A range of compact, convenient USB-C LiPo/LiIon battery chargers, perfect for feeding hungry batteries.
The folks at Pimoroni spent quite a lot of time figuring out ways to charge up batteries for their Badger 2040s, and they've come up with all sorts of interesting solutions. Good news though - you won't have to make do with dubious bits of leftover prototype, because they've made somestraightforward, small LiPo battery chargersthat are just the job.
LiPo Amigois a stamp-sized board with a USB-C connector on one end and a JST-PH connector on the other so you can plug in a LiPo or LiIon battery. Betwixt the two, you can find a perky red LED that will light up to tell you when battery charging is happening. Simples!
LiPo Amigo Pro is a bit larger and has some additional tricks up its sleeves. It's got two JST-PH connectors so you cancharge your battery and power your device at the same time(and switch seamlessly between USB and battery power). It also has a power on/off button and extra built-in battery protection.
Select your required version before adding it to the cart. Batteries not included!
Features
MCP73831 charger with 200mA* charging current (datasheet)
USB-C connector for power
2 pin JST-PH connector for plugging in a LiPo/LiIon battery
LiPo and Li-Ion batteries can be dangerous if not treated with respect! You should only use LiPo Amigo boards to charge 3.7V LiPo or Li-Ion batteries, and you should make sure that any project involving LiPos is sufficiently protected from being dented, bent, punctured or crushed.
We recommend only using LiPo batteries that have their own internal protection against overcharge, over-discharge and short circuits.
If you're using a battery bought from elsewhere, make sure the polarity of the wires matches the markings on our board before you plug it in!
Notes
Measurements: LiPo Amigo - 26 x 21 x 7 mm, LiPo Amigo Pro- 36 x 23 x 7 mm (LxWxH, including connectors)
* The pads on the back labelled FAST CHARGE can be bridged with solder to allow charging at up to 500mA (instead of the default 200mA). Don't do this if you're using an unprotected battery.
The battery protection IC on LiPo Amigo Pro limits charge and discharge to about 1A. The pads marked NO PROTECT can be bridged to disable this (no protec, only attac). Only do this if you're using a battery with its own protection that can handle the higher discharge current. We wouldn't recommend trying to draw more than 2A from the battery, as this is the max rating of the JST-PH connectors.
** You should only use the DEVICE connector on LiPo Amigo Pro for powering devices that can handle 4.2V - that's the maximum potential voltage that can be supplied by a fully charged LiPo. Don't plug in things like micro:bits that can't deal with LiPo voltages!
The DEVICE connector draws its current from the attached LiPo so it will only provide power if a battery is plugged in. There's no boost circuitry on board, so it won't power Raspberry Pi computers or other devices that need 5V.
Because we hate leaving unused space on our PCBs, we've broken out a bunch of other headers that you might find it useful to solder things up to.
The LED headers can be used to connect up an external LED to show charging or on/off status - useful if you're building your battery charger into an enclosure.
The SW headers can be used to add an external momentary on/off switch to enable and disable the power output of LiPo Amigo Pro. The battery will still charge when the power output is turned off.
VBAT is the battery + pin (the same as the positive pin on the BAT JST connector)
VDEV is the device + pin (the same as the positive pin on the DEVICE JST connector.
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