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  3. 3.3V step up regulator voltage monitoring

3.3V step up regulator voltage monitoring

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  • F Offline
    F Offline
    flopp
    wrote on last edited by
    #2

    What voltage is your battery?

    This is one way to measure voltage
    https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=356752.0

    fhenrycoF 1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • fhenrycoF fhenryco

      Hi

      I'm using the 3.3V step regulator with my 3.3V mini pro

      https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1-PC-NEW-DC-0-8-3-3V-to-DC-3-3V-StepUP-Boost-Power-Mini/32724005061.html?aff_platform=aaf&cpt=1494762865525&sk=rvbiMby&aff_trace_key=f164064565154598a619c92cc4a33fd3-1494762865525-04564-rvbiMby

      and' i'm very satisfied with this solution because the mini pro without led and regulator removed has as promissed a very low consumption.

      But then if i really want to monitor the battery voltage its a little bit less easy than simply monitor the arduino Vcc (output of the regulator) because requires an additional voltage divider and analog read. This would allow to monitor the progressive linear decrease of the battery voltage with time. But i'm wondering if after all , it would be enough only monitoring the Vcc, since as the battery will get out of juice, this should result in the step up regulator not being able to maintain the 3.3V. What i'm wondering is how sudden will be the drop in the regulator output voltage as the battery will progressively get out of juice because if it's too fast, then monitoring this output (rather than the inout of the regulator) is of course useless...

      fhenrycoF Offline
      fhenrycoF Offline
      fhenryco
      wrote on last edited by
      #3
      This post is deleted!
      1 Reply Last reply
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      • F flopp

        What voltage is your battery?

        This is one way to measure voltage
        https://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=356752.0

        fhenrycoF Offline
        fhenrycoF Offline
        fhenryco
        wrote on last edited by
        #4

        @flopp yes your link is to the method i'm currently using to monitor Vcc which is about 3.3V. But my battery is actually 2 AA in series which output voltage is 3.3 V only when new...and should decrease progressively. My question is: is it necessary to monitor the Voltage of this battery or is it safe to only monitor the Vcc which is the output of the step up 3.3V regulator ?

        F 1 Reply Last reply
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        • fhenrycoF fhenryco

          @flopp yes your link is to the method i'm currently using to monitor Vcc which is about 3.3V. But my battery is actually 2 AA in series which output voltage is 3.3 V only when new...and should decrease progressively. My question is: is it necessary to monitor the Voltage of this battery or is it safe to only monitor the Vcc which is the output of the step up 3.3V regulator ?

          F Offline
          F Offline
          flopp
          wrote on last edited by
          #5

          @fhenryco
          If you measure after the step-up you will never know when it will "die".
          You need to measure before step-up to see battery level

          fhenrycoF 1 Reply Last reply
          1
          • F flopp

            @fhenryco
            If you measure after the step-up you will never know when it will "die".
            You need to measure before step-up to see battery level

            fhenrycoF Offline
            fhenrycoF Offline
            fhenryco
            wrote on last edited by
            #6

            @flopp Ok but are you sure ? i mean if the step up fails to output 3.3V when battery level gets too low, monitoring a decrease of the regulator output (to arduino Vcc) might indicate death coming soon ... and after all this is all i need to know except if "coming soon" means " too soon" to react and prevent failure by changing battery

            F 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • fhenrycoF fhenryco

              @flopp Ok but are you sure ? i mean if the step up fails to output 3.3V when battery level gets too low, monitoring a decrease of the regulator output (to arduino Vcc) might indicate death coming soon ... and after all this is all i need to know except if "coming soon" means " too soon" to react and prevent failure by changing battery

              F Offline
              F Offline
              flopp
              wrote on last edited by
              #7

              @fhenryco
              If battery is below 0,8 step-up will not work and your Arduino will not work.
              If battery is 2.3 you will get 3.3 output from step-up

              1 Reply Last reply
              1
              • scalzS Offline
                scalzS Offline
                scalz
                Hardware Contributor
                wrote on last edited by
                #8

                stepup will simply fail, you'll get brownout, transmit problems etc..so you won't know anything in the end..
                it's better to monitor your batt voltage. you don't need a voltage divider for this, as your batt voltage will always be <= vcc. So Analogread your batt voltage, and your range will be 0 to 3.3v.

                F 1 Reply Last reply
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                • scalzS scalz

                  stepup will simply fail, you'll get brownout, transmit problems etc..so you won't know anything in the end..
                  it's better to monitor your batt voltage. you don't need a voltage divider for this, as your batt voltage will always be <= vcc. So Analogread your batt voltage, and your range will be 0 to 3.3v.

                  F Offline
                  F Offline
                  flopp
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #9

                  @scalz is correct, use analog input to read batteries.
                  My link at top was to measure what voltage the Arduino I see getting. Sorry for leading you in wrong direction 😑

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • fhenrycoF Offline
                    fhenrycoF Offline
                    fhenryco
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #10

                    ok thank you

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • fhenrycoF Offline
                      fhenrycoF Offline
                      fhenryco
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #11

                      actually, as i now remember i was using the voltage divider to reduce the battery voltage below the reference internal voltage ~ 1.1V ... this is some people advice for better accuracy. I'm now wondering if i can avoid this (the voltage divider) and still have a correct precision

                      mfalkviddM 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • fhenrycoF fhenryco

                        actually, as i now remember i was using the voltage divider to reduce the battery voltage below the reference internal voltage ~ 1.1V ... this is some people advice for better accuracy. I'm now wondering if i can avoid this (the voltage divider) and still have a correct precision

                        mfalkviddM Offline
                        mfalkviddM Offline
                        mfalkvidd
                        Mod
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #12

                        @fhenryco what precision do you need?

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • fhenrycoF Offline
                          fhenrycoF Offline
                          fhenryco
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #13

                          well i don't need great precision, just need to be alerted
                          when the battery voltage is getting dangerously low

                          mfalkviddM 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • fhenrycoF fhenryco

                            well i don't need great precision, just need to be alerted
                            when the battery voltage is getting dangerously low

                            mfalkviddM Offline
                            mfalkviddM Offline
                            mfalkvidd
                            Mod
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #14

                            @fhenryco then the method recommended by scalz and flopp will be great.

                            1 Reply Last reply
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