Hot swap 12V battery connections for uninterrupted supply

Hey folks,

I have some Raspberry Pi Controlled, 12V battery powered, time-lapse camera rigs and I need a method of swapping in new batteries without having to power down the rig.

I found a promising circuit diagram in the best answer of this thread

And here’s the relevant circuit diagram from that thread…

Can anyone confirm this as a suitable approach and suggest what parts I can purchase, ideally from Core Electronics.

I’m a novice at electronics, so please reply as if to a five year old. I would really appreciate specific part suggestions for the diodes and, as for the connectors, would I be able to get away with omething as cheap and cheerful as this…

Thanks in advance
Nigel Haslam

Hey Nigel,
Thanks for posting, perhaps @Stephen might be able to help you out with this question.

Hi Nigel,

This setup should work just fine.

For the connectors you can try something like this:


As far as the diodes, you just need to get some that are rated for the 12V. Check out this tutorial on analog electronics. There is a section about diodes in there that will help you out!

Let us know how it goes!

Hi Stephen

Thank for your email.

When it says ***
" The connector is keyed so that power cannot be reversed."*** Does that simply mean that the plugs can’t be plugged in wrongly or does it actually have an inbuilt diode?

Cheers

Nigel

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I think they mean that they are keyed so you cannot plug it in backwards. There are no built in diodes.

Hope that helps!

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OK Thanks for that,

Confusing terminology considering I’m looking to make a diode circuit for a non-reverse able power connection.

Cheers

Nigel

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You would assemble the connector in a way that they could not be plugged in reversed. The diodes would be separate.

Thanks,

Stephen