PSA: Battery Safety

[dirtybeagles]

USE BATTERIES AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!

Okay builders, so you have a nice looking GBZ now and you plop in your battery but you may have never handled them before. Well, you have to be careful. You can start a fire pretty easily if the Positive Side (the red cable) and Negative Side (the black cable) touch.



With that said, most of these batteries you are buying for this project are going to come from China. Most of these batteries ship with no Pins connected to them (Pins are the little white plastic connector that connects your battery to the powerboost and other things Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DU ... UTF8&psc=1). If you just leave this battery with no Pin connected laying around and the wires are not covered with electrical tape then those wires could touch while you are away from the house or asleep. That could start a fire pretty quickly. Make sure you cover the ends of those wires and please look at safety tips from professionals before buying any batteries what so ever!! Don't be dumb.

Here are some WARNINGS and recommendations:
1. Never leave exposed wires from batteries.
2. Do not try to build your own battery in serial and always buy from known re-seller.
3. Never leave your battery charging over night or unattended.
4. Never leave your battery connected to your powerboot unattended or over night.
5. Never leave your battery inside your car or take it on a plane (it will probably get confiscated if it gets noticed).
6. Always test your battery in a controlled environment before playing for an extended amount of time.
7. And I would always make sure your battery comes with a Over Charge Protection board Link: http://www.batteryjunction.com/prcimopc ... AhoV8P8HAQ
8. And to be honest, you shouldn't buy any batteries unless you are over the age of 18 or considered a legal adult (just my opinion).


Here is a little tip that I did because I did not want to keep having to take a part my GBPi2 when I go to sleep or leave the house so I created a male to female extension cable from the powerboost to the battery bay that way I can unplug my battery without taking apart the GBPi2.
[spoiler="Created a Male to Female Connector Pin"]

IMG_20160720_213319.jpg (2.62 MiB) Viewed 32630 times

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[spoiler="Put in the battery"]

IMG_20160720_213335.jpg (2.17 MiB) Viewed 32630 times

[/spoiler]
[spoiler="Make sure it fits and test"]

IMG_20160720_213542.jpg (1.99 MiB) Viewed 32630 times

[/spoiler]
*this way I can disconnect the battery whenever I need because I do not want my battery to catch on fire.

Hope this helps!!! Please be responsible and safe.

[larsen2011]

Thanks for the advice!

Looking into options for overcharge protection available in Germany, would this work?
I'm planning to use a 4000mAh Lipo.

Product page

Product info sheet

Thanks for your answer!
I have a mechanical background, so working on the case is not the problem.
Finding out about these little details on electronics is making life harder these days...

[SidSilver]

@dirtybeagles : thank you for this post, I think you are right to warn people about that.
To be safer as possible, I've bought a Adafruit battery (they have protectors against overcharge, undercharge and outputs short included)
and I've also bought a Powerboost 1000C, because chinese power supply may be dangerous.

I'm interessed by your extended battery connector. I already have a male connector which fit the powerboost connector, but I don't have the female connector. Do you have some spare ? Or a link where I can buy some.

Thanks

[dirtybeagles]

@dirtybeagles : thank you for this post, I think you are right to warn people about that.
To be safer as possible, I've bought a Adafruit battery (they have protectors against overcharge, undercharge and outputs short included)
and I've also bought a Powerboost 1000C, because chinese power supply may be dangerous.

I'm interessed by your extended battery connector. I already have a male connector which fit the powerboost connector, but I don't have the female connector. Do you have some spare ? Or a link where I can buy some.

Thanks

Here is where I got mine. Came from China. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DU ... UTF8&psc=1.

[SidSilver]

Don't ship to France
These ones seem to be the same :
https://www.amazon.fr/ensembles-Micro-c ... _1_fkmr3_2

Is 26AWG enough to manage the amp from battery ?

[Camble]

@SidSilver, I'd use 22 or 24 for power.

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

Remember to check the polarity on these JST XH connectors with tails attached. Some of them are coming in with the leads reversed.

[SidSilver]

@SidSilver, I'd use 22 or 24 for power.

http://www.powerstream.com/Wire_Size.htm

Remember to check the polarity on these JST XH connectors with tails attached. Some of them are coming in with the leads reversed.

I agree, but cannot find the same jst wires in 22.
I only need a female connector as I already have an unused jst (seems to be 24 AWG) from Pimoroni
maybe I can just buy the lot just to take a female connector

https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/jump ... -black-red
It fits the powerboost battery connector.

[Camble]

@SidSilver You can buy the connectors on their own. I ended up replacing the wire on mine. I suspect 22 is overkill, but it's done now. The batteries I've got came with 24 or 26, so it seems to defeat the purpose.

My batteries actually have JST XH connectors, not the JST PH which the PowerBoost uses, so I had to make up a cable anyway.

[SidSilver]

@SidSilver You can buy the connectors on their own.

Do you have a link of such connectors that would fit ?

[Camble]

@SidSilver Farnell should have them.