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Ask an Expert Forum Multiple charger ICs on the same battery?
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  • battery charging
  • lipo
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Multiple charger ICs on the same battery?

obones
obones 1 day ago

Hello,

I have a MAX32666FTHR board that embeds a MAX1555 IC to handle charging a LiPo battery, as seen on this diagram:

image

In the circuit I'm building around that board, I'm using a display made of 64 WS2812B LEDs that is powered with +5V and consumes around 1A when fully lit.
To generate that +5V from the battery, I can use a boost DC DC converter quite easily, I just need to take into account the fact that it consumes a lot of current, and so the battery cannot be small if I want it to work for more than a few minutes. As such, I'm looking at 5000 to 10000mAh batteries.

Thing is, the MAX1555 used here is only consuming 100mA at most while charging, meaning that it would take anywhere between 2 to 4 days to fully charge the selected battery.

So, to speed up things quite a bit, I'm considering this kind of module:

image

It's specifications tell me that it can charge a 2A, thus getting around 2.5 to 5 hours charge time. And it is also capable of outputting 5V at 2A, way more than what I need in my project.

So far so good, but I'm wondering how to connect all this together, preserving functionality as much as possible, with as little user manipulation as possible.

At first, I thought about desoldering the VBUS pin on J2 and connecting VBUS to the module output. But this makes the VDDB signal always present which tricks the MAX32666 into thinking it is connected to a USB host when it is not actually so. And I'd really like to be able to continue using the available USB stack implementation in my project.

My other idea is to connect the battery to both the module and the max32666FTHR board battery header, like this:

image

The battery has its own integrated protection circuit.

However, I have two concerns with this:
The first is about the survival of the MAX1555 when the battery is under charge by the module. I think it would not mind as it would see 4.2V on its BAT pin, way below the maximum value (7V in the datasheet).
The second is about the survival of the charging chip inside the module when I plug a micro USB cable in J2 on the board. This would put the MAX1555 into charging mode, thus sending 4V into the positive cable of the battery and into the module charging chip, but I believe this should be fine as would be the case in the reverse situation.

What do you think of this? Am I right in assuming the second idea is fine for both charger ICs?

Thanks for your help

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Top Replies

  • michaelkellett
    michaelkellett 11 hours ago +1
    Looking at the MAX1555 data sheet suggests that connecting a charger will do no harm (to it). The text refers to low leakage current drawn from the battery with no power sources connected and on page…
  • colporteur
    0 colporteur 1 day ago

    I chuckled at your post. I thought I was reading something I had posted. Our content styles are similar. Lots of details! Hopefully it avoids the response, did you plug it in.

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  • obones
    0 obones 1 day ago in reply to colporteur

    Well, too much details might be a work disorder, as I work in IT and my first reply to any customer report is 99% "can you give me more details as to what you mean by it doesn't work"

    And no, I have not plugged it in because I don't want to fry the MAX32666FTHR, it's the only one I have here. I prefer the "ask question beforehand" approach these days, as experience taught me it's usually less expensive...

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  • colporteur
    0 colporteur 1 day ago in reply to obones

    MY MIND IS LEAKING!

    I just did a post on the MikroTik site for some network changes I am making. Your commentary is very similar. I wish I had the experience then I wouldn't need to ask the question.

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  • misaz
    0 misaz 1 day ago

    Do not use battery port on MAX32666FTHR, power it through USB (5V) which you will already have in hand for LEDs.

    IMHO Maxim boards are not good for this use case. They are intended for 1.8/3.3V operation and everything above it seems to me like too much hassle with these boards.

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  • obones
    0 obones 1 day ago in reply to misaz

    Yes, but what happens if I also plug a micro USB cable in the J2 port for data communication ? Wouldn't the two sources of +5V be conflicting, possibly frying either the converter module or the USB host ?

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  • misaz
    0 misaz 1 day ago in reply to obones

    And do you need USB data? My idea was to let USB on FTHR empty and connect 5V to VBUS pin on headers.

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  • obones
    0 obones 1 day ago in reply to misaz

    Yes, I'd really like to keep that possibility for the firmware I'm writing which is intended to be a "demonstration" of what's available.

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  • michaelkellett
    0 michaelkellett 11 hours ago

    Looking at the MAX1555 data sheet suggests that connecting a charger will do no harm (to it).

    The text refers to low leakage current drawn from the battery with no power sources connected and on page 2 of the data sheet you'll find:

    image

    So you can expect a tiny reverse current because the charge should never get the battery over 4.2V. The charger may be upset by the battery suddenly switching from needing 50mA or so at the maintaining voltage at the end of the charge cycle to 1A or more when the LEDs switch on. To cope with this you would need a much more complex system.

    The charging module you plan to use looks like a dodgy ultra low cost Chinese part  - I wouldn't trust it without doing some testing (and not much even then). It may be upset by the unusual load. If its a one off and you have an appetite for an uncertain (but lowish) amount of risk then give it a go. Check carefully what it does over a full charge and discharge cycle with loads etc connected.

    If you can get a schematic of the board and a data sheet for the chip and battery then you could do some better analysis. 

    MK

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