EEVblog Electronics Community Forum
General => General Technical Chat => Topic started by: shaneh on February 19, 2015, 04:14:16 am
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Hi All,
I'm a first time poster & user of the forum. Apologies if this has come up before, I did search but didn't find anything on it.
Is there a simple way to extend the battery life of the micro current gold? I need to run some logging tests with a microcurrent that will go for a few weeks and it appears the battery life won't get it there. I'm thinking of using an external power supply or wiring in a larger battery pack.
Any suggestions of how to do it and what sort of life I could expect would be greatly appreciated.
Please type slowly, I'm a mechanical engineer, not electrical. :)
Kind Regards,
Shane
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The old µCurrent website says:
For increased battery life and greater potential output voltage swing, 3 x AAA batteries in series can be used instead of the coin cell. No modifications are required, just wire in parallel with the existing coin cell holder. A 3 x AAA holder fits in the existing box.
I would guess, if you can use 3xAAA you can use 3xD if size is of no concern.
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Is there a simple way to extend the battery life of the micro current gold?
Build your own. Something like lmc6062 or 6042 idles like 20ua and has Ibias of 20fa or less would allow it to be powered from a small battery for ages - use one of the amp as an ammeter and the other as a rail spliter. No regulator shall apply, :)
With a high value resistor, it can easily get to 1pa measurement.
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Thanks PeterFW, I'll do that.
(dannyf, i think what you are proposing is a bit beyond my current capabilities)
Cheers,
Shane
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If you decide to run the µCurrent at 4.5V, you may wish to consider increasing the value of R4, to reduce the "BATT OK" LED current and reduce the risk of damaging the voltage supervisor IC U3. See the discussion of this starting at this post and a few following:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/oshw/current-gold-hw-design-question/msg404617/#msg404617 (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/oshw/current-gold-hw-design-question/msg404617/#msg404617)
I've put a 1K in mine and it's still plenty bright for me, even at the lowest usable voltage. This will also reduce the overall current needed to power the µCurrent, thus increasing run time on batteries significantly.
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/current-gold-on-kickstarter/msg449140/#msg449140 (https://www.eevblog.com/forum/crowd-funded-projects/current-gold-on-kickstarter/msg449140/#msg449140)
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If you want to stick with the standard 3V supply for the µCurrent, you could consider using a CR123 3V lithium cell, or 2 or more in parallel, in suitable holders. A single CR123 would give you about 6 times the run time of a CR2032.