DIY USB charger ready!

why doubt the info? I already mentioned the source.

One of my field test units died early on due to a sub-optimal charging setup. This was before the firmware had any power saving modes. When the power saving firmware became available I was given permission to manually charge the unit and those parameters are what I was given. Same with which pins are +/-.

For one, you didn’t mention any source whatsoever or link to any official Weatherflow info.
You said

apparently the unit can accept 3-5V as a charging voltage (something I just learned today)

Which has no source. You also say

Yes, you can directly connect 5V, that’s why I mentioned the board is irrelevant and it can use 5V directly.
"The tempest has a built in charge controller, just supply it with around 3v (3v to 5v is fine). It’ll current limit itself to around 400-500mA. "

You quote something, which does not exist anywhere online (I searched for the string before reaching out on here). If you can give the source of that quote, it would be very helpful. Instead you say “I already mentioned the source.” Can’t seem to find that anywhere.

I don’t necessarily doubt the info, but before trying to manually charge the device or do something non-standard, I like to know that I won’t break the device or void a warranty. Asking for a source is a pretty reasonable thing.

Thank you for the info! This is very helpful, I appreciate it!

just read my other posts in this thread. there is the reference.

Greetings @sunny
I just finished printing out part 2 of the DIY Charger Ready using MakerBot at the local public library. I printed out the charger bottom (see below)…

But I had difficulty printing out the part 1. . .“charger top”. . .using MakerBot.

Weatherflow

The “charger-top.obj” file was only 77kb deep. . .and it only produced a little square with a hole in it. I went to the main Thingiverse site to download its file. . .but the image was the same. . .a little square with a hole in the top.

Is there a better file (more kilobytes) that you can provide so that I can print out the top half (charger-top)? I’d appreciate it.

Tnx

JL

I just downloaded charger-top.obj from thingiverse. Compressed it is 78KB uncompressed it is 394kB and I loaded it again in my 3d program. it seems perfectly ok to me. Note that it actually contains of several objects, that together form the top. My printer software treats them as one.
I Just combined them in my software to 1 object. Perhaps that helps in your case. How do I get that to you?

I decompressed all three of the *.obj files onto a USB drive. Will take them back to the MakerBot printer at the public library on Saturday. Pretty hopeful that the uncompressed files will work. At least I have one piece (bottom) to look at. . .touch. . .and hold in my hand for the time being! :slight_smile:

Here is an image of sunny’s original items (top & bottom). . .the nice white one in the lower right corner is my first 3-D printed project!

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uncompressed or compressed doesn’t make a lot of difference, as you could manage to already print some parts of the top. Send me your email in a pm and I will mail you the top as a single object.

Anyone considered doing a permanent solution connecting this to a wall socket feeding it permanent current? I’m thinking of cannibalizing an old 5V old phone charger, extend the cord using an old christmas light set to 10 meters. Then 3D print the above bases and connect the wires to the pogo pins.

I don’t feel tempering with the USB or batteries or whatever ever other week or so. This would feed it current throughout the winter until the sun wakes up in March.

weatherflow will bring out a powerbooster to do just that. It’s being delayed (like many electronics worldwide)

Aah, I didn’t realize it was always plugged in. I thought it was just some extra batteries. That wouldn’t help out here where I have to live without sunlight for 6 months

it can do both. Your choice of using batteries or any other power supply AC/DC with a voltage between 5-24V

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Next Bus Stop. . .acquire a couple of hardware pieces and then assemble them all together!

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Does the Tempest provide any sort of feedback when it’s charging? For example, does the light on the bottom of the unit indicate charging status or does the app note the unit is in a charging state?

At this point in time, there is no indication when the batteries are charging other than the voltage increasing. Hopefully an indicator can be added to the app.

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Great job on that ! Would you have by any chance the references from Aliexpress of the pogo-pins and the usb pcb ? Thanks !

not the exact same pcb but this might help USB Male Connector / MINI MICRO USB to DIP Adapter female connector 2.54 Connector B Type C USB2.0 3.0 Female PCB Converter|Integrated Circuits| - AliExpress
some pogo pins can be found here for example 5 pcs SMD DIP Pogo pin connector Pogopin Battery Spring Loaded Contact Test Probe Power Charge Header Pins 2.54 Grid 7.0mm High|Connectors| - AliExpress

Thanks for your reply.

Regarding the pogo pins, it’s the 4 pins DIP variant, right ?

For the PCB, do you think the one you linked will fit your 3D design ?

basically the usb port is irrelevant, any dc power source around 4V but less then 5V would work. You could even solder some wires directly to the pogo pins. I used the 4 pins pogo’s.

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