Charging TinyCircuits Lithium Ion Polymer Batteries

Charging TinyCircuits Lithium Ion Polymer Batteries

This tutorial will teach you the options for charging TinyCircuits Lithium Ion Polymer rechargeable batteries. You can use one of our Lithium-adapted processor boards that have built-in recharging capabilities, or the Tiny Battery Charger board specifically designed for charging our batteries.

This tutorial is applicable to all of our batteries except the 18650 2500mAh Battery.


Materials 

Hardware: 

Extras:

  • A power source, such as a computer or wall outlet

Option 1: Charge Batteries using a TinyCircuits Processor

All of our processors that can directly be powered by a Lithium battery, can also be recharged via the processor board. This capability extends to some of our kits, including the Tiny Arcade, and TinySaber. See the full list of compatible boards above under Hardware!

To use any of these boards to charge a battery, plug the battery into the processor or electronic device. Then plug the device into a power source, such as a computer, using a Micro USB cable. A status LED on the board will indicate when a battery is charging, and the LED will turn off when the battery is fully charged.


Option 2: Tiny Battery Charger

If you do not have a need for any of our processors, or do not yet own hardware capable of charging a lithium ion polymer battery, the ASL2112 Tiny Battery Charger is a great, cost-effective option!

ASL2112 battery charger animation of battery and cable plugging into board

The ASL2112 is a standalone Lithium battery charger that can be used with a Micro USB B cable. Use the JST SH connector on the ASL2112 board to easily plug-in a battery. Alternatively, a battery can be connected without the JST SH connector by using the two through holes (J3 and J4 on the schematic) to connect to a battery pack. 

  • The charge current can be changed to 500mA by moving R5 (next to the 0.1mA label on the silkscreen) to the R4 (next to the 0.5mA label on the silkscreen) position.   

To charge a battery with ASL2112, plug the USB B side of the charger into a power source using a compatible cable, and plug a lithium polymer or lithium ion rechargeable (3.7V / 4.2V) battery into the other side. A status LED on the board will indicate when a battery is charging, and the LED will turn off when the battery is fully charged.


    Contact Us

    If you have any questions or feedback, feel free to contact TinyCircuits support or make a post on the TinyCircuits forum.

    Show us what you make by tagging @TinyCircuits on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook so we can feature it!

    Thanks for making with us!