5V Portable Power

Community Projects
1

I’m looking to power a 5V project that can’t be tied down to a wall wart. Does anyone have a good suggestion for a portable 5V power supply that can be used for a project that is on the go.

Thanks,

Travis

2

…Only about a hundred thousand different types of completely usable, viable USB power packs out there.

But what are you powering?

A single, high efficiency LED, that blinks with a 1% duty for one second once per year?

Or trying to start a 16 cylinder diesel engine?

3

You can find portable phone chargers at big box stores, gas stations, grocery stores and electronics stores. I picked one up at our local “Tuesday Morning” for $5 and it came with an ac charger that works with either phones or to charge the pack.

4

Thanks guys! The USB power packs look very much like what I need for 5V power. I had been looking at LiPo batteries, but they seem to only come in 3.7V. I could install them in series, but I don’t think the project I’m powering regulates incoming voltage. So 7.4V would be too much.

I want to power a RockBLOCK SatComm module for hiking trips (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13745). Then I could transmit simple messages so folks know I’m ok and where I’m sending from. I know there are some commercially available products that do the same thing…but I figure it’d be more fun to make my own :slight_smile:

5

If you’re looking to do a more integrated battery project then two 3.7v batteries will work well; the challenge will be in charging them properly if hardwired parallel. You could use the L7805 (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/107) to regulate your output voltage at 5v, not sure what to do about charging :stuck_out_tongue: (having a similar challenge myself).

6

I think this tutorial might be helpful for what you’re describing (https://youtu.be/8tmda_51EGc). It’s about designing a FLiR Pi camera, but the bulk of the video centers on designing the power supply. It utilizes two 3.7V LiPo batteries and two of Sparkfun’s Power Cell boards (https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11231). These boards allow you to power a project while also providing an option to recharge the batteries as well.