Additional part sourcing thread

[FischOderAal]

altoids are sold in certain UK supermarkets notably waitrose and morrisons for £1.25 with local random shops sometimes selling them cheaper (~£1)
also these charger boost boards could be used (and are quite tiny, especially if the USB A socket is removed) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5V-1A-1-2A-Po ... 2988112488

These are what I use, the only thing to watch out for is the charge amperage is a little higher than recommended for the 1200mAh battery but changing a resistor will change it to the proper amperage.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/18650-Lithium-B ... SwIaFZJdop

I found a site some time ago stating which one to change and to what value, once I find it again I will post it here.

Edit: Here it is:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/sho ... controller

Thank you very much This appears to be your version from China.

However, it looks as if this one does not have the battery protection on board if you compare it to this one. I do not know how much this actually matters If the sliding switch is cutting the battery I guess there should be no risk of draining the battery completely due to leaking current.

Julien Illet also did a comparison between the two TP4056 charger variants.

Here is also a German description about the changes to be implemented.

€dith: Some more options:
Cheapest one yet
Smallest one yet

I don't know why I'm still looking for these. I've got both the PowerBoost 500 and 1000 as well as the TP4056 with overdischarge protection already here

[dryja123]

Regarding the Adafruit Micro lipo charger, are you able to connect a power switch to it? I just bought one and was looking at the board and noticed there was no En pin.

I found mostly everything on eBay for a relatively reasonable price.

[Helder]

Regarding the Adafruit Micro lipo charger, are you able to connect a power switch to it? I just bought one and was looking at the board and noticed there was no En pin.

I found mostly everything on eBay for a relatively reasonable price.

I have the lipo charger going to the battery and from the battery to the switch which then goes to the controller pcb where power goes to everything. Shut the switch off the no power to the boards and the battery is isolated from the Pi and only connected to the charger board.

[dryja123]

Regarding the Adafruit Micro lipo charger, are you able to connect a power switch to it? I just bought one and was looking at the board and noticed there was no En pin.

I found mostly everything on eBay for a relatively reasonable price.

I have the lipo charger going to the battery and from the battery to the switch which then goes to the controller pcb where power goes to everything. Shut the switch off the no power to the boards and the battery is isolated from the Pi and only connected to the charger board.

Thanks for the reply, Helder! I think I understand what you're saying, you're essentially inserting the power switch between the battery and the main PCB. I'll have to wait to see wermy's guide video to firmly understand how to wire everything properly.

I just started modding so I don't feel comfortably playing around with lipo batteries all that much. I may hold the micro lipo for another project and get a powerboost 500.

Thanks again!

[abrugsch]

...I just bought one and was looking at the board and noticed there was no En pin.

The EN pin is related to the boost part of the powerboost. if you bought the 2 components seperately (as per original PiGrrl guide on adafruit) then you'd end up with a powerboost 500 basic and micro lipo boards. the control pins that are on the 1000c are on the 500b. the micro lipo is always enabled to charge to lipo.

this diagram should make things clear. instead of wiring the powerboost in, just connect the bat/gnd from the micro-lipo to the 5v line of the Pi, with a simple switch on the Bat line. (ignore the green boards at the top of the pic -it's straight out of the PiGrrl guide)

micro-lipo/powerboost diagramShow

[dryja123]

...I just bought one and was looking at the board and noticed there was no En pin.

The EN pin is related to the boost part of the powerboost. if you bought the 2 components seperately (as per original PiGrrl guide on adafruit) then you'd end up with a powerboost 500 basic and micro lipo boards. the control pins that are on the 1000c are on the 500b. the micro lipo is always enabled to charge to lipo.

this diagram should make things clear. instead of wiring the powerboost in, just connect the bat/gnd from the micro-lipo to the 5v line of the Pi, with a simple switch on the Bat line. (ignore the green boards at the top of the pic -it's straight out of the PiGrrl guide)

micro-lipo/powerboost diagramShow

Thanks! So far all I've purchased was the basic micro lipo that wermy featured in his update video. I understand how this works now but will wait for wermy's build video before I move forward with my mintypi build.

[TheDeviantZen]

EXP-Tech: Micro Lipo - 6,95€ + 3,50€ shipping
EXP-Tech: PowerBoost 500 - 14,45€ + 3,50€ shipping
The PiHut: Raspberry Pi Zero W - 9,60£ + 4,00£ shipping

You can buy those, and the 1200mah battery too, from https://shop.pimoroni.com/
Buying all from the same place, you can save some money on shipping

[FischOderAal]

EXP-Tech: Micro Lipo - 6,95€ + 3,50€ shipping
EXP-Tech: PowerBoost 500 - 14,45€ + 3,50€ shipping
The PiHut: Raspberry Pi Zero W - 9,60£ + 4,00£ shipping

You can buy those, and the 1200mah battery too, from https://shop.pimoroni.com/
Buying all from the same place, you can save some money on shipping

I keep forgetting Pimoroni. Thanks!

[djbriane]

this diagram should make things clear. instead of wiring the powerboost in, just connect the bat/gnd from the micro-lipo to the 5v line of the Pi, with a simple switch on the Bat line. (ignore the green boards at the top of the pic -it's straight out of the PiGrrl guide)

Something like this is how I was planning to wire it up (of course the wires would go into Helder's board rather than directly to the RPi):

SpoilerShow

mintypi-power-circuit.png (131.51 KiB) Viewed 9812 times

[Helder]

Something like this is how I was planning to wire it up (of course the wires would go into Helder's board rather than directly to the RPi):

SpoilerShow

mintypi-power-circuit.png

That's pretty much how I have my build setup.