Back in May 2002, we (Silicon Chip) presented the "Battery Guardian", a project designed specifically for protecting 12V car batteries from over-discharge. This unit has proven to be very popular and is still available from kit suppliers. This new design does not supersede the Battery Guardian – at least not when it comes to 12V car batteries. Instead, it’s a more flexible alternative that can be used with a wide range of battery voltages.

In this new "Micropower Battery Protector", we’ve dispensed with the low-battery warning circuitry and the relatively cheap N-channel MOSFET used in the Battery Guardian in favour of a physically smaller module that steals much less battery power. It costs a little more but can switch lower voltages, allowing it to be used with 6V & 12V lead-acid batteries and 4-cell to 10-cell NiCd and NiMH battery packs.

This circuit was originally designed to power a motorcycle intercom from the vehicle supply system. This type of intercom, which is used for communication between driver and passenger, generally requires quite a bit of power. In order to improve intelligibility there is often elaborate filtering and a compander is sometimes used as well. The disadvantage is that a battery doesn’t last very long. You could use rechargeable batteries, of course, but that is often rather laborious. It seems much more obvious to use the motorcycle power supply instead. A 9-V converter for such an application has to meet a few special requirements.

9V Battery Replacement Power Supply Circuit Diagram

For one, it has to prevent interference from, for example, the ignition system reaching the attached circuit. It is also preferable that the entire circuit fits in the 9-V battery compartment. This circuit meets these requirements quite successfully and the design has nonetheless remained fairly simple. In the schematic we can recognize a filter, followed by a voltage regulator and a voltage indicator. D1, which protects the circuit against reverse polarity, is followed by an LC and an RC filter (C3/L1/L2/C1/R1/C2). This filter excludes various disturbances from the motorcycle power system.

Moreover, the design with the 78L08 and D3 ensures that the voltage regulator is operating in the linear region. The nominal system voltage of 14 V can sometimes sag to about 12 V when heavy loads such as the lights are switched on. Although the circuit is obviously suitable for all kinds of applications, we would like to mention that it has been extensively tested on a Yamaha TRX850. These tests show that the converter functions very well and that the interference suppression is excellent. 

Build a Best Automatic 12V Lead Acid Battery Charger Circuit Diagram. This Best Automatic 12V Lead Acid Battery Charger Circuit Diagram will charge any 12V lead acid battery including flooded, gel and AGM. It is fully automatic and will charge at a rate up to about 4A until the battery voltage reaches a preset point at which it will switch to a very low current float charge. 

If the battery voltage drops again the charger will begin charging until the voltage once again reaches the cut off point. In this way it can be left connected to a battery indefinitely to maintain full charge without causing damage. An LED indicates when the battery is fully charged. Sourced By Circuitsstream

R2 will have to be adjusted to set the proper finish charge voltage. Flooded and gel batteries are generally charged to 13.8V. If you are cycling the battery (AGM or gel) then 14.5V to 14.9V is generally recommended by battery manufacturers. To set up the charger, set the pot to midway, turn on the charger and then connect a battery to its output. Monitor the charge with a voltmeter until the battery reaches the proper end voltage and then adjust the pot until the LED glows steadily. The charger has now been set. To charge multiple battery types you can mount the pot on the front of the case and have each position marked for the appropriate voltage.

Q1 will need a heatsink. If the circuit is mounted in a case then a small fan might be necessary and can generally be powered right off the output of D1.

T1 is a transformer with a primary voltage appropriate to your location (120V, 220V, etc.) and a secondary around 12V. Using a higher voltage secondary (16V-18V) will allow you to charge 16V batteries sometimes used in racing applications.

If the circuit is powered off, the battery should be disconnected from its output otherwise the circuit will drain the battery slowly.

The project was termed as Mighty Minty Boost as it was developed to function as iPod/iPhone charger with solar power. Aside from being small, it has a large battery capacity of 3.7V at 2000mAh and it accepts input power from 3.7V to 7V. As shown in the images below, it can become a compact USB power supply when the solar cell is removed after charging. The Velcro is used to secure the Mighty Minty Boost inside a backpack or messenger bag after unplugging the solar cell.

For faster charging, a larger solar cell can be attached to the bag. Enough power can be generated to fully charge an iPhone in about 5.5 hours and an iPod Touch in 4 hours using a slightly larger solar cell with 6V at 250mAh. The charger will automatically switch to trickle charging when the cell reaches full charge. The charging current is limited to 100mA when charging using the mini USB port and the charging is limited to 280mA when charging using the barrel plug jack


.
The materials needed to build the charger include a small solar cell, Lithium Polymer battery charger, minty boost kit, adhesive backed Velcro, Altoids tin, connector/wire, and small double adhesive squares as shown in the images below. An input power that ranges from 3.7V to 7V maximum can be accepted by the single cell Lithium Polymer. In bright sunlight, the solar cell maxes out at approximately 5V at 100mA. A larger solar cell with 6V at 250mA can be used for faster charging.



The images below show the assembly of minty boost kit where a JST connector is soldered to the minty boost PCB instead of connecting the battery holder in the kit. The minty boost circuit is allowed to connect to the Lithium Polymer battery charger circuit with this tiny connector. The minty boost is tested by connecting the battery pack and the charger circuit, the Lithium Polymer battery connects to the connector marked GND on the charger board and the minty boost connects to the connector marked SYS.



To fit the charger, a notch is cut out of the other side of the Altoids tin and used double sided adhesive to secure the charging circuit to the bottom of the Altoids as shown below. The bottom of either one of the circuit boards should not touch the bottom of the Altoids tin while reconnecting the minty boost PCB and the battery to the charging circuit.



Connecting or adding the solar cell can be done in different ways. Shortening the connector leads and plugging the barrel plug into the barrel jack on the charging circuit is one way. The other method is using another JST connector to replace the connector and plugging it into the third connector marked 5V on the charging circuit. Since there is no bog barrel plug sticking out of the side of the tin, using the second method is cleaner.

As shown in the photos below, some 2” Velcro was used to attach the solar cell to the top of the Altoids. To help protect the battery, a layer of clear packing tape was used for wrapping. N top of the two circuit boards, the battery pack is then set down. A red LED on the charger board will light up when the Mighty Minty Boost is set out in the bright sun. The iPod/iPhone/USB powered device can be connected once it is fully charged.

Batteries often serve as the main energy source for portable electronic devices. Although they depend on batteries, portable consumer electronic products, such as GPS devices and multi-media players, often consume energy directly from an ac-dc wall adapter or accessory power adapter (or “Auto Adapter”) when the battery is low or the device is in a stationary mode. Due to their cost effectiveness over their useful life, rechargeable batteries are often used for the power source of the portable electronic device.

Attributes such as “relatively high energy density” and “maintenance free” make Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) batteries popular in the portable consumer electronic products. Refer to the application note, AN1088, “Selecting the Right Battery System For cost Sensitive Portable Applications While maintaining Excellent Quality” (DS01088) for characteristics of Li-Ion batteries. Some examples of how to properly design with Li-Ion batteries will be discussed in this application note. 

In recent years, the use of USB or Universal Serial Bus as a reliable communications interface in plenty of electronic devices have increased due to its increased speed, size and flexibility. It fundamentally consists of terminals VBUS(+5V supply), GROUND, D+ and D-. As plenty of of the devices run on rechargeable battery, it is now the trend to design the charging circuit that makes use of the power supply from the USB port to charge the rechargeable battery. This feature will make the devices more convenient to the users as the devices will get their power from the bus and requires no outside plug or cables.

Theres fundamentally three classes of USB functions on power that can be derived from the port.

  High-Power Bus The high power bus powered functions derived all its power from the VBUS and cannt draw over 100mA until its been configured. One time configured, it can draw up to five unit loads(500mA) by requesting it in its descriptor. At full load, it must be able to work between the VBUS voltage of four.75V and five.25V.

  Low-Power Bus The low power bus powered functions derived all its power from the VBUS and must not draw over one unit load (100mA) according to the USB standard. It must even be able to work between the VBUS voltage of four.40V and five.25V.

Self-Power Self power functions can draw up to 100mA from the VBUS and the rest from its outside source. This is the most simplest to design.

This application circuit makes use of the MCP73853/MCP73855 linear charge management controllers for cost sensitive applications. They are specially designed for USB applications and adhere to all the USB specifications governing the USB power bus. The circuit below makes use of the MCP73855 to design a USB powered Lithium Ion/Lithium Polymer battery charger by deriving the power from the USB port.

Protect your expensive batteries from discharge damage with this mini-sized electronic cutout switch. It uses virtually no power and can be built to suit a wide range of battery voltages.

Main Features

Suitable for use in...

Back in May 2002, we (Silicon Chip) presented the "Battery Guardian", a project designed specifically for protecting 12V car batteries from over-discharge. This unit has proven to be very popular and is still available from kit suppliers. This new design does not supersede the Battery Guardian – at least not when it comes to 12V car batteries. Instead, it’s a more flexible alternative that can be used with a wide range of battery voltages.

In this new "Micropower Battery Protector", we’ve dispensed with the low-battery warning circuitry and the relatively cheap N-channel MOSFET used in the Battery Guardian in favour of a physically smaller module that steals much less battery power. It costs a little more but can switch lower voltages, allowing it to be used with 6V & 12V lead-acid batteries and 4-cell to 10-cell NiCd and NiMH battery packs.

Most battery-powered equipment provides no mechanism for disconnecting the batteries when they’re exhausted. Even when the voltage drops too low for normal operation, battery drain usually continues until all available energy is expended. This is particularly true of equipment designed to be powered from alkaline or carbon cells but retro-fitted with rechargeables.

Another example is emergency lighting and security equipment designed to be float-charged from the mains. In an extended blackout period, the batteries can be completely drained and may not recover when the mains power is finally restored.

Source: Silicon Chip 27 July 2004

Many battery powered devices use two AA alkaline cells.  Often you will not know when it is time to replace the batteries until the device powered by them actually stops operating.  The hobby circuit below can be connected to a 3v battery, to give you some warning when the battery is nearing its end of life.

 

It will flash a LED when the battery voltage drops to about 2.4 volts. The electronic circuit draws only 1ua of current in standby mode and jumps to only 20ua when flashing, so it can safely be included without depleting the battery energy. A voltage detector IC from Panasonic (Microchip also makes similar devices) is used to monitor the battery voltage. The device’s open drain output swings low, when the battery voltage is below 2.4 to 2.5 volts. This action turns on the two transistor oscillator circuit, which drives the LED with short current pulses lasting only 2ms.

Source: DiscoverCircuits

Almost all 24V power systems in trucks, 4WDs, RVs, boats, etc, employ two series-connected 12V lead-acid batteries. The charging system can only maintain the sum of the individual battery voltages. If one battery is failing, this circuit will light a LED. Hence impending battery problems can be forecast. The circuit works by detecting a voltage difference between the two series connected 12V batteries. Idle current is low enough to allow the unit to be permanently left across the batteries.

Battery Equality Monitor Circuit Diagram

 

 

 

Source :http://www.ecircuitslab.com

This schema uses the popular and easy to find LM3914 IC. This IC is very simple to drive, needs no voltage regulators (it has a built in voltage regulator) and can be powered from almost every source. This schema is very easy to explain: When the test button is pressed, the Car battery voltage is feed into a high impedance voltage divider. His purpose is to divide 12V to 1,25V (or lower values to lower values).

This solution is better than letting the internal voltage regulator set the 12V sample voltage to be feed into the internal voltage divider simply because it cannot regulate 12V when the voltage drops lower (linear regulators only step down). Simply wiring with no adjust, the regulator provides stable 1,25V which is fed into the precision internal resistor cascade to generate sample voltages for the internal comparators. Anyway the default setting let you to measure voltages between 8 and 12V but you can measure even from 0V to 12V setting the offset trimmer to 0 (but i think that under 9 volt your car would not start).

There is a smoothing capacitor (4700uF 16V) it is used to adsorb EMF noise produced from the ignition coil if you are measuring the battery during the engine working. Diesel engines would not need it, but Im not sure. If you like more a point graph rather than a bar graph simply disconnect pin 9 on the IC (MODE) from power. The calculations are simple (default)

For the first comparator the voltage is : 0,833 V corresponding to 8 V
* * * * * voltage is : 0,875 V corresponding to 8,4 V
for the last comparator the voltage is : 1,25 V corresponding to 12 V
Have fun, learn and dont let you car battery discharge... ;-)

author: Jonathan Filippi
e-mail: jonathan.filippi@virgilio.it

This schema is usable as a Night Lamp when a wall mains socket is not available to plug-in an ever running small neon lamp device. In order to ensure minimum battery consumption, one 1.5V cell is used, and a simple voltage doubler drives a pulsating ultra-bright LED: current drawing is less than 500µA.
An optional Photo resistor will switch-off the schema in daylight or when room lamps illuminate, allowing further current economy.

This device will run for about 3 months continuously on an ordinary AA sized cell or for around 6 months on an alkaline type cell but, adding the Photo resistor schemary, running time will be doubled or, very likely, triplicated.

R1,R2___________1M 1/4W Resistors
R3_____________47K 1/4W Resistor (optional: see Notes)
R4____________Photo resistor (any type, optional: see Notes)

C1____________100nF 63V Polyester Capacitor
C2____________220µF 25V Electrolytic Capacitor

D1______________LED Red 10mm. Ultra-bright (see Notes)
D2___________1N5819 40V 1A Schottky-barrier Diode (see Notes)

IC1____________7555 or TS555CN CMos Timer IC

B1_____________1.5V Battery (AA or AAA cell etc.)

IC1 generates a square wave at about 4Hz frequency. C2 & D2 form a voltage doubler, necessary to raise the battery voltage to a peak value able to drive the LED.

Unlike many boots, this battery charger continuously charges the maximum current, decreasing only near full battery voltage. In this case the full load current source, transformer / rectifier was 4.4A. It tapers to 4A 13.5V, 14.0V 3A, 2A 14.5V and 15.0V in 0A.

Ni-Cd batteries can be recharged more than 1000 times before become useless. the charging current should be the 1/10 of the (Ah) of the battery. The batteries need 14 hours to be fully charged.. Switch S2 is the current selection as follows: 50mA, 200mA and 400mA. LED D10 is the indicator for proper battery connection and/or wrong polarity checking. LED D9 is the charging indicator. The transformer is a 220V/2x12V 0.5A. 

R1,R4,R5=10K 

R2,R3=100K 

R6,R8,R10=1K 

R7=820 

R9=100 

R11=15 

R12=3,9 

R13=1,8 

C1=1000uF/40v 

C2=470pf 

D1-D4,D6=1n4001-7 

D7,D8=1n4148 

D9,D10=LED 

IC=741 

TR1=BC548 

TR2=BD137 

TR3=2N3055

This is a Portable Nicad Battery Charger Circuit Diagram. This schema can you build easily, The portable charger is intended primarily to give model enthusiasts the opportunity of charging their Nicad batteries from a car battery out in the open. The supply voltage for the schema is regulated by IC1. When the schema is connected to the car battery, D2 lights only if the Nicad to be charged has been connected with correct polarity. For that purpose, the + terminal of the Nicad battery is connected to the base of T1 via R8. Because even a discharged battery provides some voltage, T1 is switched on and D2 lights. 

 Portable Nicad Battery Charger Circuit Diagram

Only if the polarity is correct will the pressing of the start switch, SI, have any effect. If so, the collector voltage of T1 is virtually zero so that monostable IC2 is triggered by SI. The output, pin 3, of this CMOS timer then becomes high, T2 is switched on and relay Rel is energized. Charging of the Nicad battery, via R5 and D6, then begins and charging indicator D4 lights. During the charging, C4 is charged slowly via PI and R4. The value of these components determines the mono time of IC2 and thus the charging period of the Nicad battery. With values as shown in the diagram, that period can be set with PI to between 26 and 33 min. Notice that this time is affected by the leakage current of C4; use a good-quality capacitor here. 

The charging can be interrupted with reset switch S2. The charging current through the Nicad battery is determined by the value of R, which can be calculated: Ic is the charging current, which is here because the chosen charging period is twice the nominal value of the capacity of the Nicad battery. Resistor R must be able to dissipate a power of 1/ R W. Finally, make sure that the Nicad battery is suitable for fast charging; never charge for longer than half an hour!