should not be vaped while the battery is near the top of the charge, for the reason I stated above. Doing so puts the user a increase risk of catastrophic failure of the Cell.

 

[Lonnie Lepp]

Well there ya go
I am glad I asked

Thanks

 

[jimbalny]

No, if you have stacked Batteries you need a different type of charger. Even then I wouldn't recommend it. I frown on stacking Batts especially charging stacks! ..It can be done with 2 regular lithium cells but it requires an additional circuit between and around the Batts.


Technically Yes & No
I Vape while charging but not when my Battery Cell is getting close to the top off of 4.2Volts. Reason being is the Voltage drop while in use at top of the charge can fool the charge circuit into over charging a cell. I switch my mods Voltage display to Cell Volts while charging and I stop vaping on it when it reaches 4.18. When the Cell finishes charging to 4.2, I pull the USB cable and vape on. Also if you vape like this you must have a robust USB power source 1500mAh per USB port or higher is recomended. Most common USB ports are 500mAh or less.

If you refrain from vaping any e-cig pass-trough while it's charging the Battery will Live a longer life. The Eb & Flo of charge/discharge stresses the Cell. And All ecigs with pass-through should not be vaped while the battery is near the top of the charge, for the reason I stated above. Doing so puts the user a increase risk of catastrophic failure of the Cell.

Can you explain this a little more in depth? Trying to wrap my head around this. Is it because the under load condition would trick the charger circuit into thinking that the under load reading is the battery's actual voltage reading? Trying to think how this scenario can be avoided by altering the charger behavior.

 

[Rader2146]

I believe the biggest reason is that while the charger is in constant voltage mode a drop in voltage caused by load could trick the charger into constant current mode. If the charge state is near the end that could slam an almost full battery with 1a current.

I think that is also what CityLights is saying, or at least for similar reasons. But then again I would think that the response time of most chargers would be fast enough to mitigate a lot of the danger.