Modular Music Box – Powering Arduinos

While for testing purposes the Polymer Lithium Ion Battery – 2000mAh sku: PRT-08483 and LiPoly Charger – Single Cell 3.7-7V Input sku: PRT-00726 may do… further reading of Comments and datasheets suggests they may not be a final choice.

Cons

  • ~6hrs charging a 2000mAh battery at 280mA max
  • JST connectors can be *extremely* difficult to remove!

Pros:

  • Battery includes built-in protection against over voltage, over current, and minimum voltage.
  • useful 3 connectors – one to battery, one to circuit, third for 5V that powers the charger – so can charge the battery and power device at the same time.
  • through holes in the PCB for remote LED

So looks like we’ll need something more like:

which seems a bit expensive all in… particularly since we’ll require two battery packs – one in use and one on charge…

One answer to an Instructables post Where to find a small form factor 12v Battery? led me to US based BatterySpace.com who have a bewildering range of batteries and chargers and useful information on How to estimate  battery pack’s running time… Units such as their Polymer Li-Ion Battery: 3.7 V 5Ah ( 18.5Wh, 6.0A rate) – UN Approved (NDGR) at $32.95 with a Smart Charger (1.8A) for 3.7V Li-ion/Polymer Rechargeable Battery Pack–UL listed at $16.95 – to recharge the battery pack in about 4.1hours seems like a more affordable and effective solution.

I couldn’t find a UK or European supplier for Polymer Li-Ion batteries of this spec and size – PMBL Limited supply OEM batteries and not singles and www.all-battery.com – a French company with UK office – had a helpful Customer Service but nothing like the range of BatterySpace.com.

Now to work out the Modular Music Box’s power consumption and running time using a 3.7v 5Ah battery using the AA Portable Power Corp.’s guide…

and buy suitable step-up and step down voltage regulators to test – such as:

Posted January 3rd, 2011

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