Wiring the SunAirPlus

myang5
New Member

Posts: 7

Wiring the SunAirPlus Jul 22, 2019 11:07:24 GMT -8

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Post by myang5 on Jul 22, 2019 11:07:24 GMT -8

Hello,

We are following the GroveWeatherPi tutorial using a Raspberry Pi 3B to power our system using solar energy. When I plug the SunAirPlus board into the pi, the computer does not turn on. I was wondering if all the components are wired correctly. The setup currently consists of a solar panel and lipo battery plugged into the SunAirPlus. The SunAirPlus is connected to the pi through a USB PowerControl

I realize in the photos the LIPOBATIN of the PowerControl board is not connected to the JP4 pin on the SunAirPlus. I tried connecting these pins and the pi still does not turn on.

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SDL
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Posts: 5,648
Raspberry Pi: Yes
Other Device: PC, arduino, beagleBone

Wiring the SunAirPlus Jul 23, 2019 6:38:39 GMT -8

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Post by SDL on Jul 23, 2019 6:38:39 GMT -8

What is the voltage on the battery? If it is less than 3.5 or 3.4V USB Power Control will not turn on. It will not turn on without LIPOBATIN connected in general.

Would you give me a closeup on the USB PowerControl board? I want to see the version number.

Retest with all the wires going to the Pi removed to see if that is the problem.

BP

myang5
New Member

Posts: 7

Wiring the SunAirPlus Jul 23, 2019 8:35:16 GMT -8

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Post by myang5 on Jul 23, 2019 8:35:16 GMT -8

The output voltage is 3.7V, might be too low? The pi does turn on when the battery is directly plugged in.

The pi also doesn't turn on still if I plug it directly into the SunAirPlus and if I connect a 5V AC adapter to the SunAirPlus, is that normal?

Also, I was wondering what the red and green LEDs next to JP18 and JP9 on the SunAirPlus board mean and if they'd help troubleshoot the problem. The red LED lights up when the solar panel is plugged into the mini USB port.

The battery is part of a UPS powerpack that has an output voltage of 5V as well, might try connecting this by splicing together a USB port and grove connector.

Thank you for the help so far!

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Last Edit: Jul 23, 2019 8:54:16 GMT -8 by myang5

Post by myang5 on Jul 22, 2019 11:07:24 GMT -8

Post by SDL on Jul 23, 2019 6:38:39 GMT -8

Post by myang5 on Jul 23, 2019 8:35:16 GMT -8

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