[[!meta title="LipoCharger"]]
# LipoCharger
This is a simple but effective, dual-rate, standalone charger for Lithium
Polymer batteries. It supports two different charge rates selectable with
a swtich, of approximately 100mA and 500mA. The 500mA rate is good for
batteries of 400 mAh and higher including the 900mAh cells sold with
[TeleMetrum](../TeleMetrum) starter kits, while the 100mA rate is more
appropriate for the 110mAh cells often used with [TeleMini](../TeleMini). A
standalone charger is essential for use with TeleMini since it does not
have on-board charging capability.
Production units are available from the
[Garbee and Garbee](https://shop.gag.com) web store.
These are photos of production version 1.1:
## Features ##
### User View ###
* Micro USB connector for power input
* 2mm JST-style connector for battery
* dual-color LED
* red when charging
* green when charge complete
* both on, or "yellow", when battery is disconnected or bad
* 1.0 x 0.4 inch board
### Developer View ###
* Hardware Features
* [Microchip MCP73831](http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/Devices.aspx?dDocName=en024903) Li-ion battery charger chip
* Tools Used
* [gEDA](http://www.gpleda.org/) for schematic capture and PCB layout
* Licenses
* The hardware is licensed under the [TAPR](http://www.tapr.org) [Open Hardware License](http://www.tapr.org/ohl.html)
## Artifacts ##
The design files can be found on [git.gag.com](http://git.gag.com) in the
project [hw/lipocharger](http://git.gag.com/?p=hw/lipocharger;a=summary).
For those who don't have ready access to the gEDA suite, here are pdf snapshots
of the files for Production PCB version 2.0 in more easily readable form.
* [schematic](v1.1/lipocharger-sch.pdf)
* [pcb artwork](v1.1/lipocharger-pcb.pdf)
* [bill of materials](v1.1/partslist.csv)
## Features ##
### User View ###
* Micro USB connector for power input
* 2mm JST-style connector for battery
* dual-color LED
* red when charging
* green when charge complete
* both on, or "yellow", when battery is disconnected or bad
* 1.0 x 0.4 inch board
### Developer View ###
* Hardware Features
* [Microchip MCP73831](http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/Devices.aspx?dDocName=en024903) Li-ion battery charger chip
* Tools Used
* [gEDA](http://www.gpleda.org/) for schematic capture and PCB layout
* Licenses
* The hardware is licensed under the [TAPR](http://www.tapr.org) [Open Hardware License](http://www.tapr.org/ohl.html)
## Artifacts ##
The design files can be found on [git.gag.com](http://git.gag.com) in the
project [hw/lipocharger](http://git.gag.com/?p=hw/lipocharger;a=summary).
For those who don't have ready access to the gEDA suite, here are pdf snapshots
of the files for Production PCB version 2.0 in more easily readable form.
* [schematic](v1.1/lipocharger-sch.pdf)
* [pcb artwork](v1.1/lipocharger-pcb.pdf)
* [bill of materials](v1.1/partslist.csv)