Charging thoughts!

**Konstantine** · 02-21-2012, 07:41 AM

Hello!
Hopefully you have seen my other post here .

I am using my slider PCC these days and since i'm a noob i just noticed something strange.
When i plug a 1,5A USB charger on my PCC then it goes totally dead, it charges normally but you cannot check the status of the charge.
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Now when i plug the USB cable (the one that came with the PCC) then the PCC charges fine and show status on the screen.
Inside there is a PIC16F722 microcontroller taking care of the charging proccess and power management. I guess this has something to do with all the miniUSB pins being used (the cable may have shorted the RX,TX for the PCC to regognize it's own cable etc)

What really makes me nervous is the classic chinese "get a connector solder wires to it and fixit with hot glue" thing
IMAG0131.jpg
Why? Most cell phones and portable devices have built in protection for short circuits and battery. On the PCC battery you will notice there are 3 pins on the battery and 3 on the PCC, there is a +, a - and the middle one is called BSI or BTEMP and it's used to determine the battery temperature, overcharging etc. This pin is NOT connected anywhere on the PCC, if you destroy/drop/short circuit your PCC get ready to throw it like a grenade away. Those two devices don't come even close to international standarts on protection etc, i wonder if anyone from smokelessimage knows that.

It isn't a big deal however on those small powered devices and they work absolutely fine, it seems strange that it needs it's own cable to function correctly even if it has miniUSB connection. If you use it according to the instructions you are fine.

Another useless post by me and my thoughts

**TinaF1971** · 02-21-2012, 10:24 AM

Hello Konstantine! Forgive me for not understanding technical details, but are you saying we cannot use any other USB cord but the one that came with the PCC? I'm thinking of getting a PCC for myself and would hate to lose the USB cord and not be able to use another one. Thank you!

**Gormy** · 02-21-2012, 12:16 PM

I wouldn't use the cables that come with blue tooth headsets.. but I've been using the thicker ones that come with external hard drives with no problems so far hehe.

Originally Posted by TinaF1971

Hello Konstantine! Forgive me for not understanding technical details, but are you saying we cannot use any other USB cord but the one that came with the PCC? I'm thinking of getting a PCC for myself and would hate to lose the USB cord and not be able to use another one. Thank you!

**Konstantine** · 02-21-2012, 05:53 PM

Sorry for the late reply i just got back from work and my head is about to explode.

Tina there is no need to worry, just get a PCC, the cable is just a simple USB to miniUSB cable and you can find anywhere and it costs 50 cents.

**TinaF1971** · 02-21-2012, 06:44 PM

Thank you, Konstantine!

Originally Posted by Konstantine

Sorry for the late reply i just got back from work and my head is about to explode.

Tina there is no need to worry, just get a PCC, the cable is just a simple USB to miniUSB cable and you can find anywhere and it costs 50 cents.

**Konstantine** · 02-21-2012, 06:55 PM

Originally Posted by Gormadoc

I wouldn't use the cables that come with blue tooth headsets.. but I've been using the thicker ones that come with external hard drives with no problems so far hehe.

There is no need to use thick cables since you only charging a battery without load, those cables can withstand at least 1-2 Amps, when charging you only use 500mAh (more likely 100-250mAh) so even if you use a thin cable everything will work fine.

**Gormy** · 02-22-2012, 12:36 AM

I dunno.. with those cables for the headsets I couldn't charge my old pos phone.. if the battery was under 25% it wouldn't charge it at all.. bleargh

Originally Posted by Konstantine

There is no need to use thick cables since you only charging a battery without load, those cables can withstand at least 1-2 Amps, when charging you only use 500mAh (more likely 100-250mAh) so even if you use a thin cable everything will work fine.