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TILEBOX - Proper charging behavior??

TJM
Senior

The User Manual states the RED flashing LED indicates the battery is charging but I'm not so sure about this. First, it appeared that I could not get any charging at all unless the the ON button was depressed for a few seconds. It also appears that if the battery dies while the TILEBOX is in use then it won't run on battery again until the ON button is pressed again.

I get two different screens on my phone when the RSSI and Battery function is chosen.

The first pic shows CHARGING with the USB connected but always indicates Charge: 0.0% and Current: not available. Battery voltage looks OK, maybe. Although the voltage shows a full charge for a 3.7 volt LiPo the charge always shows 0.0% and the battery doesn't last very long, 10 minutes maybe. RED LED is NOT flashing when charging is indicated.

The second pic is with the USB disconnected and always shows Charge: 0.0%, Status: Low Battery and the voltage about the same, USB connected or not.

The third seems to be an intermediate status when the USB is first connected, the RED LED is blinking and status is unknown until the charging in recognized. The RED LED only flashes 8 times before the status is updated. the RED LED is OFF in all other configs.

Question is, 'Is it charging or not and does the RED LED stop flashing at full charge even with the Charge status at 0.0%? If so, they why does the Status report LOW BATTERY?

I realize this is a demo board but the pedometer shouldn't kill the battery before I get to the end of the block, about 85 steps, should it?

Thanks,

TJM

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3 REPLIES 3
TJM
Senior

I feel the need to clarify the issues that concern me.

First, the blinking red led doesn't appear to give legitimate information. The unit appears to charge whether the led is blinking or not.

Second, at times it also appears that no charging is taking place, blinking or not.

Third, while the battery voltage appears to be accurate, the Charge indicator (in percent) doesn't work or is not enabled, or maybe it needs the three prong battery connector to make this work accurately. There's no guidance on these details.

tjm

Eleon BORLINI
ST Employee

Hi @TJM​ , did you charge the battery via the USB port? Supposing so, and referring to your pictures:

  • pic1 (USB cable plugged): the RED led doesn't blink because battery is almost fully charged
  • pic2 (USB cable unplugged): the RED led blinks only when the USB cable is plugged, so in this case it is correctly not blinking and non probably the battery is not fully charged
  • pic3 (USB cable plugged): when the FW notices that the battery is about to discharge, it starts the charging procedure and the led itself starts blinking

Btw, I can tell you that this part of the apk is a temporary version, and need of course a revision. I can share you a beta version, that enables the log of the % of the battery charge, you can check if it is working on your side.

I suggest you to download the .bin file on you in the way I wrote you in the other post.

Regards

TJM
Senior

Thanks. File downloaded and installed and works very nicely.

I would consider the battery voltage and condition part of the sensor package and it's nice to have it working in this beta version.

tjm