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| Charging cellphone battery |
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| Denis710:
I'm working on a protect that involves PIC micro and a cellphone (Motorola c168i). I need to keep the phone charged. Do I need a charge control ic or its embedded in a cellphone and 5VDC on the phone's charger input will do the trick. |
| desolatordan:
Is it charged by a USB connector or some base station dock? It's most likely embedded, but it's possible it doesn't have a charge regulator if it uses a base station to charge and moniter battery health. If you don't need battery operation you could just rip it out and apply power directly. |
| Denis710:
It charges from a typical wall charger. The connector is a small barrel power plug. Getting rid of the battery, so its not really an option. I would think that the charge controller is embedded but I want to make sure. Is there a way to test it? I do have the original wall charger. |
| DJPhil:
--- Quote from: Denis710 on February 16, 2010, 10:43:49 pm ---It charges from a typical wall charger. The connector is a small barrel power plug. Getting rid of the battery, so its not really an option. I would think that the charge controller is embedded but I want to make sure. Is there a way to test it? I do have the original wall charger. --- End quote --- I checked amazon for replacement chargers for that model, at least a few had something in the description that suggested charge control but I suppose that's not conclusive. Fortunately it appears that the battery for that phone (Motorola BT60) is Lithium Ion, and there's not much variety in how they can be charged. There's some good info here, as well as a charge current vs. battery voltage chart. I mention all this because after a spin around the internet and some brainstorming I can't think of a slick way to be sure the circuit's not in the charger. I'm sure it's simple, but it's eluding me at the moment. I will continue thinking on it, and will post back if I think of something. If all else fails I suppose you could use the voodoo method: bang the charger on a rock until it breaks and read it's entrails for clues. :) |
| Denis710:
--- Quote from: Denis710 on February 16, 2010, 10:43:49 pm ---voodoo method: bang the charger on a rock until it breaks and read it's entrails for clues. :) --- End quote --- You are right, the charger case is glued together and cannot be open other than by the voodoo method. I think I will do an experiment - apply 5v to the phone and see what will happen. I guess I can monitor current and if it will drop significantly over some time (according to the link above) then the charge control circuitry is NOT embedded in the phone. Can anyone comment on my logic? |
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