Sam just shared a new tutorial: "Choosing Your Next LiPo Battery"
As technology gets smaller and more powerful, wearables and portable devices are becoming more common in our everyday lives. Makers are looking to make projects portable and with that comes the need for high capacity batteries that are reliable, powe…
Read more
3 Likes
The tutorial on choosing an LiPo battery is interesting, but it doesn’t cover How to charge it.
If I plug the battery into a PiicoDev Expansion Adaptor, plug a Pico in and connect the Pico with a USB cable, will that charge it?
Thanks
4 Likes
Hi Philip,
Short answer, yep! The PiicoDev Expansion Adaptor has a battery charging IC on board.
The medium length answer to charging a LiPo battery is you need to connect it to LiPo charger that’s designed specifically to charge these types of batteries. Whether you want to do that by periodically removing the battery and charging it directly (as is often the case with RC vehicle batteries) or build in charging circuitry in your project (like a mobile phone, or the PiicoDev Expansion Adaptor) so that you can leave the battery permanently attached is up to you.
The long answer is covered very well by Battery University articles BU-4xx:
Hope that helps!
4 Likes
Thanks.
Cheers,
Phil
2 Likes
Hey Philip,
Welcome to the forum, thanks for posting! 
As Oliver has said, yes, with the appropriately spec’d adaptor such as the PiicoDev version you’re good to go as it has a charging IC.
But generally outside of this case (i.e. for anyone else reading this), if you’re hooking up a LiPo straight into a Vin I’d recommend checking out a passthrough charging breakout so it can be charged while used.
The Battery Babysitter is a good example of this to ensure that your battery is being properly managed for most projects with a 3.7V LiPo, although there are a few variants that’ll also do the trick:
2 Likes
I’m trying to find a battery (available in the US) that is compatible with a dfr0494. Any chance you can help me out?
